- Audio CD (19 Aug 1988)
- Number of Discs: 1
- Label: Import (Megaphon)
- ASIN: B000024XD6
- Other Editions: Audio CD | MP3 Download
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,258,462 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
With this album, Hammill was now on his own. Van Der Graaf were just about no more and this album was Hammill a truly solo artist. "The Future Now" also felt like a new musical beginning. This was the time of Punk/New Wave and there was some of the indie ethic about the album. Though there were contributions from David Jackson and Graham Smith on a few tracks, this was definitely Hammill producing the goods on his own.
I think Hammill was very aware of the changing musical climate around him as the opening song "Pushing Thirty" saw him reflect on his personal status at the time, though he exclaims he "could still be Nadir". Age plays a part in "The Second Hand" which has Hammill experimenting with a Roland beat box, which he used throughout this and subsequent albums when the need arose. The next three tracks could be seen as some sort of trilogy, with the centre motif being, performance. The pitfalls of success in "Trappings", disappointment of the failed actor in "The Mousetrap (Caught In)" and the feeding frenzy of the avid fan seen as an "Energy Vampire". "The Future Now" is as pertinent today as it was "in the latter half of the twentieth century". Hammill takes his sonic experimenting to its limit with "The Cut" where he skews and manipulates the mix till the whole song weaves in and out as it segues into "Palinurus (Castaway). For me this is one of Hammill's best songs ever. It is beautifully arranged and produced. A rare use of harmonica brings a haunting quality to this, together with some gorgeous swirling synth and piano. A potent way to finish an album which to me still sounds fresh and invigorating as it did way back then.
The is one of Hammill's best remastering jobs. He really has brought out sounds and nuances which I don't recall existed on the original LP. It belies the fact it was recorded in Hammill's makeshift studio, using just 8-track and some primitive instrumentation too! Another classic album I'm afraid!
I think Hammill was very aware of the changing musical climate around him as the opening song "Pushing Thirty" saw him reflect on his personal status at the time, though he exclaims he "could still be Nadir". Age plays a part in "The Second Hand" which has Hammill experimenting with a Roland beat box, which he used throughout this and subsequent albums when the need arose. The next three tracks could be seen as some sort of trilogy, with the centre motif being, performance. The pitfalls of success in "Trappings", disappointment of the failed actor in "The Mousetrap (Caught In)" and the feeding frenzy of the avid fan seen as an "Energy Vampire". "The Future Now" is as pertinent today as it was "in the latter half of the twentieth century". Hammill takes his sonic experimenting to its limit with "The Cut" where he skews and manipulates the mix till the whole song weaves in and out as it segues into "Palinurus (Castaway). For me this is one of Hammill's best songs ever. It is beautifully arranged and produced. A rare use of harmonica brings a haunting quality to this, together with some gorgeous swirling synth and piano. A potent way to finish an album which to me still sounds fresh and invigorating as it did way back then.
The is one of Hammill's best remastering jobs. He really has brought out sounds and nuances which I don't recall existed on the original LP. It belies the fact it was recorded in Hammill's makeshift studio, using just 8-track and some primitive instrumentation too! Another classic album I'm afraid!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Apart from contributions from David Jackson and Graham Smith on sax and violin respectively this is a solo effort in every meaning of the term. Dating from 1978 this was Hammill's seventh solo album and the successor to the magnificent "Over". There's a balance here between "normal" pH songs and those such as "Mediaeval" and "The Cut" which use fairly left-field effects in place of the usual piano/guitar base. Both groups of songs are absolutely excellent and the album represents one of the high points in a career that isn't short of them. This remastered edition also includes live versions of "If I Could" and "The Mousetrap (Caught In)" recorded prior to the release of the original LP. One of my very favourite albums by anybody, ever.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
33 years after its first release and the latest Van Der Graaf Generator recording has just come out, a noisy (albeit sax-less) triumph, Hammill is still pushing boundaries and trying new things. So, why look back? Well, I'm not sure this is looking back. Listening to Future Now in this present, it still sounds fresh and in some ways groundbreaking. Listen to the strange rhythms and sounds pulsing along behind A Motor-Bike in Afrika, the strange phased and sweeping guitars on The Cut, it's not showing its age at all.
As for the subject matter: time, aging, the business and the world out there - still relevant. There are still people out there pushing thirty and wondering what comes next. The music business still ensnares the unwary with the trappings of success and a sterile pope still proscribes the pill.
Timeless, ageless - a classic
As for the subject matter: time, aging, the business and the world out there - still relevant. There are still people out there pushing thirty and wondering what comes next. The music business still ensnares the unwary with the trappings of success and a sterile pope still proscribes the pill.
Timeless, ageless - a classic
Most Recent Customer Reviews
What can I say??
Mr Hammill - top form - I feel indifferently towards it but there is so so so much more - as always - "SERIOUS FUN!"
Published on 10 Feb 2005 by Ma Whittingham
The Future, then...
To me, this is Hammill's last excellent album, although he continues to produce high standards of work to this day. Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2003 by "noonybanoony"
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