VDGG

[Maeyc Hewitt]

I simply can't stop listening to Van Der Graaf Generator who must be the best prog outfit ever. Pawn Hearts remains my favourite on the strength of side 1, though Godbluff and Still Life are more consistently brilliant throughout.

I expect you all agree :-)

[Ronny Wærnes]

I cannot! not even if I wanted. VDGG is one of my holes in prog, so I must simply do the only decent thing. Start buying it! Other than that: KC is the best prog outfir ever. By the years being the only band gone through some massive changes in both personell and style, still being a prog outfit! Now, that's gotta count for something! No?

[Alan Holmes]

VdGG and KC are the *only* two prog bands I really seriously rate - I actually enjoy listening to Gabriel-period Genesis, Gentle Giant and PFM (and some others), but they all depend on some degree of nostalgia taking me back to my teen years, whereas both VdGG and KC totally stand up unconditionally today without any baggage.
I'm not a huge fan of Belew-period KC, although I'm beginning to appreciate it more now than I used to, especially after hearing some live recordings, which, as is typical for KC, tend to be far better than the studio recordings.
btw the "Great Deceiver" 4CD set (from the 1973 line-up) is being reissued next week at a far more reasonable price than previously, and is probably the best KC live recordings release officially.

[Ronny Wærnes]

wow, alan, pls remind me next week then. I have been debating with myself if I could afford it, but now maybe i could. A hint of the best place to get it is also welcome.

[jake shields]

I totally agree - Godbluff is my #1 - not a duffer on the whole album and the last 6-7 minutes of Scorched Earth must be the most intense stuff outside of Merzbow and Throbbing Gristle. World Record had its moments too. Has anyone seen the trio version of the band? Just in case you missed this here is a wee concert by them:

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/vdgg_amsterdam140407.htm

[Michael Eisenberg]

I have to say I'm really partial to Godbluff. I remember crusing around in my friends VW Jetta that was equipped with about 18 speakers of various sorts cranking this release. The tune Sleepwalkers was especially gripping!!

Still Life is great too...although the last cut meanders a little to long for me. Pilgrams is the highlight for me on this one.

...and then of course Pawn Hearts...what can I say...I love it to death. But on the VDGG scale I have to rank it a tincture below Godbluff. Maybe I just didnt have the memories associated with this as I did Godbluff...whatever...any of these albums rank extremely high on the prog rock ladder.

best
Michael

[Nick M]

I only discovered VdGG earlier this year- I'd heard the name being bandied about forever, but somehow managed never to hear any of the music. In a way I'm glad I missed them when I was a teenage proghead- not sure I'd have liked them then as much as I do now, though I do regret missing the 2005 reunion tour (although I'd have to say that "Real Time", the live album of the 2005 RFH show, was a teensy bit disappointing- I think you can hear that they hadn't played together for a long time, it all sounds a little bit tentative).

I'm still getting to grips with VdGG/Hammill but my favourite albums thus far are these three:

Pawn Hearts- "Lemmings" is probably my favourite VdGG track, and "..Lighthouse Keepers" probably my second favourite. Extraordinary, audacious, overwhelming, gut-wrenching. "What choice is there left but to try?"

Godbluff- a more streamlined approach, every track a winner. The first VdGG I bought, played it over and over again, at first I just didn't know what to make of it, but there is a kind of haunted beauty in these deceptively simple sounding arrangements- a magnificent album.

Vital- amazing live album from the end of the 70s, not the classic line-up but something else again, the sound is just brutal in places. Fabulous version of "Pioneers Over C", which I don't like at all in its original studio guise. "Ship Of Fools" is brilliant too (never heard the studio version of this- think it was a b-side?)

I'm actually slightly surprised that Still Life is rated as highly as these by so many- I do like that album but I don't think it's as consistent or as brilliant as those above- "La Rossa" is the pick of the tracks for me.

I can well understand why some people find Hammill annoying- and certainly when he's bad, he's awful, but walking that line between grand and grandiose, drama and melodrama, is part of what they were about, it seems to me. The best VdGG stuff is incredibly emotive, and for me it *completely* outclasses everything I've ever heard by King Crimson, about whom I'm lukewarm, though they had their moments. In a way it bugs me that VdGG are constantly compared to Crimson- I can understand why, but KC even at their best seem emotionally unengaging, whereas VdGG are all about raw emotion, passion, drama.

Haven't yet heard World Record or Quiet Zone/Pleasure Dome. One thing I *have* heard, which I cannot recommend except to curious completists, is an album called "Now and Then", credited to both VdGG and Banton/Jackson/Evans- I picked this up in Minus Zero records in Notting Hill recently. I'm not sure if it's even a legit release- it's ostensibly a collection of out-takes and unreleased demos, though it appears that most of the tracks were recorded by the trio (minus Hammill) sometime in the 80s (in keeping with the bootleg feel, there are liner notes, by Hammill, which appear to refer to a completely different set of recordings, possible exception of one or two tracks)- it's, er, not very good- most of it's cheesy electro-pop with slick jazz-lite touches- the most interesting track is a bizarre noise piece by Guy Evans, and there is one track (probably from the mid-70s, though it may have been tinkered with at a later date) with Hammill on vocs, which is OK-ish, but nowhere near the standard of the official releases.

Talking of Guy Evans- I'm curious to know if he has ever done any solo albums? The two solo pieces I've heard by him (the one mentioned above, and the (much better but equally out-there) "Angle of Incidents" on the Pawn Hearts remaster) have suggested he's possibly the most experimentally-minded member of the crew.

[Andrew]

"The Quiet Zone/ The Pleasure Dome" is their best in my opinion. VdGG purists may disagree as it's significantly lacking in the bombast and melodrama of their other albums and doesn't have any of David Jackson's explosive saxophone breaks (he contributes to one track but isn't listed as a band member). It does have some of Hammill's best lyric writing though and the punk/ prog rock crossover sound that Hammill had been experimenting with since 'Nadir's Big Chance' works really well on this album. Check out the violin playing (Graham Smith) on it then listen to "Sing Harpy" on The Fall's "Extricate" to hear one place where VdGG's influence has reached...

[Nick M]

Very interesting Andrew- I'll definitely check it out. When I bought "Vital" I must admit I was a little concerned when I saw it had violin on it - the letters "ELO" crossed my mind- but then I played it. Certainly on "Vital" the violin sounds raw and edgy and absolutely in keeping with the general feel of the music. In fact the intro to "Still Life" on that album is one of my favourite VdGG moments, and it's the violin that makes it.

"Sing Harpy"- one of my favourite Fall tracks from one of my favourite Fall albums- funny that "Extricate" never seems to come up when people discuss the Fall, I think it's terrific.

[Andy Wilson]

Martin sent me loads of VDGG this week to listen to - a live DVD and two live CDs. I'm dying to hear what the fuss is about ;-)

[Maeyc Hewitt]

If that's the Leverkusen DVD then you're in for a treat - close your eyes and it could be 1973. As good as it gets IMHO.
Enjoy.

[Nick M]

VdGG fans- I'm currently seeding a FLAC torrent of VdGG live, 23-9-71, originally taken from a BBC radio broadcast apparently. Grab it while it's hot via Zomb:

http://zombtracker.the-zomb.com/browse-b.php?search=Van+Der+Graaf+G...

You'll need to create a Zomb account if you don't have one but this was straightforward enough when I did it (unlike dimeadozen).

[Martin Brauner aka Allen Smithee fka Mister Miller]

yes sir jarvis

i totally agree ... i am currently addicted to them but i prefer the live shows from this year ... and still life is really a great song ... you remember our drunken version ... ?

and ronny this hole MUST be filled, each vdgg song is better than your whole rush collection ... believe me

alan smithee