Roaring Forties (album)

Roaring Forties is the 21st studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his own Fie! label in 1994. It, and the following album, X My Heart, are Hammill's most recent albums that primarily contain an organic, full-band rock style. While there are occasional tracks on later albums in this style, Hammill's principal mode has moved since this album towards a more intimate, chamber-music style. The Roaring Forties is a name given, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S, so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds.

Roaring Forties
Studio album by Peter Hammill
Released	September 1994
Recorded	August 1993–May 1994
Genre	Art rock
Length	48:19
Label	Fie!
Producer	Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill chronology
The Noise (1992) Roaring Forties (1994) X My Heart (1996)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Classic Rock	[2]

The album also contains "A Headlong Stretch", one of Hammill's occasional long, episodic song suites (see also "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" from Pawn Hearts and "Flight" from A Black Box).

Track listing

All tracks composed by Peter Hammill

1. "Sharply Unclear" - 5:42
2. "The Gift of Fire (Talk Turkey)" - 8:31
3. "You Can't Want What You Always Get" - 9:36
4. "A Headlong Stretch" - 19:32
   • "Up Ahead"
   • "Continental Drift"
   • "The Twelve"
   • "Long Light"
   • "Backwards Man"
   • "As You Were"
   • "Or So I Said"
5. "Your Tall Ship" - 4:58

Personnel

• Peter Hammill - guitar, piano, vocals
• Nic Potter - bass on "Sharply Unclear" and "You Can't Want What You Always Get"
• Stuart Gordon - violin
• Simon Clark - organ on "The Gift of Fire"
• David Jackson - saxophone, flute
• Manny Elias - drums, percussion

Technical

• Peter Hammill - recording engineer, mixing (Terra Incognita, Bath)
• Paul Ridout - design, photography

References

1. Sinclair, Ali. Roaring Forties at AllMusic
2. Barton, Geoff (February 2010). "Peter Hammill - Roaring Forties". Classic Rock. No. 141. p. 93.