''The Margin'' is a live 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 ...

, documenting early nineteen-eighties concerts by his K Group. Hammill used the alias K (on vocals, piano and guitar),

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 ...

was Mozart (on bass guitar),

Guy Evans Guy Randolph Evans (born 17 June 1947) is an English drummer and a member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Career Whilst at the University of Warwick (1965–68), Evans played in the university band which was called The ...

was Brain (on drums), and John Ellis was Fury (on backing vocals and guitar). The album was originally released as a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

on Foundry Records in 1985. It was reissued some years later on CD on

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. It grew to be a worldwid ...

in the UK with one track missing in order to make it fit onto a single CD and on Line Records in Germany with two tracks missing. Hammill then reissued it again on his own Fie! record label, as ''The Margin +''. This issue did not restore the track lost from the UK CD edition from the original vinyl release, "The Second Hand", but included an additional disc of material previously released as a live

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called ''The Secret Asteroid Jungle''. The liner notes explain that Hammill chose to include a different performance of "The Second Hand". The original album (and the first disc of ''The Margin +'') is a live-recording without audience sounds ("No applause, no overdubs - This is what happened on stage"), the additional disc of ''The Margin +'' does have audience sounds ("Applause, no overdubs - This is what happened out front").Album notes by Peter Hammill for "The Margin +", CD (2001). FIE 9125. The album cover is a stark black and white photograph of Hammill by the noted Dutch photographer Anton Corbijn. It has become an iconic image of Hammill, often used for live posters and other promotional material.

Track listing

The Margin

# "The Future Now" (3:46) # "Porton Down" (5:38) # "Stranger Still" (6:22) # "Sign" (6:36) # "Jargon King" (3:15) # "The Second Hand" (5:57) (missing on the CD reissue) # "Empress's Clothes" (5:49) # "The Sphinx In The Face" (5:12) # "Labour Of Love" (5:48) # "Sitting Targets" (5:44) # "Patient" (7:28) # "Flight" (20:35)

+

# "The Second Hand" (6:03) # "My Experience" (4:13) # "Paradox Drive" (4:18) # "Modern" (7:42) # "Film Noir" (5:06) # "The Great Experiment" (5:47) # "Happy Hour" (9:46) # "Central Hotel" (5:01) # "Again" (4:22) # "If I Could" (5:52)

Personnel

The K Group * Peter Hammill - vocals, guitar, piano * John Ellis - lead guitar and backing vocals *

- bass guitar *

- drums, percussion

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margin, The Peter Hammill live albums 1985 live albums