Nadir's Big Chance [Original recording remastered, Import]

Peter Hammill | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered, Import
• Label: EMI Europe Generic
• ASIN: B000H309PQ
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #55,365 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overlooked 70s Masterpiece, July 4, 2005

By 

Bryan Treitler "Bryan" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nadir's By Chance (Audio CD)

This is a fantastic record! Peter Hammill never made another album like this, and it's a shame: not only is it remarkably consistent, well constructed, and thematically coherent, but the entire Van Der Graaf Generator group plays like mad all over the thing, and they play it relatively straight (which for them means still quite off-kilter). It rocks hard as hell, the songs have recognizable pop hooks (that's pretty much never the case with Hammill), and the vocal performances are simply amazing (which is pretty much always the case with Hammill!) It's wonderfully bizarre to consider that Hammill had this record in him, especially when you trace his album releases throughout the seventies, but the fact remains that one of the most influential and ambitious "prog" rockers released a totally accessible hard rock album smack dab in the middle of his prime! It's a totally overlooked treat and highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The first UK punk-rock album?, April 6, 2003

By 

Michael Topper (Pacific Palisades, California United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nadir's By Chance (Audio CD)

"Nadir's Big Chance" was labeled a seminal influence by none other than Johnny Rotten, along with albums by Can and Captain Beefheart. That Rotten would not name albums by The Stooges, The New York Dolls and MC5 but rather three equally obscure art-rock releases is truly puzzling, although one listen to this CD will draw some lines. Hammill invented an alter-ego for himself here who was intended to be the antithesis of all of the lengthy, sophisticated prog of which he had played an integral part in the early 70s, as well as pretty much all of the rest of the rock scene at the time of its creation in 1975. Although elements of art-rock certainly remain (few of the early UK punk albums contained saxaphone, and a track like "The Institute Of Mental Health, Burning" sounds more New Wave), it is a much more succinct album than any of his previous releases, featuring
a lot of power-chord thrashing, angry vocals and maximum volume. The mix is blurry and distorted, and while the second half of the album begins to lag, with the songs seeming not so much punk but some form of 70s pop-metal, it was still a radical departure for the man and one that showed an intuition of the future.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of solo 70's output., April 7, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nadir's By Chance (Audio CD)

Nadir's Big Chance is, by far, Hammill's finest solo effort of the 70's (if not his entire career). The strengths of these sessions make clear the weaknesses of other efforts. Unlike the majority of his other 70's solo work, this outing is a band effort. The band being VDGG. Unlike typical VDGG efforts (if there is such a thing) the band downplay their particular idiosyncratic inclinations to support Hammill's vision. They do so brilliantly. There are moments where one can hear a similarity to mid-70's Roxy Music or glitter-era Bowie (without the effeminate overtones) but more times than not this is an original sound. There are some hard-core rockers mixed with quirky English ballads that all in all make for an unheralded classic. Where Hammill often erred in other solo efforts was that he would, more times than not, opt to play all of (or most of) the instruments himself. He is not a gifted enough musician to make such ambitions hold up. Here the band spares him the effort and creates a joyous noise. Highly recommended...Simon