Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night

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Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night

Studio album by Peter Hammill

Released

1973

John Anthony

Professional reviews

All Music Guide link

Peter Hammill chronology

Fool's Mate
(1971)

Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night
(1973)

The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage
(1974)

Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night was the second solo album by British singer-songwriter Peter Hammill. It followed in the aftermath of the breakup of Hammill's band Van der Graaf Generator, although (as with many of Hammill's "solo" albums from this period) the other members of VdGG all perform on the album, blurring the distinction between solo and group work.

Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night was produced by John Anthony at Rockfield Studios, Wales, for the first time using pre-recorded parts done by Peter Hammill in his home studio in Worth. For final mixing the then much better equipped Trident Studios were used. The album was released in 1973 on Charisma records.

Some of the songs ("German Overalls" and "In the End") relate to VdGG's decision to split, following an exhausting, demoralising and poverty-stricken experience of being a touring rock band^[1].

Hammill has continued to perform some of the album's tracks (particularly "Easy to Slip Away", which relates to him losing touch with student housemates Mike and actress Susan Penhaligon, who were also namechecked in the VdGG song "Refugees") in concert to the present day.

A number of songs on the album were originally planned for inclusion on the next VdGG album, including the complex and atmospheric "(In the) Black Room/The Tower". This song was later performed on stage by VdGG when the band reformed in 1975, and also during their 2005 reunion.

The cover was designed by Paul Whitehead, who also was the artist for Fool's Mate as well as for other VdGG and Genesis albums in the beginning of the 1970s. It shows Peter Hammill's astrological sign scorpio twice, as a painting of a real scorpion and as part of a personal logo which Hammill introduced with this album and which would appear on the covers of many coming releases. The photo on the front side was taken by Bettina Hohls in Hamburg.