A Black Box
| A Black Box | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | August 1980 | |||
| Recorded | November 1979 – April 1980 | |||
| Studio | Sofa Sound, Wiltshire | |||
| Genre | Art rock | |||
| Label | S-Type Records | |||
| Producer | Peter Hammill | |||
| Peter Hammill chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Record Mirror | (elusive) [2] |
A Black Box is the ninth studio album by Peter Hammill, originally released on S-Type Records in August 1980.
Hammill performed nearly all the instrumentation himself, including the drum parts, a task he had first undertaken on his previous album pH7. His ex-Van der Graaf Generator colleague David Jackson also made a guest appearance, along with David Ferguson of the new-wave band Random Hold, whose debut album Hammill had produced.
Side 1 of the record featured a collection of songs, while side 2 was devoted to "Flight", a lengthy multi-section song. This was the first time Hammill had included a lengthy song of this type on one of his solo albums.
The short-lived S-Type label (the name was a pun on "stereo-type"), on which the album was originally released, was set up by Hammill and his then manager Gail Colson. Colson had formerly been a director at Hammill's previous record company, Charisma Records, who had dropped him from their roster just prior to the recording of A Black Box. The S-Type label does not appear to have been a successful business project, and the album was later licensed to Virgin Records, who have since also acquired Hammill's Charisma catalogue.
Track listing[edit]
All songs written by Peter Hammill, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Golden Promises" | 2:55 | |
| 2. | "Losing Faith In Words" | 3:38 | |
| 3. | "Jargon King" | 2:43 | |
| 4. | "Fogwalking" | 4:06 | |
| 5. | "The Spirit" | 2:38 | |
| 6. | "In Slow Time" | Hammill, David Ferguson | 3:26 |
| 7. | "The Wipe" | 1:51 | |
| Total length: | 21:15 | ||
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Flight"
| 19:37 |
| Total length: | 19:37 | |
Personnel[edit]
- Peter Hammill – vocals, guitar, keyboards, drums, bass
- David Jackson – saxophone, flute on 4 and 8
- David Ferguson – synthesizer and tambourine on 4, 6 and 7
Technical[edit]
- Peter Hammill - recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Wiltshire)
- David Lord – mixing (Crescent Studios, Bath)
References[edit]
- ^ Sinclair, Ali. A Black Box at AllMusic
- ^ Record Mirror review
