In Camera (Peter Hammill album)

In Camera is the fourth solo album from the English singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It was released in July 1974.

In Camera
Studio album by Peter Hammill
Released	July 1974
Recorded	December 1973 – April 1974
Studio	Sofa Sound, Sussex Trident Studios, London
Genre	Art rock, progressive rock, experimental rock
Length	47:47
Label	Charisma
Producer	Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill chronology
The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage (1974) In Camera (1974) Nadir's Big Chance (1975)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Much of the material was recorded in Hammill's home studio on simple four-track equipment. He then took the tapes to Trident Studios, where additional elements such as drumming from Van der Graaf Generator colleague Guy Evans, and layers of ARP 2600 analogue synthesizer were added. The album has a predominantly dark, gothic, claustrophobic feel, with the lyrics laced with apocalyptic, religious and existential imagery. "Gog" is a particularly intense and demonic song, featuring (even by Hammill's standards) strident and aggressive vocals, grandiose harmonium chords, and powerful drumming. This segués into "Magog", which is virtually a musique concrète piece of sinister drones, percussive noises, and including a ring modulated spoken vocal. Songs such as "Ferret and Featherbird" and "Again" are gentler offerings, and Hammill refers to the first as "something approaching a 'sweet' song".[2] The album was dedicated to Hammill's brother, Andrew.

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

Track listing

All tracks are written by Peter Hammill.

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Ferret and Featherbird"	3:43
2.	"(No More) the Sub-mariner"	5:47
3.	"Tapeworm"	4:20
4.	"Again"	3:44
5.	"Faint-Heart and the Sermon"	6:42
Total length:		24:26

Side two

No.	Title	Length
6.	"The Comet, the Course, the Tail"	6:00
7.	"Gog"	7:40
8.	"Magog (in Bromine Chambers)"	9:41
Total length:		23:21

2006 CD bonus tracks from BBC One John Peel Sessions

No.	Title	Length
9.	"The Emperor in His War Room"	6:39
10.	"Faint-Heart and the Sermon"	6:05
11.	"(No More) the Sub-mariner"	6:12

Personnel

• Peter Hammill – vocals, piano (1–5, 8), acoustic and electric guitars (1, 3–6, 8), bass guitar (2–4, 6, 7), ARP 2600 synthesizer (2, 5, 6, 8), Mellotron (5, 8), harmonium (7)
• Guy Evans – drums (3, 7)
• Chris Judge Smith – percussion, backing vocals (8)
• Paul Whitehead – percussion (8)

Technical

• Peter Hammill – recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Sussex)
• David Hentschel – recording engineer, ARP programming, mixing, "studio wizardry" (Trident Studios, London)

References

1. Allmusic review
2. "In Camera". www.sofasound.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.

External links

• Album information on the unofficial VdGG site