Peter Hammill Fireships CD

 Rediscovering Hammill
Being a long-time Hammill fan, since the mid-70s, I have to admit that I wasn't paying attention to this man's work during most of the 90s. After his embrace of MIDI technology during the latter half of the 80s, and the ensuing debacle of the "Skin" and "In a Foreign Town" albums, the latter being one even Hammill no longer offers, I felt that here's an arti9st being subsumed by the times and technology. In fact, at the time, I felt that the whole of the 80s weren't kind the Hammill and his ilk. Times and musical styles had moved on, and artists from the 70s had to adapt or get out. Some tried to adapt and lingered on in embarrassing hybrid new wave modes and others disappeared, yet Hammill lingered. Well, I'm glad he did. Looking back now, the "Fireships" cd, along with "Out of Water" and "And Close as This" (one of his overall best, I feel, released almost concurrently with the aforementioned "Skin", oddly enough) are a set of work that show he could master the technology, and settle into a style that's both personal and true to his roots. Of course, he's still on the fringes of the business, but when was that ever different? "Fireships" shows and artist comfortable with his situation, and making music because that is what he does. Starting off with several instant Hammill classics, "I Will Find You", the kind of poppish love song he comes out with on occasion, into "Curtains", one of those scathing looks at failed relationships he's almost too famous for, on to more of the same in "His Best Girl", and shifting gears with "Oasis", dabbling in mysterious Middle-Eastern settings, a la "Ysabel's Dance", from "Sitting Targets", another of Hammill's gems. The mood continues with "Incomplete Surrender", "Fireships","Given Time", an quasi-instrumental interlude in "Reprise", on into "Gaia", a prayer almost, a love song to the planet. Now, I've neglected to mention, that at this point in history, we're seeing a new Peter Hammill here, an atmospheric, "ambient" Peter Hammill, which foretells the coming masterpieces that grace 1997's "Everyone You Hold" and the next year's "This". The percussion is very understated on this album, where it appears at all, in favor of string arrangements and quieter vocal settings. Let's face it, besides the unique songwriting, it's Hammill's voice that is his main instrument, but gone now is the shouting, growling Hammill of his youth, though he still lets loose in concert. He's been replaced by a more thoughful (is that possible?), let's say calmer singer, who's more interested in melody (one of the strongest points of his songwriting) and inflection. Dare I say, a more "mature" artist (eeew), not seeking to overwhelm you with bombast and sound, but paying careful attention to details. Not that he gave up on Rock'n'Roll in any way. After all, his next album is called "The Noise".
Submitted by Douglas (Los Angeles, CA USA) 
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 BTW...
...I meant to give it 4 stars.
Submitted by Douglas (Los Angeles, CA, USA)
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