Although not considered one of
Peter Hammill's best by longtime fans, 1988's In a Foreign Town does contain some worthwhile material. Produced by
Hammill himself, the album is far more upbeat than most of his past work, and sounds like mid-'80s
Genesis at times. But it may be one of
Hammill's most musically varied albums; just give a listen to the new wave sound of "Invisible Ink" (one of the album's catchiest and strongest tracks), the
Talking Heads-like "Sci-Finance (Revisited)," and the
Adrian Belew/
King Crimson sound of "Auto." But the anemic '80s production of the material tends to take away from the compositions; it's the complete opposite of earlier
Hammill releases, where he kept things more straight-ahead. The song "Under Cover Names" contains completely un-
Hammill-like, cheesy Miami Vice keyboard sounds. The only track where the
Peter Hammill-of-old resurfaces is on the stark piano/voice composition "The Play's the Thing." If the one-dimensional production was replaced with more interesting sounds, In a Foreign Town would have turned out better, since there was still plenty of strong
Hammill songwriting present. ~ Greg Prato