Roaring Forties (album)

Roaring Forties is the 21st studio album by Peter Hammill, released on his own Fie! label in 1994. It, and the following album, X My Heart, are Hammill's most recent albums that primarily contain an organic, full-band rock style. While there are occasional tracks on later albums in this style, Hammill's principal mode has moved since this album towards a more intimate, chamber-music style. The Roaring Forties is a name given, especially by sailors, to the latitudes between 40°S and 50°S, so called because of the boisterous and prevailing westerly winds.

Roaring Forties
Studio album by Peter Hammill
Released	12 September 1994[1]
Recorded	August 1993–May 1994
Genre	Art rock
Length	48:19
Label	Fie!
Producer	Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill chronology
The Noise (1992) Roaring Forties (1994) X My Heart (1996)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Classic Rock	[3]

The album also contains "A Headlong Stretch", one of Hammill's occasional long, episodic song suites (see also "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" from Pawn Hearts and "Flight" from A Black Box).

Track listing

All tracks composed by Peter Hammill

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Sharply Unclear"	5:43
2.	"The Gift Of Fire (Precursed)"	1:44
3.	"The Gift Of Fire (Talk Turkey)"	6:46
4.	"You Can't Want What You Always Get..."	5:58
5.	"...If You Haven't Got It Yet"	3:34
6.	"A Headlong Stretch" (Up Ahead)	3:30
7.	"A Headlong Stretch Continental Drift" (Continental Drift)	3:09
8.	"A Headlong Stretch" (The Twelve)	1:35
9.	"A Headlong Stretch" (Long Light)	3:01
10.	"A Headlong Stretch" (Backwards Man)	4:07
11.	"A Headlong Stretch" (As You Were)	1:59
12.	"A Headlong Stretch" (Or So I Said)	2:04
13.	"Your Tall Ship"	5:03

Personnel

• Peter Hammill - guitar, piano, vocals
• Nic Potter - bass on "Sharply Unclear" and "You Can't Want What You Always Get"
• Stuart Gordon - violin
• Simon Clark - organ on "The Gift of Fire"
• David Jackson - saxophone, flute
• Manny Elias - drums, percussion

Technical

• Peter Hammill - recording engineer, mixing (Terra Incognita, Bath)
• Paul Ridout - design, photography