None of the Above [Import]

Peter Hammill | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 22, 2000)
• Original Release Date: 2000
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Fie
• ASIN: B00004TAXH
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,593 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Touch and Go

2. Naming the Rose

3. How Far I Fell

4. Somebody Bad Enough

5. Tango for One

6. Like Veronica

7. In a Bottle

8. Astart

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Everyone You Hold Part II, June 24, 2000

By 

Alan Burant (Edmonton, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: None of the Above (Audio CD)

Hammill's recent recording, None of the Above, follows the pattern of his 1997 release, Everyone You Hold. Subdued, but excellent songwriting.

The CD does not contain as many catchy hooks as Everyone You Hold or have the soundscapes between the songs. So, the album isn't as accessible. I personally feel the first half of this recording is much better than the second half, with Touch and Go, How Far I Fell and Somebody Bad Enough being my favourite tunes. Lyrically, Somebody Bad Enough seems to be "Energy Vampires" (from The Future Now) Part 2 except this time Hammill takes the perspective of the obsessive fan within the lyric.

The second half tends to miss the mark sometimes musically. The songs search hard in trying to find a melody, but fall a little short. However, the closer "Astart" is quite good but could have used some better production and a better sounding piano keyboard!

So, all in all, a decent effort but not as strong as Everyone You Hold, which in my books is one of Hammill's finest.

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Hammill's most 'literary' album, April 3, 2008

By 

Stephen Andrews "salvation21" (London) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: None of the Above (Audio CD)

A quite beautiful album, though much underrated by fans. Each song here has a strong narrative - tales within songs. Love lost and celebrated in 'Naming the Rose'; a man's obsession with a younger woman in 'How Far I Fell'; domestic violence in 'Like Veronica' and is that a hint of the novel 'Perfume' contained in 'In A Bottle'? Hammill has always had a strong narrative inclination but here it's at its most fully-formed. The album is veiled in a textured, filmic production, the rich tenor of Hammill's voice presented here more vividly than perhaps on any of his other albums. Backing vocals come and go, drifting in and out like veils of mist, lead vocals up-front, filling the screen, Hammill almost a narrator rather than a singer, leading us through the stories. An excellent cover, too, appropriately like a little notebook showing the composition and drafts of the lyrics in Hammill's distinctive spidery scrawl. Listen in and be carried away into other worlds ...

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another "be calm" cd from Hammill, June 26, 2000

By 

A Customer - See all my reviews

This review is from: None of the Above (Audio CD)

I would compare this newest outing from master hammill to several of his past CD's: mainly "Everyone you hold", a little "X my Heart" and some of " This". All songs are quiet and introspective. He plays all instruments except for a couple of songs, and even his two daughters, both accomplished singers, appear here. This is not one of his best records, i must admit; it lacks a little strength and passion in my opinion. It contains several excellent compositions and a few dull ones. Anyway, it is well worth as for Hammill fans.