IN A FOREIGN TOWN

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.