Skin (Peter Himmelman album)

Last updated
Skin
Skin (Peter Himmelman album).jpg
Studio album by
Peter Himmelman
Released1994
Genre Rock
Label 550 Music/Epic [1]
Producer Peter Himmelman, Jeff Victor
Peter Himmelman chronology
Flown This Acid World
(1992)		Skin
(1994)		Stage Diving
(1996)

Skin is an album by the American musician Peter Himmelman, released in 1994. [2] [3] It is a concept album about a man named Ted who dies and is spiritually reborn; Himmelman chose to think of it as a song cycle. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Himmelman supported the album by playing it on tour from beginning to end, before moving on to his older songs. [7] The first single was "With You". [7]

Production

The album was produced by Himmelman and Jeff Victor. [8] Himmelman was backed by his touring band, with the addition of J'anna Jacoby on violin. [9] Its lyrics were inspired in part by Himmelman's Judaism. [10] 550 Music had urged Himmelman not to make a concept album. [11]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [12]
Chicago Tribune Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]
The Indianapolis Star Star full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Knoxville News Sentinel Star full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [14]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Windsor Star C [16]

The Washington Post deemed the album "a legitimate rock opera." [17] The New York Times wrote that it "moves from hymns to guitar-strumming waltzes to up-tempo, neo-1960's rock." [18] The Knoxville News Sentinel called Skin "trite," writing that the album "lacks the character motivation and simple details that should move the story along, which is particularly damning considering Himmelman seems to have sleighted the music on behalf of the lyrics." [14]

The Chicago Tribune praised the "solid pop-rock-folk tunesmithy" of Himmelman. [9] The Daily Press stated: "Filled with memorable songs, such as the gripping rockers 'Easy to Be Broken' and '11 Months in the Bath of Dirty Spirits', the stark ballad 'Nowhere Else to Go' and the elegant record-ending track 'Been Set Free', Skin is both musically and lyrically ambitious." [11] Newsday labeled it "a ponderously flimsy concept work about corruption, death, rebirth and redemption in which the alternation of loud theatricality and quiet keyboard-violin delicacy sounded like a baseball game between Pink Floyd and Meat Loaf." [19]

AllMusic wrote that "the occasional heavy-handedness and meandering subplots hardly mar this impressive work." [12]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Prelude" 
2."11 Months in the Bath of Dirty Spirits" 
3."Clean" 
4."They're Naked and They're Calling Me" 
5."Disposable Child" 
6."Regular Daydreams" 
7."With You" 
8."Shilo" 
9."Laugh My Beloved" 
10."Easy to Be Broken" 
11."The 5th of August" 
12."Nowhere Else to Go" 
13."Chaos and Void" 
14."Been Set Free" 

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References

  1. ↑ "Peter Himmelman". Trouser Press. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  2. ↑ "Peter Himmelman Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  3. ↑ Oseary, Guy (September 27, 2016). Jews Who Rock. St. Martin's Publishing Group.
  4. ↑ Barsotti, Mark. "The Gospel According to Peter". Westword.
  5. ↑ "Popular music – Skin by Peter Himmelman". Stereo Review. Vol. 59, no. 9. Sep 1994. p. 93.
  6. ↑ Bream, Jon (11 May 1994). "Peter Himmelman slips into a different 'Skin'". Star Tribune. p. 1E.
  7. 1 2 Boehm, Mike (19 May 1994). "Funny and Fervent: This Rocker Can Be Quite the Cutup, but He Takes His Work Seriously". OC Live. Los Angeles Times. p. 4.
  8. ↑ "Album reviews — Skin by Peter Himmelman". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 20. May 14, 1994. p. 70.
  9. 1 2 3 Webber, Brad (28 Apr 1994). "Peter Himmelman Skin". Tempo. Chicago Tribune. p. 8.
  10. 1 2 Miley, Scott L. (18 July 1994). "Peter Himmelman 'Skin'". The Indianapolis Star. p. D3.
  11. 1 2 Sculley, Alan (29 Apr 1994). "More Than 'Skin' Deep". InRoads. Daily Press. p. 16.
  12. 1 2 "Skin". AllMusic.
  13. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 297.
  14. 1 2 Campbell, Chuck (29 Apr 1994). "'Skin', Peter Himmelman". Knoxville News Sentinel. p. 2.
  15. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 549.
  16. ↑ Shaw, Ted (14 May 1994). "Skin: Peter Himmelman". Windsor Star. p. E2.
  17. ↑ "Peter Himmelman". The Washington Post. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  18. ↑ Pareles, Jon (May 2, 1994). "Folk-Rock (and Sincerity) Straight Out of the 60's". The New York Times.
  19. ↑ Robbins, Ira (30 Apr 1994). "A Jovial Singer Out of His 'Skin'". Newsday. p. B5.
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