''pH7'' is an album by

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 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 ...

in September 1979. It was Hammill's eighth solo album and his last release on the Charisma label. The song "Porton Down" refers to the

Porton Down Porton Down is a science park in Wiltshire, England, just northeast of the village of Porton, near Salisbury. It is home to two British government facilities: a site of the Ministry of Defence's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl ...

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'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

". The song "Not For Keith" is a tribute to Keith Ellis, a former member of the band

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commerc ...

, who had then died just recently. "Cover note: The photographs were all taken late at night in NYC. As we left Dan's he photographer'splace in search of a cab Graham mithand I ran into some trouble from which, frankly, we were lucky to escape...". "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 Colin Henry Wilson (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was an English writer, philosopher and novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal, eventually writing more than a hundred books. Wilson called his phil ...

Track listing

All tracks composed by Peter Hammill; except where noted. In 2006, the album was remastered and expanded, adding alternative versions of "Mr X (Gets Tense)" and "Faculty X" recorded for

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

's BBC Radio 1 programme, as well as a fresh sleeve note by Hammill. US/Canada vinyl pressings have an additional track at the end of side A, "The Polaroid".

Personnel

*Peter Hammill – voice, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, drum machine * Graham Smith – violin * David Jackson – saxophone, flute

Technical

*Peter Hammill - recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Wiltshire) *Pat Moran – mixing (

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was originally founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Facilities Rockfield is a two- ...

, Monmouth) *Rocking Russian – artwork *Daniel C. Kirk – photography

References

External links

Peter Hammill's notes on the album
{{Authority control Peter Hammill albums 1979 albums Charisma Records albums