Nadir's Big Chance

Following the break-up of Van der Graaf Generator in late 1972, Peter Hammill pursued his solo career in earnest. Released in 1973 and 1974, respectively, both Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night and The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage were primarily acoustic affairs, showcasing Hammill’s one-man show (but not without contributions from former VdGG members). There’s no license in labeling them as love/hate affairs; Hammill’s voice could reach manic proportions, often bordering on the unlistenable: Check out the former album’s “In the End.” But In Camera, also released in 1974, was quite darksome and experimental. Of its many highlights were the epic “Faint Heart and The Sermon” and the VdGG-like “Gog,” which then sank into the murky tape loops of “Magog.” On Nadir’s Big Chance, however, Hammill gathered Banton, Evans and Jackson, and assumed the role of protagonist Rikki Nadir, a “loud, aggressive perpetual sixteen-year-old.” It’s definitely a group effort; and in fact, the quartet agreed to reform VdGG during the recording of the album. Here, Hammill trades in his usual one-man pallor for an altogether livelier and electric set. The album alternates between the urgency of the title track or the angst-ridden “Nobody’s Business,” and the contemplative “Shingle Song” or the languorous “Pompeii.” “The Institute Of Mental Health, Burning” though is particularly inventive; backwards and panning guitars certainly add to the arrangement. Hammill reprises “People You Were Going To” from VdGG’s first single, as well as Chris Judge Smith’s “Been Alone So Long.” The album concludes with the funky electric clavinet of “Two or Three Spectres,” which is a perfect example of Hammill’s newfound attitude. The proto-punk album would garner near-mythical status, with kudos from artists as diverse as David Bowie and John Lydon. Hammill then put his solo career on pause, as the “second generation” of VdGG was just months from taking the stage.