VITAL

This is one of those albums that take several listens to grow accustomed to. I also bought it when it first came out when I was a freshman in college in Florida, and was so appalled by what I heard that I was compelled to write a scathing review for the school newspaper (never to be published because everyone uniformly replied, "Who the heck are Van der Graaf?"). But in years to come, and especially now, I come back to this album over and over. The sloppiness in places is still difficult to listen to (Pioneers), but in other places it adds to the impact of the music (Door, Ship of Fools) in a way that conventional musicianship would have not. Peter Hammill is not anyone's ideal of a lead guitar player, but then neither is Lou Reed. Sure, you miss Hugh's organ playing, but this album, given the patience of repeated listenings, is a rough diamond.