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Mecropolis2112 View Drop Down
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Points: 17 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Camel and VDGG
    Posted: March 22 2008 at 14:46
Hi, i started listening Camel and Van Der Graaf Generator, because i've been reading very nice critics.

can you help me with a list of the best of both bands?
i just have listen 1 song per group, so if you can recomend any song, it will be nice..
thanks!
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Points: 7024 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 14:51
For Camel, start with The Snow Goose but READ THE STORY FIRST!!

Most of the bad reviews are from cretins who don't realise that it's an interpretation of a book - hence the gentle atmosphere. Then try Moonmadness.

I can't recommend any VDGG - I just don't like them.
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Points: 520 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 14:59
DO NOT START WITH SNOW GOOSE
 
too artsy probably unless you like artsy
 
if you like jazz fusiony, start with their debut: which is self-titled
if you like rock, start with Mirage
if you like artsy stuff then just dive in with Snow Goose
if you like a compination of all three with a symphonic edge, then go with Moonmadness
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Points: 15745 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 14:59
from Camel, Mirage then Moonmadness, and then Snow Goose. Then you can try their debut, and then Rajaz and Nod and a Wink.
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Points: 10387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 15:07
of Vdgg start with "Godbluff", which is a good introduction to them. if you like it a bit more weird, give the excellent "Pawn Hearts" a listen. but you can't really go wrong with them; there is not a weak album of them at all. however, the vocals are a case of "love or hate"; I belong to the "love" faction


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Points: 37232 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 15:25
I know you're looking for songs, but I'd also recommend Godbluff and H to He by VdGG to start, and I'd recommend the Snow Goose by Camel.  Actually, I think this is the best Camel album -->


1978
A Live Record
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(75 ratings)

The songs that got me into VdGG were "House With No Door," "Man Erg" and "Killer." I heard them on lastfm, but I suggest you listen to the streaming tracks and read the reviews, if you haven't done so already, on the band pages at this site.  And do a myspace search.  With With Camel it was "Nimrodel" (yay for Gandalf) and "Supertwister" off Mirage that really struck a chord, and "Song Within a Song" and "Chord Change" off Moonmadness.  Some people are bored by The Snow Goose, but I really feel that that's the studio album where Camel shone greatly and well surpassed any other studio album of theirs.  One thing I like is that it's instrumental, which, considering Latimer's vocals, is not a bad thing.  One has to listen to it from beginning to end to really appreciate it (and then again) -- some never make it to the end, but it's the second half that really gets me, good build up, good contrast.  To recommend just one song from it, "La Princess Perdue."  When I first heard I was a bit bored at first, but my opinion quickly changed.  I don't exactly consider myself a Camel fan anymore, but that album had a profound effect on me, and I can always enjoy that album (I must have listened to it a hundred times).
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Mecropolis2112 View Drop Down
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Points: 17 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 15:40
thanks for your recomendations, i just listened Mirage from camel and i really like it.. for VDGG i have to understand more her music, its hard for me to digest it but i think that in one week i could be adapted.

thanks again!
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Logan View Drop Down
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Points: 37232 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 16:12
Glad you like Mirage... As Cacho said, Mirage, then Moonmadness, then The Snow Goose is probably the best way to go for most people.  I'm sure you'll like Moonmadness as well as Mirage.

With VdGG, "House with no Door" is a very accessible song, I found. Love at first listen for me. I struggled with VdGG due to Hammill's rather over-the-top, to my mind, vocals, and certain "crazy" musical qualities.  I felt that he was having us on/ pulling our legs too much, and maybe I wanted something that seemed more sincere to me.  Those were my early impressions anyway.  As I once said in some form, "I wouldn't be caught dead listening to VdGG so it's something of a guilty private pleasure."  It was all about GG (Gentle Giant) vs. VdGG in those days, I thought Gentle Giant more tasteful  and generally better.
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Points: 3834 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 18:31
A list of songs to start with:
VDGG -
House With No Door
The Sleepwalkers
La Rossa
Darkness (11/11)
Undercover Man
NOT Pawn Hearts yet, thats for pretty advanced VDG listeners

Camel -
Nimrodel
Freefall
Airborn
Song Within A Song
I personally hate the Snow Goose, but I would give the whole album a try after Mirage and Moonmadness

I kind of rough idea of what I listened to to start with, and they remain some of my favourite songs to this day coincidently.
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Points: 15745 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 18:45
Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Glad you like Mirage... As Cacho said, Mirage, then Moonmadness, then The Snow Goose is probably the best way to go for most people. I'm sure you'll like Moonmadness as well as Mirage.


I'm glad people recognise my efforts of helping people correctly...hehe
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Points: 1818 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 18:57
H To the HE is the best VDGG album but Vdgg is very different from camel , much more hard to listen.
The emperor in his war room is the best song from that album
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Points: 1008 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 22 2008 at 20:03
Camel and VDGG are so different that it seems unusual to see them paired in a thread.  If i was trying to introduce a classical musician to rock music and played them Snow Goose followed by Pawn Hearts i don't think they would expect to see them classified in the same genre.
 
For Camel fans i would imagine that Refugees would be the most easily accessible VDGG song.  In fact i don't understand why this song is not at least as famous as Whiter Shade of Pale (which it resembles and surpasses IMO). 
 
 
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Points: 16130 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 23 2008 at 12:44
Songs from VDGG:
Pilgrims
Sleepwalkers
Man ERG
Killer
Darkness (11/11)
La Rossa

..and from Camel:
Freefall
Never Let go
Lady Fantasy
Chord Change
Lunar Sea
I was never that keen on the Snow Goose, but you may want to try a few later albums. Rajaz is pretty good
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A B Negative View Drop Down
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Points: 1594 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 26 2008 at 09:39
Many forum members hate compilation albums but my first exposure to VDGG was the First Generation compilation and I found it an excellent introduction to the band.
 
The compilation I Prophesy Disaster is another great starter for the VDGG novice, and covers a wider range of the band's albums than First generation.
 
The most recent compilation An Introduction is pretty good too but I'm not as keen on the choice of tracks.
 
As for Camel: get Moonmadness.
 
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Points: 864 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 26 2008 at 10:36

Thanks to the advent of YouTube, I think it's easier to 'turn people on' to VdGG. They are a brilliant group but I've talked to several people who've said they just didn't 'get it' until they saw video of them. With that in mind, check out these excellent clips:

Darkness ('70) from the German TV show 'Beat Club':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDmhP6YiN6s (this is a Must See clip!)
 
Lost ('72) live in concert from Paris, broadcast on 'Pop 2'
 
A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers pt 1 ('72) from Belgium TV
 
(if you like this clip of Plague, check out parts 2, 3, &4 as well as it's a 20 minute song like "Suppers Ready)
 
 
jc
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Points: 2755 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 27 2008 at 12:41
Get tthe three classic camel albums,   Mirage, Snowgoose, and Moonmadness, in that order.   After that, try Rajaz and Raindances and maybe Nude.
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Points: 16130 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 30 2008 at 14:26
Originally posted by A B Negative A B Negative wrote:

Many forum members hate compilation albums but my first exposure to VDGG was the First Generation compilation and I found it an excellent introduction to the band.
 

The compilation I Prophesy Disaster is another great starter for the VDGG novice, and covers a wider range of the band's albums than First generation.

 

The most recent compilation An Introduction is pretty good too but I'm not as keen on the choice of tracks.

 

As for Camel: get Moonmadness.

 


There is another good VDGG compilation I can reccomend too. It is called 'From the Least to the Quiet Zone - An Introduction' That was my first real exposure to the band. Got me hooked!
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