Van Der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill

This band reminds me of Tool a lot...not musically, but more towards the intermeshing of personalities. 
 
You take 4 guys, each of them not exactly the greatest of all time at their respective instruments (with the exception of Carey, maybe) but each one is truly a visionary with much devotion to creating their own "voice" with their instrument.  Then, you have to get these four obviously eccentric guys to get along with each other in an intensely creative environment, each trying to retain what they've accomplished as individuals but also working towards the whole of a song/album. 
 
VDGG is one of the most unique sounding bands of all time.

Ok, Peter Hammill's Over came in the mail earlier this week, and it's been in heavy rotation for the past few days.

After the first listen, I wasn't too impressed with it besides "Time Heals."  It wasn't until I sat down with headphones and lyric booklet when it finally "hit" me.  It's hard to listen to this album and not feel the intense emotion that Hammill spits out with every line.

Couple of my favorite parts:

-The transition in "Time Heals" for the "Sooner or later...." part.  It kinda reminds me Peter Gabriel's I Grieve.
-All of "This Side Of The Looking Glass."  I actually got a little teary eyed reading the lyrics with the music for the first time....nice use of an orchestra.  This song reminds me of Fish's A Gentleman's Excuse Me a little bit.
-Pretty dark lyrics for "Betrayed"....love the part at "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN ANYMORE"
-All of Lost And Found

"I'll hold my peace forever..." - Did Fish lift this line for Script For A Jester's Tear?  In fact, this song reminds me a lot of Script.

After hearing this album, I went and ordered In Camera and Silent Corner and the Empty Stage.  Looking forward to digging into those two as well.

"Over" gets my vote for most depressing album ever...or best break-up album..or the album you SHOULDN'T listen to if you've just broken up with someone.   None of that takes away from its greatness, tho.
 
Can't wait for your reaction to "In Camera"; worth the price alone for "Gog/Magog". Also, whenever people have asked me over the years "What is prog rock", I've often just showed them the cover...it explains so much.

"I'll hold my peace forever..." - Did Fish lift this line for Script For A Jester's Tear?  In fact, this song reminds me a lot of Script.

 
Yep. Over was a big influence on young Fish. It can be seen on the back cover of either Script or Fugazi, and Hammill's Fool's Mate is visible in one of them as well. One of my favorite Over moments occurs in "On Tuesdays", with the line "I was too busy scrambling for each moment, now I don't know what I did with all the time...".
 

Can't wait for your reaction to "In Camera"; worth the price alone for "Gog/Magog".

 
A phenomenal album, to say the least. I love the whole thing.
 
While the comet spreads its tail across the sky.... 

Time for a bump!

Anyone else get Hammill's new album Singularity?  I received it for Christmas, and after 3 spins, it gets from me.

I will comment more when I become more familiar with it.

I picked up a couple of VDGG albums a month or so ago (Least We Can Do and H to He), and I've been blown away by them.  Along with my recent discovery of Gentle Giant, I've found a whole new side of prog... and I'm loving it!

I picked up a couple of VDGG albums a month or so ago (Least We Can Do and H to He), and I've been blown away by them.  Along with my recent discovery of Gentle Giant, I've found a whole new side of prog... and I'm loving it!

 
Glad to hear it! You can move on now to the next album in that period, what many consider to be their ultimate album, Pawn Hearts. After that the band split for 4 years before coming back with a different sound (somewhat) with PH playing guitar. They released an even better (IMO) series of albums beginning with Godbluff. And as I've mentioned many times, you also can't go wrong with PH's solo output from that period, Silent Corner, In Camera... just brilliant stuff!!
 
Drumline, haven't heard the brand new PH but am looking forward to your review.
 

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

I picked up a couple of VDGG albums a month or so ago (Least We Can Do and H to He), and I've been blown away by them.  Along with my recent discovery of Gentle Giant, I've found a whole new side of prog... and I'm loving it!

Glad to hear it! You can move on now to the next album in that period, what many consider to be their ultimate album, Pawn Hearts. After that the band split for 4 years before coming back with a different sound (somewhat) with PH playing guitar. They released an even better (IMO) series of albums beginning with Godbluff. And as I've mentioned many times, you also can't go wrong with PH's solo output from that period, Silent Corner, In Camera... just brilliant stuff!!

Drumline, haven't heard the brand new PH but am looking forward to your review.

Unfortunately, my local record store didn't have Pawn Hearts in stock, else I'd have already purchased it.  I'll be ordering it online soon, though, along with a few other hard to find albums.  Thanks for the advice!

I'm not that good at reviewing albums, but if you don't want any spoilers for PH's new album, ignore this post.




Our Eyes Give It Shape - A straightforward rocker ala "Pushing Thirty"...in fact, this song wouldn't be too out of place on The Future Now.  Hammill delivers a short-but-sweet distorted guitar solo here.  The lyrics in a nutshell deal with seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Event Horizon - Very calm and moody...Hammill paints an interesting atmosphere with just his acoustic guitar and vocals, and some synth background sounds.  Not much more to say.

Famous Last Words - Quite possibly my favorite track on the album.  Starts off with just vocals, keyboard, and a stringed instruments (guitar...harp maybe?), and gradually builds in intensity.  By the second chorus, we get that "chill inducing" factor here, with the addition of drums, bass, distorted guitar, and lots of overdubbed background vocals.  Lyrics are very dark, and deal with Hammill's disgust with last words and how they've become so cliche.  "It's a little too late for sorry...in a race against the clock...now you hit that mental block...time to take that poison cup...now your time is all used up."

Naked To The Flame - Holy layered vocals Batman!  This is one very interesting and cool song.  Throughout most of the song, the lyrics are spoken in one channel, sung in both, with lots of background vocals added in as well.  Adds a nice complexity to a song that could just be basically Hammill and his acoustic guitar.

Meanwhile My Mother - A calm, serene song, with a gorgeous melody.  Nice use of organ and strings.  I don't have much to say about this song other than that "I like it."

Vainglorious Boy - The other "rocker" on this album.  Some nice tasteful guitar playing on here.  Hammill proves with this track that his increasing age and years of smoking have little to no effect on his voice.  He sounds incredible.

Of Wire, Of Wood - Strange and short (only 1:30) instrumental.  Consists of just Hammill on piano with a percussion loop in the background (think King Crimson's "Waiting Man").  I'm detecting a sort of a PG3 vibe for the first part of this tune.

Friday Afternoon - This song proves what a magnificent songwriter and storyteller PH each.  The track consists of pretty much Hammill and his piano.  The percussion loop from "Of Wire, Of Wood" also makes an appearance here.  Very strong lyrically, and I'm not going to divuldge any details of the little short story.  Don't want to spoil it for you guys, but I will say that it is pretty depressing.  Probably my second favorite track on the album.

White Dot - Very dark and sinister sounding track.  Lots of distortion and weird vocal effects.  Certainly an interesting way to close the album.  "Does nothing come to mind, when you're finally mindful of nothing?"

Overall, this is one excellent album.  PH does all of the instruments on Singularity, and there are a lot of layered sounds and vocals parts.  Hammill's singing and songwriting are in top form.  All of you PH fans in this thread *NEED* to pick this one up.  It's no In Camera or Silent Corner..., but definitely on part with The Future Now.  One of the best albums released this year.

ORIGINAL: Noware

Can't wait for your reaction to "In Camera"; worth the price alone for "Gog/Magog". Also, whenever people have asked me over the years "What is prog rock", I've often just showed them the cover...it explains so much.

Or you could just show them that "A Plauge Of Lighthouse Keepers" video where Hammill whips out that glass of wine at the end.

Great review drumline! I have to have the album now. It's the only one of his I don't have, so I'm going to check iTunes and see if I can snatch it up right away!
 
 

Yay! It was there. $8.91, even cheaper than the usual $9.99 albums I've bought from iTunes. Anyway, listening now and enjoying already!
 
 

Cool, let us know what you think!

I saw Fool's Mate and Nadir's Big Chance in a local record shop yesterday...I'm thinking of going back later today to pick them up.

Definitely get Nadir's Big Chance. I'm not as big on Fool's Mate as other people are.
 

For those who have never heard it, there is a great 90-min interview with the author of the VDGG book here. Lots of interesting tidbits and some great music of course, including a cracking live rendition of "Killer"...
 
Enjoy!
 
 

I ended up getting Nadir and Fool's Mate.  Nadir is real interesting...quite different, but good.  Fool's Mate needs some more listens to grow on me.  I can see why you might not be too big on that album.

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

For those who have never heard it, there is a great 90-min interview with the author of the VDGG book here. Lots of interesting tidbits and some great music of course, including a cracking live rendition of "Killer"...

Enjoy!

Cool!  Thanks for the heads up!  I'll check it out later.

And a heads up for you Sal, Hammill posted the lyrics to Singularity on his website: http://www.sofasound.com/phcds/singularlyrics.htm

Not sure if you get the booklet artwork/lyrics with the iTunes downloads...

NP: Darkness (11/11)

Keep spinning Nadir, it will grow on you more. Some great tracks on there, and widely considered the inspiration for the punk scene that followed. And no, I didn't get the lyrics with the iTunes download, just the cover.
 

I'm almost completely clueless when it comes to VDGG/PH (though I'm very interested in the excellent discussion here) but it's interesting to note that Steven Wilson himself seems to be spinning "In Camera" this week, according to his playlist over at http://www.swhq.co.uk/.

Check out this great video!

"Darkness" from 1970  http://youtube.com/watch?v=WDmhP6YiN6s

I'd never heard VDGG before, but this song is awesome! Time to go shopping!

Good God Hammill sounds incredible

Here's one of my favorites: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLGGNdwHJoQ

Hammill performing Traintime in France with an orchestra

ORIGINAL: BigDrahma

I'd never heard VDGG before, but this song is awesome! Time to go shopping!

Get "Pawn Hearts" and "Godbluff," and be amazed.

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

Check out this great video!

"Darkness" from 1970  http://youtube.com/watch?v=WDmhP6YiN6s

WOW!

Very nice find there, Sal!

"I truly did not....CHOOSE IT!"

ORIGINAL: BigDrahma

I'd never heard VDGG before, but this song is awesome! Time to go shopping!

Excellent!

There are so many great VdGG albums...gotta get them all

But I'd start with:

H to He Who Am The Only One
Pawn Hearts
Godbluff
Still Life

And go from there

German station WDR will be airing the full unedited Leverkusen VdGG show from 2005 on the 20th August, for anyone interested.  They aired a 60 minute editied version a year or two back, intercut with interviews with Peter Hammill.

Thanks for the heads up Bill.

ORIGINAL: Scifi Saint

Thanks for the heads up Bill.

De nada

Hopefully a day or three later it'll be up on DaD...

The song Scorched Earth from Godbluff is in my top 5 favorite songs of any genre - it is extremely heavy, intense, and I never get tired of hearing it. If nothing else, these guys have proved that you don't need to play heavy metal to get a monster sound, because they accomplished this with keyboards (Hammond organs, clavinets, etc.), sax, drums, vocals, and just a little guitar playing. A big problem with this band, for newcomers, is that the music is so original and powerful that it takes a number of listens to really get into it (at least it did for me).

Aside from their intensity, they could be mellow, do jazz, channel all kinds of classical genius. I have seen some of the newer video, and it is dissapointing that the sax is gone, because Peter Hammill has to come forward and play a lot more guitar than he used to, and a little bit of the VDGG sound is just gone now. Still, never miss a chance to see them or hear them.

The Leverkusen show (full video performance) is on a bunch of torrent sites now, and from what I hear it looks pretty good.  I'll have to see about scaring up a copy, since the liklihood of an official release seems further away now...

Sounds good, Bill... I'll be checking this out as well. Speaking of VDGG, since I now know that MP doesn't have any, he soon will. 

ORIGINAL: Noware

"Over" gets my vote for most depressing album ever...or best break-up album..or the album you SHOULDN'T listen to if you've just broken up with someone.   None of that takes away from its greatness, tho.

 
** bump **
 
OK.... Just put Peter Hammill's Over and VDGG's Still Life on the Christmas list.  Based on what I'm reading in this thread, those are sounding like good starting points.
 
I'm having a hard time believing that any album could be more depressing than Marillion's Afraid Of Sunlight, but I guess I'm going to find out soon enough. 
 
 
 

Zappa23: They are both great albums!  I hope you like them. Over is not indicative of PH's proggier works like Silent Corner or In Camera, but since you read about it already you probably know that. Enjoy!!
 
Oh, and you can read my review of Over in this thread. (About halfway down)
 
 
 
 

^^ Just read it.  Thanks for the link.  Good review. 
Can't wait to hear it.  Couple more weeks....
 

ORIGINAL: Zappa23

I'm having a hard time believing that any album could be more depressing than Marillion's Afraid Of Sunlight, but I guess I'm going to find out soon enough. 

IMHO, Brave is FAR more depressing than AoS. Save for that blasted 'Made Again' that throws off the whole mood.  If you're going to make a dark album, let it end in a dark and nihilistic way.

Well in regards to VDGG & Hammill, you're gonna have your ears full this Christmas.

I myself ordered VDGG's H to He Who Am the Only One & Pawn Hearts as well as Hammill's Silent Corner & In Camera

Christmas cannot get here soon enough...

IMHO, Brave is FAR more depressing than AoS. Save for that blasted 'Made Again' that throws off the whole mood.  If you're going to make a dark album, let it end in a dark and nihilistic way.

 
Well, they did the same thing with Misplaced Childhood.
 
You guys are both in for some great listening this Christmas!! Between you, you have six of the best prog albums headed your way(s)!!
 
 

ORIGINAL: Salmacis

IMHO, Brave is FAR more depressing than AoS. Save for that blasted 'Made Again' that throws off the whole mood.  If you're going to make a dark album, let it end in a dark and nihilistic way.

Well, they did the same thing with Misplaced Childhood.

And I love both Made Again and White Feather.

And I love both Made Again and White Feather.

 
As do I. I don't mind the closing song being the 'pick-me-up'. Like I've said many times, I just don't like it placed in an odd spot on the album ("Incommunicado" for instance).
 
Remember, fellas... Remove "Just For The Record" and "Incommunicado" and replace with "Shadows On The Barley" and "Tux On", and you've got Sal's Personal Clutching At Straws.
 

 

Just got H to He, Who am the Only One and am on my first listen. 
 
Very good stuff.  Can't believe I've never heard their stuff before. 
 
More will be purchased, oh yes....more.
 
I'm currently listening to "The Emperor In His War Room", very contagious. 
 
Thanks for informing me about them. 

ORIGINAL: musicfan

Just got H to He, Who am the Only One and am on my first listen. 

Very good stuff.  Can't believe I've never heard their stuff before. 

More will be purchased, oh yes....more.

I'm currently listening to "The Emperor In His War Room", very contagious. 

Thanks for informing me about them. 

Excellent.

(rubs hands together)

Welcome to the fraternity.

Check out the One Stop Prog Shop next...we'll happily bankrupt you with all the awesome music to be discovered.

(and if you've already been there...stop back!)

ORIGINAL: Project2501

ORIGINAL: musicfan

Just got H to He, Who am the Only One and am on my first listen. 

Very good stuff.  Can't believe I've never heard their stuff before. 

More will be purchased, oh yes....more.

I'm currently listening to "The Emperor In His War Room", very contagious. 

Thanks for informing me about them. 

Excellent.

(rubs hands together)

Welcome to the fraternity.

Check out the One Stop Prog Shop next...we'll happily bankrupt you with all the awesome music to be discovered.

(and if you've already been there...stop back!)

 
You got that right.  Between all the bands that you and Sal write about over there, my CD collection will never be complete.

ORIGINAL: musicfan

You got that right.  Between all the bands that you and Sal write about over there, my CD collection will never be complete.

LOL!

There's a lot out there.  I stayed away from VdGG for a long while...yet when it finally caught on for me, it became one of those bands I had to have.  There's no other group that sounds like them...and that's a hell of a compliment...