pH7 (Peter Hammill album)
pH7 is an album by the English musician Peter Hammill.[1] It was released on Charisma Records in September 1979.[2] It was Hammill's eighth solo album and his last release on the Charisma label.
| pH7 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | September 1979 | |||
| Recorded | Spring 1979 | |||
| Studio | Sofa Sound, Wiltshire | |||
| Genre | Art rock, progressive rock | |||
| Label | Charisma | |||
| Producer | Peter Hammill | |||
| Peter Hammill chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song "Porton Down" refers to the Porton Down military research facility in Wiltshire, England, while the lyrics of "Imperial Walls" are a translation of the first few lines of the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Ruin".
The song "Not For Keith" is a tribute to Keith Ellis, a former member of the band Van der Graaf Generator, who had then died just recently.
"Cover note: The photographs were all taken late at night in NYC. As we left Dan's [the photographer's] place in search of a cab Graham [Smith] and I ran into some trouble from which, frankly, we were lucky to escape...".[3]
"My Favourite" was re-worked for Hammill's 1984 album The Love Songs.
"Faculty X" is a reference to extrasensory perception in the books of Colin Wilson.
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [4] |
| Sounds | [5] |
The Quad-City Times wrote that Hammill's "quirky rhythms, spare arrangements and eerie synthesizer lines are chilling rather than pretentious."[6]
Track listing
All tracks composed by Peter Hammill; except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Favourite" | 2:53 |
| 2. | "Careering" | 4:09 |
| 3. | "Porton Down" | 3:45 |
| 4. | "Mirror Images" | 3:54 |
| 5. | "Handicap and Equality" | 4:04 |
| 6. | "Not For Keith" | 2:31 |
| Total length: | 21:14 | |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Old School Tie" | 5:10 | |
| 2. | "Time For a Change" | Chris Judge Smith, Steve Robshaw | 3:18 |
| 3. | "Imperial Walls" | 4:18 | |
| 4. | "Mr X (Gets Tense)" | 6:06 | |
| 5. | "Faculty X" | 4:25 | |
| Total length: | 23:13 | ||
In 2006, the album was remastered and expanded, adding alternative versions of "Mr X (Gets Tense)" and "Faculty X" recorded for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, as well as a fresh sleeve note by Hammill.
US/Canada vinyl pressings have an additional track at the end of side A, "The Polaroid".
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "My Favourite" | 2:53 |
| 2. | "Careering" | 4:09 |
| 3. | "Porton Down" | 3:45 |
| 4. | "Mirror Images" | 3:54 |
| 5. | "Handicap And Equality" | 4:04 |
| 6. | "Not For Keith" | 2:31 |
| 7. | "The Polaroid" | 2:33 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Old School Tie" | 5:10 | |
| 2. | "Time For A Change" | Chris Judge Smith, Steve Robshaw | 3:18 |
| 3. | "Imperial Walls" | 4:18 | |
| 4. | "Mr X (Gets Tense)" | 6:06 | |
| 5. | "Faculty X" | 4:25 |
Personnel
- Peter Hammill – voice, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, drum machine
- Graham Smith – violin (1, 3, 10, 11)
- David Jackson – saxophone, flute (2, 3, 11)
Technical
- Peter Hammill - recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Wiltshire)
- Pat Moran – mixing (Rockfield Studios, Monmouth)
- Rocking Russian – artwork
- Daniel C. Kirk – photography
References
- Willistein, Paul A. (2 February 1980). "Records". Weekender. The Morning Call. p. 49.
- Belsey, James (29 September 1979). "Pops". Bristol Evening Post. p. 6.
- "Sofa Sound". Sofa Sound. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
- Couture, François. PH7 at AllMusic
- Sounds review.
- Kot, Greg (4 January 1980). "This is a recording". Go!. Quad-City Times. p. 10.
