Cargo Records

The Fall of the House of Usher (deconstructed/rebuilt)

Radical changes to the instrumental backing, with some vocal changes. The result is a definitive recording of the work, greatly enhanced in sound and intensity. The cast remains: Peter Hammill, Andy Bell, Lene Lovich, Sara-Jane Morris and Herbert Gronemeyer. This will undoubtedly be of interest to all who are already acquainted with the opera and to many others who are interested in the stretching of musical forms... In common with much of PH's work over the last 30 years, on its initial release The Fall of the House of Usher was both extravagantly praised and savagely condemned by small minorities of enthusiasts and detractors, while the majority of (even sophisticated) music consumers remained quite unaware of its existence. The first version remains a true, accurate and honourable rendering of the work, but even its most ardent admirers would probably agree that the austerity of the musical arrangements and its understated production techniques made for an uncompromising and demanding listening experience.

Peter Hammill has now carried out something between a radical remix and a completely new recording of the original work. The instrumentation has been completely revised and dozens of electric guitars are used in massed groups which fill a choral or orchestral role. PH's own vocals as Roderick Usher have mostly been re-recorded and the resulting central performance is an extraordinary and spine-chilling vocal tour de force.

Track Listing

1. Unenviable role
2. That must be the house
3. Architecture
4. Sleeper
5. One thing at a time
6. I shun the light
7. Leave this house
8. Dreaming
9. Chromic catalepsy
10. Herbalist
11. Evil that is done
12. Five years ago
13. It's over now
14. Influence
15. No rot
16. She is dead
17. Beating of the heart
18. Haunted palace
19. I dared not speak
20. She comes towards the door/The fall