And Close As This | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | November 1986 | |||
Recorded | 7 August - 15 September 1986 | |||
Genre | Art rock | |||
Length | 40:06 | |||
Label | Virgin Records | |||
Producer | Peter Hammill | |||
Peter Hammill chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Sounds | [2] |
Tentative Reviews | [3] |
And Close As This is the 15th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on Virgin Records in 1986. Each track is a song played and sung by Hammill solo at a keyboard, with the keyboard parts played in a single take. Two of the songs use a grand piano as the keyboard instrument; for the others, Hammill plays a MIDI master keyboard, using it to trigger a variety of MIDI sound modules, mainly electric piano and organ sounds. Keith Emerson collaborated as composer for the song "Empire of Delight" but did not play on the album.
All songs written by Hammill, except where indicated:
Keith Noel Emerson was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became internationally famous for his work with the Nice, which included writing rock arrangements of classical music. After leaving the Nice in 1970, he was a founding member of Emerson, Lake & Palmer (ELP), one of the early progressive rock supergroups. Emerson, Lake & Palmer were commercially successful through much of the 1970s, becoming one of the best-known progressive rock groups of the era. Emerson wrote and arranged much of ELP's music on albums such as Tarkus (1971) and Brain Salad Surgery (1973), combining his own original compositions with classical or traditional pieces adapted into a rock format.
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter. He is a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and acts as a record producer for his own recordings and occasionally for other artists. In 2012, he was recognised with the Visionary award at the first Progressive Music Awards.
Patience is the 13th studio album by Peter Hammill. It was released in August 1983 on Naive Records, a label founded by Gordian Troeller, the former manager of Hammill's band Van der Graaf Generator. It was remastered in 1991 and released on Fie! Records. It was the second album to feature the collective known as the K Group — Hammill, Guy Evans, John Ellis, and Nic Potter
The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage is the third album by British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It was released on Charisma Records in 1974, during a hiatus in the activities of Hammill's progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Other ex-members of Van der Graaf Generator also perform on the recording.
The electric grand piano is a stringed musical instrument played using a keyboard, in which the vibration of strings struck by hammers is converted by pickups into electrical signals, analogous to the electric guitar's electrification of the traditional guitar.
Out of Water is the 17th studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Enigma Records in 1990 and subsequently re-released on Hammill's own Fie! label. Hammill himself considers this album to be a turning point from his mid-eighties style.
Skin is the 14th studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on vinyl on Foundry Records in 1986 and later re-released on CD on Virgin Records. It was also released on CD by DaTE.
A Black Box is the ninth studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on S-Type Records in August 1980.
Incoherence is the 30th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in March 2004. Incoherence is a concept album about language, containing 14 tracks with soft transitions between them. The album was produced and played by Hammill himself, with contributions from Stuart Gordon on violin and David Jackson on flute and saxophones. Incoherence is recognized by critics as ambitious and one of Hammill's major works.
Nadir's Big Chance is the fifth solo album by Peter Hammill, released on Charisma Records in 1975.
Sitting Targets is the tenth studio album by Peter Hammill, released on Virgin Records in June 1981. It contains several songs in the raw new wave style typical of Hammill's work in the late 1970s and early 1980s, following the dissolution of his band Van der Graaf Generator, and one of his occasional tender ballads, "Ophelia". "Stranger Still", "Sign" and "Central Hotel" have all been regularly performed by Hammill live in recent years.
pH7 is an album by Peter Hammill, originally released on Charisma Records in September 1979. It was Hammill's eighth solo album and his last release on the Charisma label.
In a Foreign Town is the 16th studio album by the English singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It was originally released in 1988 on Enigma Records, and was subsequently reissued on Hammill's own Fie! label.
Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commercial success in the UK, but became popular in Italy during the 1970s. In 2005 the band reformed, and are still musically active with a line-up of Hammill, organist Hugh Banton and drummer Guy Evans.
None of the Above is the 26th studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his Fie! label in 2000.
Trisector is the tenth studio album by the British rock group Van der Graaf Generator. It was released on Virgin/EMI Records in March 2008. It is an important release for Van der Graaf Generator because it is the first album the band recorded as a trio. Saxophonist David Jackson departed the band following the 2005 tour.
Thin Air is British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill's 32nd solo album, released on his own Fie! Records label in June 2009. It was additionally made available as digital download through Burning Shed Records.
Loops and Reels is the 12th studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on cassette on the Sofa Sound label in June 1983. On the back cover it says: "Two songs, two dance pieces, four near instrumentals". It was re-released on CD in 1993 on Hammill's own Fie! label, with remastering done by Hammill. Both cassette and CD versions were produced and engineered by Peter Hammill, except for "A Ritual Mask", which was engineered by David Lord. "A Ritual Mask" first appeared on Music and Rhythm, an album released in 1982 consisting of songs by various artists in support of Peter Gabriel's fledgling WOMAD festival. A different version of "In Slow Time" first appeared on Hammill's 1980 album A Black Box. In 2010 Loops and Reels was released digitally in FLAC format by the distributor Burning Shed.
Spur of the Moment is an album of experimental music by Peter Hammill and Guy Evans, originally released as cassette tape on the Red Hot label. A remastered version was released on CD on the DaTE label in February 1988. The album is currently out of print.
Consequences is British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill's 33rd solo album, released on his own Fie! Records label in April 2012. As on his previous release, Thin Air, Hammill played all instruments, wrote all the songs and produced the album.