Sitting Targets is the tenth studio album by Peter Hammill, released on Virgin Records in June 1981. It contains several songs in the raw new wave style typical of Hammill's work in the late 1970s and early 1980s, following the dissolution of his band Van der Graaf Generator, and one of his occasional tender ballads, "Ophelia". "Stranger Still", "Sign" and "Central Hotel" have all been regularly performed by Hammill live in recent[when?] years.
| Sitting Targets | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 5 June 1981[1] | |||
| Recorded | November 1980–February 1981 | |||
| Studio | Sofa Sound, Wiltshire | |||
| Genre | Art rock | |||
| Length | 44:24 | |||
| Label | Virgin | |||
| Producer | Peter Hammill | |||
| Peter Hammill chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
| Sounds | (surprising) [3] |
"Ophelia" was re-worked for Hammill's 1984 album The Love Songs.
Artwork
editThe cover features crash test dummies in photographs supplied by the Ford Motor Company.
Track listing
editAll tracks are written by Peter Hammill
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Breakthrough" | 4:01 |
| 2. | "My Experience" | 3:20 |
| 3. | "Ophelia" | 3:16 |
| 4. | "Empress's Clothes" | 4:07 |
| 5. | "Glue" | 3:49 |
| 6. | "Hesitation" | 4:11 |
| Total length: | 22:41 | |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sitting Targets" | 5:27 |
| 2. | "Stranger Still" | 5:00 |
| 3. | "Sign" | 3:50 |
| 4. | "What I Did" | 3:43 |
| 5. | "Central Hotel" | 4:42 |
| Total length: | 22:41 | |
Personnel
edit- Peter Hammill - vocals, guitar, keyboards
- Guy Evans - drums (tracks: 1,2,6,7,9)
- David Jackson - saxophone, flute (tracks: 4,6,7,11)
- Morris Pert - percussion (tracks: 4,7,10)
- Phil Harrison - synthesisers (tracks: 3,8,9)
Technical
edit- Peter Hammill - recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Wiltshire)
- David Lord - mixing (Crescent Studios, Bath)
- Rocking Russian - design
- Ford Motor Company - photography
References
edit- ^ "Music week" (PDF). p. 23.
- ^ Couture, François. Sitting Targets at AllMusic
- ^ Sounds review