PAWN HEARTS

Electric guitars are for pansies. Imagine a band with a saxophone player, a ranting madman, and an organ so distorted, so dissonant and vile, that it sounds like hell's very own keyboardist has decided to join a prog rock band just for kicks. So, electric guitars are for pansies. Check out "Lemmings" after the Cogs section. You know, the part when Hugh Banton succesfully mimics a squeeling pig on his demonic organ. It's just a little scary, and completely awesome for those who like their rock music sprinkled liberally with weird noises.

Eventually after so many twists and tortions of music "Lemmings" winds down. Now, one thing often in discussion when it comes to Generator are Peter Hammill's vocals. They're a little... Uh, Dramatic is the word. I've grown used to them, but I readily admit they aren't for the novice listener. "Man-Erg" Shows off Mr. Hammill's talents in this regard, it's kind of a cheesy song, something that could have only came about in the early 1970's after ingesting about a truckload of illegal substances. But it's a fun song, and not nearly as bad as some of the other classic prog rock excesses. It's actually a rather "stable" song, compared to the weirdness that comes before and after.

If "Man-Erg" is the relatively stable song of Pawn Hearts, then "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" amounts to what is a long, deranged, rant into the blackest heart of the night sea. It's pretty out there. Things begin on a note of doom: a few verses where Peter sings around a few octaves, ambient sounds, Mr. Hammill's dark pronouncements of insanity, and then back to the song proper (though a little changed). This is the last remnant of sanity. After this part it's all bipolar.Highs and lows, screams and sorrows. "Unreal" indeed.