Description

It might seem odd releasing this debut Peter Hammill solo album as part of the remastering of Van der Graaf Generators back catalogue, but this album can be seen as part of the early history of the band. All members appear throughout, so in some ways this is a near VdGG album. Though in saying that, the material is far from what the band were doing back in 1971. "Fools Mate" was released just 3 months prior to the mighty "Pawn Hearts". But both albums could not be stylistically further apart. "Pawn Hearts" was dark, foreboding and epic in scale. "Fools Mate" was lighter, intimate and almost poppymore… in their arrangements. Most of the material was written way back in '66 and '67, so this was Hammill purging himself of these old songs, knowing that if he didn't record them now he never would. Not that there is anything inferior or naïve about the material. Far from it. This is a solid collection of songs, beautifully arranged and executed. Some are very much of the times, such as "Imperial Zeppelin" or "Sunshine", but reflective songs such as "Candle", "Solitude" and "The Birds" are absolutely timeless and purely sublime, both musically and lyrically. "Candle" is a particular favourite and has some wonderful mandolin work by Lindisfarne's Ray Jackson which adds just the right tone to the song. "Solitude" is a joy, instantly transporting the listener to an open field in the middle of summer. "Vision" is brimming with emotion and is one of Hammill's simplest but most perfectly realised songs. Just that voice and piano. This remaster is an excellent package. The booklet has informative notes by Mark Powell and is nicely laid out with rare, archival photographs. The bonus tracks are demo versions of songs as played by VdGG and only came to light when the multi-tracks were sourced for this remaster.I do hope that the current interest in VdGG will see EMI decide to remaster the rest of Hammill's "Charisma" solo albums, which remains one of the most distinctive collections by any artist from the mid to late 70's. Surely then his status as one of our most original and visionary songwriters will gain the wider recognition it so thoroughly deserves.

Tracks

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Info:

Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

Peter Hammill - Fool's Mate: Remastered (2005) Retail CD

Part:

Back

Dimensions:

2353 x 1827 px

Size:

2,065 KB

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Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

08/07/08 by pontiacc

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