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Top 7 Van der Graaf Generator Albums

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richardh View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote richardh Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 00:55
1. Godbluff
2. Pawn Hearts
3. Do Not Disturb

those are the only ones I care about. Not a great VDGG fan , sorry.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Frenetic Zetetic Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 01:20
Godbluff
Pawn Hearts
H to HE
The Least We Can Do

That's all I need TBH.

"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 02:09
Top 7 update after two more rounds of voting:-
 
1. Pawn Hearts (75 points)
2. Godbluff (68 points)
3. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other (55 points)
4. H to He, Who Am the Only One (53 points)
5. Still Life (39 points)
6. The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (14 points)
7. A Grounding in Numbers (10 points)
 
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A Crimson Mellotron View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote A Crimson Mellotron Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 02:09
Just 'Pawn Hearts' at number 1! LOL
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thief View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote thief Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 02:42
1. Godbluff
2. Pawn Hearts
3. The Least
4. H to He
5. Still Life
6. World Record
7. Present

1-2 are interchangeable and mood-driven. Pawn is more mysterious, decadent, byzantine, "Crimsonian". Godbluff is more volcanic, ecstatic, mind-bending and always, ALWAYS right on the spot.
Same goes for 3, 4, 5. I feel Still Life is the most "even" quality-wise, but also very safe and bright compared to earlier records. H to He peaks very high with Killer and Emperor, but I'm no fan of Pioneers these days (strange because I liked it very much in high school). The Least has maybe the best sustained atmosphere of the lot.

So these 5 are generally 4-5 stars albums and together form one of the best primes in prog.

No. 6 is World Record. At its best, it rivals Still Life. At its worst, it drags and meanders way too much. A good album nonetheless. The last spot goes to Present because, well, David Jackson.
TOP20 Songs
Genesis
Rush
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 02:53
Top 7 update with Thief's votes added:-
 
1. Pawn Hearts (83 points)
2. Godbluff (80 points)
3. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other (61 points)
4. H to He, Who Am the Only One (57 points)
5. Still Life (42 points)
6. The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (14 points)
7. A Grounding in Numbers (10 points)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Spacegod87 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 03:19
1. The least we can do is wave to each other
2. Pawn Hearts
3. H to He Who AM The only one
4. Still life
5. Godbluff
6. The Aerosol grey machine
7. The quiet zone/The pleasure dome

Levitating downwards,
atomic feedback scream.
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 03:25
Top 7 update with SpaceGod87's votes added:-
 
1. Pawn Hearts (91 points)
2. Godbluff (83 points)
3. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other (73 points)
4. H to He, Who Am the Only One (63 points)
5. Still Life (46 points)
6. The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (15 points)
7. A Grounding in Numbers (10 points)
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Grubert View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Grubert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 06:38
Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Originally posted by Psychedelic Paul Psychedelic Paul wrote:

Originally posted by Cristi Cristi wrote:

Vital is a live album if i remember right. 
 
Yes it is, but I thought it was Vital to include it in their discography. Smile

aren't we supposed to rank studio albums?


Vital should be included cause it contained several new tracks, not to be found on the previous albums. And for that is a kinda replacement for a 78 studio album, which then was not released due to the break of the band.

Actually if you include the wonderful Plague of Sleepwalkers medley, a kinda new song, the double album contained enough material for a new album. And there was the Hammill solo song Nadir's Big Chance.

I love Vital. It very much represents the bands sonic assault in concerts, their "no prisoners" attitude towards their songs, that what Hammill once described as "controlled chaos".

1. Pawn Hearts
2. Godbluff
3. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other
4. Still Life
5. Present
6. Vital
7. The Aerosol Grey Machine

The last one was very, very difficult, I could have chosen instead H to He or World Record.

And there is the lost album from 1972, the one I compiled from the 5 band songs released on Hammill's solo albums in 1973 and 74. 5 excellent tracks, of which 2 would definitely had made a planned album for late 72, and of which 4 were played live by the band in summer 72 and from 1975 to 1977. This not existing album could rival Pawn Hearts for the # 1 position, and Pawn Hearts is my favourite album of all time.




Edited by Grubert - December 29 2020 at 08:28
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nick_h_nz View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote nick_h_nz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 07:01
Originally posted by Grubert Grubert wrote:

And there is the lost album from 1972, the one I compiled from the 5 band songs released on Hammill's solo albums in 1973 and 74. 5 excellent tracks, of which 2 would definitely had made a planned album for late 72, and of which 4 were played live by the band in summer 72 and from 1975 to 1977. This not existing album could rival Pawn Hearts for the # 1 position, and Pawn Hearts is my favourite album of all time.

I have to agree about the lost album. Those five tracks are amazing, and Louse is definitely one of my all time favourite PH/VDG songs. If that had been a VDG album, it very definitely would rival Pawn Hearts for the number one position in my list of seven, too.

(Also, you raise valid points about Vital. I didn’t include it my list of seven, but now wish I had.)

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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 29 2020 at 09:45
Top 7 update with Grubert's votes added:-
 
1. Pawn Hearts (103 points)
2. Godbluff (91 points)
3. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other (79 points)
4. H to He, Who Am the Only One (63 points)
5. Still Life (50 points)
6. The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (15 points)
7. A Grounding in Numbers (10 points)
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Grubert View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Grubert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2020 at 01:57
Btw I think it is important to view Present as an 1 disc album, means the 2nd disc is only a bonus disc for me. It contains improvisations of which I never thought that they really belong to the album. But I'm sure different opinions exist for this ... ;)

In that regard I'm also not sure if I really view Alt as a part of their studion album disography. Even if this is a good and enjoyable album, while so far I never cared much for the 2nd disc of Present. And I'm a big fan of the sax in VdGG.
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2020 at 02:21
Originally posted by Grubert Grubert wrote:

Btw I think it is important to view Present as an 1 disc album, means the 2nd disc is only a bonus disc for me. It contains improvisations of which I never thought that they really belong to the album. But I'm sure different opinions exist for this ... ;)

In that regard I'm also not sure if I really view Alt as a part of their studion album disography. Even if this is a good and enjoyable album, while so far I never cared much for the 2nd disc of Present. And I'm a big fan of the sax in VdGG.
Yes, I think you're right. The Present album would have been much better without the 2nd improvisational bonus disc, which really put me off the album as a whole, and the less I say about the ALT album, the better. Wink 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Grubert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2020 at 02:31
Ok, but I see no problem in viewing Present as a single disc, the one with the songs, the one with the "compositions". Just do it as I do.

And Present is an album which still grows on me. It is my most heard VdGG album after Pawn Hearts in the past 10 or 15 years. And it was only recently (really) that I began really to enjoy the though In Babelsberg, a song which I viewed as boring for mayn years. I even begin to like On the Beach, which I considered for along time as the band's weakest up to that point (if I only could mix out the background singing).

But with Every Bloody Emperor and Nutter Alert it contains 2 of the best VdGG tracks, by far the best tracks Hammill did since the mid 80s. The album still needs one more strong song at the end. I wish they had recorded Roncevaux for this album as closing track.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote nick_h_nz Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2020 at 02:40
I think the problem with Present (regardless of whether or not you include both discs when you are evaluating it), is the lack of consistency of quality. Even if you consider two of the tracks to be “the best VDGG tracks, by far the best tracks Hammill did since the mid 80s”, there are tracks that are not at all as inspiring. When considering ranking albums, the overall quality always trumps individual gems within, for me. There are likely many bands and artists in my collection for whom my favourite songs likely do not appear on my favourite albums. 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Grubert View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Grubert Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 30 2020 at 02:47
Yes, but as I said the album still gets better for me every year, and I enjoy the whole album, actually always enjoyed it completely alredy then when I did not like the aforementioned In Babelsberg, and especially did not like the last song On the Beach.

And having 2 of VdGG's best is at least something. I can't say this of any of the later VdGG albums.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2021 at 06:07
Van der Graaf Generator's Discography & Videography
 
 5 stars 1970: The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLikNHjJ_cxzBP7gSa4G4wrUWTTlj2W_75
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote I prophesy disaster Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2021 at 06:14
1. Pawn Hearts
2. H to He, Who Am the Only One
3. The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome
4. World Record
5. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other
6. A Grounding in Numbers
7. The Aerosol Grey Machine
 
 
No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man.
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Psychedelic Paul View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Psychedelic Paul Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 08 2021 at 06:29
Top 7 update with IPhophesyDisaster's votes added:-
 
1. Pawn Hearts (115 points)
2. Godbluff (91 points)
3. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other (82 points)
4. H to He, Who Am the Only One (71 points)
5. Still Life (50 points)
6. The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (21 points)
7. A Grounding in Numbers (12 points)
 
8. World Record (11 points)
 
 


Edited by Psychedelic Paul - January 08 2021 at 06:30
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Olape Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 27 2021 at 14:07
1. Godbluff 
2. H to He, Who Am the Only One (remastered version)
3. Pawn Hearts
4. The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other
5. World Record
6. Still Life 
7. Do not disturb
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