IN A FOREIGN TOWN

Why do so many Hammill fans buy records like this, knowing they aren't all great and that we won't listen to them often? Because between Van Der Graaf Generator and his many solo albums, we know we'll always be rewarded with something worthwhile; even the worst albums usually have a song or two to make the trip worthwhile. 'In A Foreign Town', unfortunately, is the least remarkable album that Hammill has ever been involved with (at least, of the 25 or so that I'm familiar with). I can only recommended it to masochists, like me, who need to hear everything this intriguing artist has recorded. The album is a miserable slog of a journey, bleak and cold tunes made even colder by a sterile recording job. Even the promise of a re-worked V.D.G.G. song, "Sci-Finance", is not capitalized upon, feeling stiff in its dumbed-down new-wave styled production (robotic drums, cheesy guitar sounds, etc.). Things sink much further with "This Book", which I find to be the hardest Hammill-penned song to listen to, flirting too much with new-age adult pop strains for my liking. "Auto" is another offender, hinting at Gary Numan/Kraftwerk sort of stuff, something I can't deal with and something even fans of that sort of stuff probably wouldn't find all that impressive. Most of the other songs arent so much awful as they are faceless. Only "Time To Burn" is up to the man's usual standards, a song with a real depth of wisdom, an introspective downbeat to the rest of the album's more upbeat, dance-able (yes..."dance-able") material. Inexplicably there's an instrumental version of "Time To Burn" at the end of the album, an idea he would later employ to better effect on 1996's 'X My Heart' album with "A Better Time". "The Play's The Thing" is also quite good.so you get two downcast bits of beauty on this otherwise way-too-dippy album.

No, I don't hear a lot on 'In A Foreign Town' that can be recommended to any but the most rabid Hammill completist. Part of the problem is the fact that Hammill generated all of the sounds, as opposed to having real live musicians with real wood-and-string instruments lending a hand. This helps give the album that sterile quality noted earlier, but it also isn't his best clutch of songs either.not by a longshot.

"In A Foreign Town" is definitely NOT an entry album to Peter's solo repertoire. Peter was experimenting with computer sounds and I'm kind of mixed with the result.

Very much "eighties" oriented (Hemlock, "Auto"), it is very difficult to apprehend. I've tried several times, without great success, I'm afraid. If you're looking to the delicate Hammill, you won't find it here. If you're looking to some VDGG substance, forget it as well.

So, what's left?

Well, not too much, I'm afraid. Some political messages, a couple of covers.And these synthetic sounds almost all the way through. Not too great. Even Peter's voice seems to have changed. It sounds flat, with very little emotion ("Invisible Ink").

Peter does play several instruments on this album and frankly, having him as a percussionist is not the best musical experience you could expect. No highlights, at best a couple of good songs like "This book" and my fave one "Time To Burn" which features some very pleasant background keys. Actually, this song is very emotional and is an homage to the recent deceased Tony Stratton-Smith (the founder of the extraordinary Charisma label).

Even if the album gets better towards its end ("The Play's The Thing") it is one of the weakest that Peter has released so far. And I've reviewed fifteen or so prior to this one.

Only for die-hard fans who are curious to discover each facet of this great man. But he isn't on this album. Just listen to "Under Cover Names" to get the confirmation.

In A Foreign Town would be the most obvious choice if you want to slate a Hammill album. Upon its release it didn't go well with the fans and it's only valued for serving as a reviewer's dummy to try your critical talent on. It's especially useful to test your skills needed to knock an album to death with vicious words and slander!

Well I wonder why that is. Apart from a few questionable sound choices (widely discussed in all other reviews already) and a few dips in the song writing, this is a collection of enjoyable rock songs of the slightly more commercial type, similar to Skin, but far more convincing. In fact, this album should easily please you if you liked Sitting Targets and Enter K. And really, I doesn't sound all that bad.

Hemlock is an epic opener. Brooding synths serve as an intro for a strong tune with great steady processed rhythms. Invisible Ink and Sci-Finance are good Hammill rockers. This Book isn't really great though and hardly survives its cheesy drum computer and weak vocal melodies. It's one of the disappointing moments. Another one would be the inadequate Sun City Night Life.

But with Auto and Under Cover Names Hammill continues to deliver good rock songs. All they need is a real band to execute them really. Time to Burn and The Play's the Thing are new hits in the ever expanding canon of tasteful Hammill ballads.

With some more attention to detail and a bit of self-scrutiny, Hammill could have culled one 4 star album out of the material present on Skin and In A Foreign Town. Instead we're stuck with two unaccomplished albums. 3.5 stars for this one.