Nadir’s Big Chance
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Nadir’s Big Chance (1975), is Hammill’s often-referred-to punk album, anticipating the British Punk movement. Johnny Rotten amongst others, has name-checked Hammill and this album as an influence. Rikki Nadir is Hammill’s alter-ego on this album, the perpetual punk who likes noise and smashing guitars.
The album isn’t nearly as bad as you might expect from that synopsis .. in fact quite the opposite. There are even some exceptional ballads, amongst the gems here. |
The songwriting and lyrics are much more simple than you’d expect from Hammill, if you were accustomed to VDGG epics. Yet, even with the stripped-down songwriting, the songs on this album still show Hammill’s usual diverse approach - varying wildly from the tender Airport all the way to the raucous title track.