''Fireships'' is the 19th studio album by English singer and songwriter

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was 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 ...

. Originally released in 1992, it was the first release on Hammill's own Fie! Records label. It was reissued in remastered form in 2006. The sleeve notes label the album "Number 1 in the BeCalm series", and its songs are generally at the gentler, more introspective end of Hammill's work. Hammill's next album, the more rocking ''

The Noise ''the Noise'' was a monthly newspaper serving the cities of Flagstaff, Prescott, Sedona, Cottonwood, Jerome, Clarkdale, and Winslow in northern Arizona. Founded in 1993 by four high school seniors whose rural hometown's budget cuts lead t ...

'' (1993), was similarly labelled as "Number 1 in the A Loud series". Hammill decided to put the quiet and loud songs he had recently written and recorded on separate albums. At around the same time,

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

, the owners of Hammill's back catalogue on

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

, were planning to issue a compilation of his earlier work. When he explained the concept of the BeCalm and A Loud series to them, they decided to issue two compilations along similar lines - ''The Calm (After The Storm)'' (containing quieter songs) and ''The Storm (Before The Calm)'' (containing more aggressive material). Originally, Hammill planned to continue this separation between quiet and loud music on subsequent albums, but the plan was soon abandoned. Two of the album's tracks, "I Will Find You" and "Curtains", have become staples of Hammill's live set. At the time of the album's release, Hammill (in a rare piece of merchandising) issued a limited edition of 500 numbered prints of the cover, signed by himself and the artist, Paul Ridout. The cover comprises an almost hidden ghost-like image of Hammill’s face.

Track listing

All tracks by Peter Hammill, except where noted. #"I Will Find You" #"Curtains" #"His Best Girl" #"Oasis" #"Incomplete Surrender" #"Fireships" #"Given Time" #"Reprise" (Hammill, David Lord) #"Gaia"

Personnel

- voice, guitar, keyboards * David Lord - keyboards * David Jackson - saxophone, flute *

Nic Potter NIC may refer to: Banking and insurance companies * National Insurance Corporation, Uganda * NIC Bank, a commercial bank in Kenya Politics, government and economics * National Ice Center, an agency that provides worldwide navigational ice an ...

- bass *Stuart Gordon - violin * John Ellis - guitar

Technical

* David Lord - recording engineer, mixing (Crescent Studios, Bath) *Paul Ridout - artwork

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fireships (album) Peter Hammill albums 1992 albums