Sitting Targets is the tenth studio album by Peter Hammill, released on Virgin Records in June 1981. It contains several songs in the raw new wave style typical of Hammill's work in the late 1970s and early 1980s, following the dissolution of his band Van der Graaf Generator, and one of his occasional tender ballads, "Ophelia". "Stranger Still", "Sign" and "Central Hotel" have all been regularly performed by Hammill live in recent[when?] years.

Sitting Targets
Studio album by
Released5 June 1981 (5 June 1981)[1]
RecordedNovember 1980–February 1981
StudioSofa Sound, Wiltshire
GenreArt rock
Length44:24
LabelVirgin
ProducerPeter Hammill
Peter Hammill chronology
A Black Box
(1980)
Sitting Targets
(1981)
Enter K
(1982)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
Sounds(surprising) [3]

"Ophelia" was re-worked for Hammill's 1984 album The Love Songs.

Artwork

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The cover features crash test dummies in photographs supplied by the Ford Motor Company.

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Peter Hammill

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Breakthrough"4:01
2."My Experience"3:20
3."Ophelia"3:16
4."Empress's Clothes"4:07
5."Glue"3:49
6."Hesitation"4:11
Total length:22:41
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Sitting Targets"5:27
2."Stranger Still"5:00
3."Sign"3:50
4."What I Did"3:43
5."Central Hotel"4:42
Total length:22:41

Personnel

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Technical

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  • Peter Hammill - recording engineer (Sofa Sound, Wiltshire)
  • David Lord - mixing (Crescent Studios, Bath)
  • Rocking Russian - design
  • Ford Motor Company - photography

References

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  1. ^ "Music week" (PDF). p. 23.
  2. ^ Couture, François. Sitting Targets at AllMusic
  3. ^ Sounds review
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