Art from many angles
Pieter | Johannesburg | 07/18/2007
(3 out of 5 stars)
"Skin is an album about art, approaching various art forms from different angles. The sound is always full and engaging with a great instrumental mix that includes violin, cello and didgeridoo and there is plenty of stylistic variety. The title track Skin is a tuneful rock song whilst After The Show is a gentle ballad about the lives of actors.
One of my favourites, Painting By Numbers, is a swirling melodic number in which Hammill comments on the art world, its trends and how these sometimes stifle individual creative expression. With its beautiful imagery and poetic lyrics, Shell is one of Hammill's most memorable ballads. All Said And Done is a sad song about relationships whilst Four Pails is a gloomy piece of philosophising about death, impermanence and the loss of love.
The aforementioned Painting By Numbers and the poetic Shell are the most accessible tracks on account of their lovely tunes and economy of words. Sometimes Hammill gets too wordy, as on the last track Now Lover, and then he loses me. Overall, I give this album three and a half stars. It will appeal to those who appreciate the more intellectual type of rock music.
The Love Songs
After the Show: A Collection
First Generation (Scenes from 1969-1971)"
Eighties Hammill
Stephen Andrews | London | 06/13/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"All but a reunion of Van Der Graaf Generator in terms of personnel, and harkening to the latter-day spirit in terms of some of the tone, Skin is nonetheless Peter Hammill continuing to declare his own direction minute by minute, rather than plotting overarching career goals. There is more of a dependence on MIDI on this album, and a lot of obvious keyboard support, but the core human players come through loud and clear, especially Guy Evans on drums and David Jackson on saxes. It is odd to hear Hammill belting his way through a song with the support of sampled and synthesized horns and a rocking beat, especially when the song is about the death of art ("Painting By Numbers"), but it's also a welcome relief -- that ability to flex is exactly the thing that has helped to keep the man's creative existence alive since 1967. The album is also highlighted by "Four Pails," a beautiful song by longtime Hammill confederate Chris Judge-Smith. Originally issued in vinyl on Foundry Records, home also to Orchestral Manouevres in the Dark at the time, the album subsequently had several CD reissues, all atrocious in terms of sound and art quality, but this new EMI reissue at last does the music and artwork justice, though one surely has to have - in terms of sheer beauty in every aspect - the Japanese mini-LP version.
"
Track Listings (8) - Disc #1
