VDGG, why the world loves them or hates them?

Rocktopus wrote: H to he... is obviously the safest album to start with. Its got guitar and bass (not that i care), a singalong antem like Killer, a stunning ballad, none of the harsh vocals Still Life is full of and nothing too extreme like Arrow or A Plague... + its filled with classics.

I agree completely..Killer and House With No Door are what really grabbed me and made me a fan. 

Van Der Graaf Generator, why does the world hates them?
I think it's because they really don't want to serve the world with their music. They seemed not purposely make a music to attracts the world, like most of the other acts. They just plays what they wanted to play, composes songs what they wanted to compose. It's relentless, Peter Hammill is really an idealistic. He won't care whether the world will like his works or hate 'em.

Van Der Graaf Generator, why does the world love them?
Because they made music that considered GREAT by men wise enough to interpret it. And in addition, their history is quite unique as a band. VDGG divided into 2 (now 3) sagas. First is The Least - Pawn Hearts saga, second is Godbluff - World Record saga, and third is present saga. The style of each period is differ from one another. The first saga was the more chaotic and loud style, while the second one borne more balanced and kicking arrangements.

Here is the essential Van Der Graaf Generator:
1st saga: Pawn Hearts
2nd saga: Still Life
3rd saga: Trisector

The relationship between their frontman, Peter Hammill, and the band is even more bizarre. One familiar with 'em must be understand how Peter Hammill and VDGG are very hard to separate. And it so hard to be judged wheter that was Peter Hammill's or VDGG's. For instance, Peter Hammill's Nadir's Big Chance saw Peter worked all together with VDGG members. Maybe one judge an album was Peter Hammill's because of it's labelled under Peter Hammill's name written upon its cover.

AtlantisAgony wrote: I initially didn't like VdGG either, like many others here. Now they're one of my favorites. I think the lack of melodic 'hooks' is an important factor. There's not many (upon first listen) cool riffs or pleasant melodies to get you interested, at least not in high rated albums like Pawn Hearts or Godbluff (which tend to be checked out first when you're new to the band). I was about to give up when "Pilgrims" from Still Life popped up in my playlist. That one fueled me for revisiting the mentioned albums. After listening to Godbluff for some time, things started falling into place. "Scorched Earth" for instance started to become pretty damn catchy, "The Undercover Man" a beatiful yet powerful piece.  A funny thing is that I find the most obscure things to be catchy about the band. For instance I find myself humming that strange little accoustic guitar intro to "Lemmings" (!), or the crazy sax-drum interplay in "Cogs", or in "Still Life" when Hammill sings "... and ultimately passing away time" calmly and then just sort of speaks "... which no longer has any meaning" before the drums, heavy organ and aggressive sax break loose. That just fits so perfectly with the lyrics. There are tons of more examples like these. But I bet not many of them seem particularly special (rather, they'll probably seem weird) to someone not familiar with the band.

I have to disagree about there not being many immediately cool riffs on "Pawn Hearts" or "Godbluff"; on the contrary, it was the abundance of cool riffs which attracted me immediately. I did have problems with the voice at first though


Edited by BaldJean - July 26 2009 at 12:45

floydispink wrote: AtlantisAgony wrote: I initially didn't like VdGG either, like many others here. Now they're one of my favorites. I think the lack of melodic 'hooks' is an important factor. There's not many (upon first listen) cool riffs or pleasant melodies to get you interested, at least not in high rated albums like Pawn Hearts or Godbluff (which tend to be checked out first when you're new to the band). I was about to give up when "Pilgrims" from Still Life popped up in my playlist. That one fueled me for revisiting the mentioned albums. After listening to Godbluff for some time, things started falling into place. "Scorched Earth" for instance started to become pretty damn catchy, "The Undercover Man" a beatiful yet powerful piece.  A funny thing is that I find the most obscure things to be catchy about the band. For instance I find myself humming that strange little accoustic guitar intro to "Lemmings" (!), or the crazy sax-drum interplay in "Cogs", or in "Still Life" when Hammill sings "... and ultimately passing away time" calmly and then just sort of speaks "... which no longer has any meaning" before the drums, heavy organ and aggressive sax break loose. That just fits so perfectly with the lyrics. There are tons of more examples like these. But I bet not many of them seem particularly special (rather, they'll probably seem weird) to someone not familiar with the band.  There seem to be a lot of people who say that Van Der Graaf Generator does not have catchy hooks or riffs. I have never really understood that, I actually think VDGG has made lots of catchy stuff. To name a few; The Necromancer, Killer, House With No Door, the first part of Lost, S.H.M, Kosmos Tours and (Custard's) Last Stand from A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers, Scorched Earth, Sleepwalkers. I really have had some of these songs in my head for days, and I think VDGG has made some very extraordinary, but at the same time catchy riffs.

The has ballads! "House with No Door", "Man-Erg", "Undercover Man" etc.

When i have listened to VDGG for the first time i realised that it was very different compare to my favorite bands : Genesis, Yes and Rush. Dark, complex music that require more listening to appreciate. But i didn't say to myself : "I hate that music" I knew that it was different kind of prog and not bad in itself. Today i like the band when they played live, because they play their best songs. I still have trouble to appreciate a complete album from them, when they goes on playing some of their darker songs, but i enjoyed listening to the very original voice of Peter Hamill and the excellent keyboards.

A lot of bands wanted to sound like Genesis of Pink Floyd... but I know no band that has Van der Graaf Generator influences... they have a lonely concept. The vocals might be to intense en confrontating for a lot of people out there.

I wrote some recommendations yesterday in my last post here: H to He ("House With no Door"), The Least We Can Do is Weave to Each Other ("Refugees", "Darkness") or Still Life ("Pilgrims", "Still Life", "My Room"). I think these albums (and the songs in parentheses especially) should be easiest to get into. 

Edited by AtlantisAgony - July 31 2009 at 13:00