PH7 (Peter Hammill album)

pH7
Studio album by Peter Hammill
Released	September 1979
Recorded	Spring 1979
Studio	Sofa Sound, Wiltshire
Genre	Art rock, progressive rock
Label	Charisma
Producer	Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill chronology
The Future Now (1978) pH7 (1979) A Black Box (1980)

pH7 is an album by the English musician Peter Hammill. ^[1] It was released on Charisma Records in September 1979. ^[2] It was Hammill's eighth solo album and his last release on the Charisma label.

The song "Porton Down" refers to the Porton Down military research facility in Wiltshire, England, while the lyrics of "Imperial Walls" are a translation of the first few lines of the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Ruin".

The song "Not For Keith" is a tribute to Keith Ellis, a former member of the band Van der Graaf Generator, who had then died just recently.

"Cover note: The photographs were all taken late at night in NYC. As we left Dan's [the photographer's] place in search of a cab Graham [Smith] and I ran into some trouble from which, frankly, we were lucky to escape...". ^[3]

"My Favourite" was re-worked for Hammill's 1984 album The Love Songs .

"Faculty X" is a reference to extrasensory perception in the books of Colin Wilson. ^[4]

In 2006, the album was remastered and expanded, adding alternative versions of "Mr X (Gets Tense)" and "Faculty X" recorded for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 programme, as well as a new sleeve note by Hammill.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[5]
Sounds	[6]

The Quad-City Times wrote that Hammill's "quirky rhythms, spare arrangements and eerie synthesizer lines are chilling rather than pretentious." ^[7]

Track listing

All tracks composed by Peter Hammill; except where noted.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"My Favourite"	2:53
2.	"Careering"	4:09
3.	"Porton Down"	3:45
4.	"Mirror Images"	3:54
5.	"Handicap and Equality"	4:04
6.	"Not for Keith"	2:31
Total length:		21:14

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Old School Tie"		5:02
2.	"Time for a Change"	Chris Judge Smith, Steve Robshaw	3:11
3.	"Imperial Walls"		4:15
4.	"Mr X (Gets Tense)"		6:05
5.	"Faculty X"		4:50
Total length:			23:13

2006 CD reissue bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Mr X (Gets Tense)"	6:05
2.	"Faculty X"	4:50

US/Canada vinyl pressings have an additional track at the end of side one, "The Polaroid".

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"My Favourite"	2:53
2.	"Careering"	4:09
3.	"Porton Down"	3:45
4.	"Mirror Images"	3:54
5.	"Handicap and Equality"	4:04
6.	"Not for Keith"	2:31
7.	"The Polaroid"	2:33
Total length:		23:47

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"The Old School Tie"		5:10
2.	"Time for a Change"	Chris Judge Smith, Steve Robshaw	3:18
3.	"Imperial Walls"		4:18
4.	"Mr X (Gets Tense)"		6:06
5.	"Faculty X"		4:25
Total length:			23:13

Personnel

• Peter Hammill – voice, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, drum machine
• Graham Smith – violin (1, 3, 10, 11)
• David Jackson – saxophone, flute (2, 3, 11)

Technical

• Peter Hammill – recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Wiltshire)
• Pat Moran – mixing (Rockfield Studios, Monmouth)
• Rocking Russian – artwork
• Daniel C. Kirk – photography

References

1. Willistein, Paul A. (2 February 1980). "Records". Weekender. The Morning Call. p. 49.
2. Belsey, James (29 September 1979). "Pops". Bristol Evening Post. p. 6.
3. "Sofa Sound". Sofa Sound. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
4. "Interview". The Phenomenology of Excess. 8 January 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2025.
5. Couture, François. PH7 at AllMusic
6. Sounds review.
7. Kot, Greg (4 January 1980). "This is a recording". Go!. Quad-City Times. p. 10.

External links

• Peter Hammill's notes on the album