In Camera (Peter Hammill album)
In Camera | ||||
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Studio album by Peter Hammill | ||||
Released | July 1974 | |||
Recorded | December 1973 - April 1974 | |||
Genre | Progressive rock | |||
Length | 47:34 | |||
Label | Charisma | |||
Producer | Peter Hammill | |||
Peter Hammill chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
In Camera is the fourth solo album from the English singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It was released in July 1974.
Much of the material was recorded in Hammill's home studio on simple four-track equipment. He then took the tapes to Trident Studios, where additional elements such as drumming from Van der Graaf Generator colleague Guy Evans, and layers of ARP 2600 analogue synthesizer were added. The album has a predominantly dark, gothic, claustrophobic feel, with the lyrics laced with apocalyptic, religious and existential imagery. "Gog" is a particularly intense and demonic song, featuring (even by Hammill's standards) strident and aggressive vocals, grandiose harmonium chords, and powerful drumming. This segués into "Magog", which is virtually a musique concrète piece of sinister drones, percussive noises, and including a ring modulated spoken vocal. Songs such as "Ferret and Featherbird" and "Again" are gentler offerings, and Hammill refers to the first as "something approaching a 'sweet' song".[2] The album was dedicated to Hammill's brother, Andrew.
Track listing
All tracks written by Peter Hammill
- "Ferret and Featherbird" – 3:43
- "(No More) the Sub-mariner" – 5:47
- "Tapeworm" – 4:20
- "Again" – 3:44
- "Faint-Heart and the Sermon" – 6:42
- "The Comet, the Course, the Tail" – 6:00
- "Gog" - 7:40
- "Magog (in Bromine Chambers" - 9:41
2006 CD-Bonus Tracks from BBC One John Peel Sessions
9. The Emperor is in his War Room - 6:39
10. Faint Heart and the Sermon - 6:05
11. (No more) The Submariner - 6:12
Personnel
- Peter Hammill – Guitar, bass guitar, piano, harmonium, ARP 2600 synthesizer, mellotron, vocals
- Guy Evans – drums on 3 and 7
- Chris Judge Smith – percussion, backing vocals on 8
- Paul Whitehead – percussion on 8
- David Hentschel - engineer, ARP programming, "studio wizardry"