THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS WAVE TO EACH OTHER

This is the first real Van Der Graaf Generator album and the results are still somewhat uneven due to the fact that the band haven't yet come into their own. Having said that I really can't understand how they managed to improve so significantly on their next release that was released only within a mere time span of 10 month!

Refugees is a definite stand out track and I consider it to be on the same level as some of the band's later ballads like House With No Door from H To He, Who Am The Only One and Still Life from Still Life. The rest of the compositions have some minor flaws here and there but I honestly found it quite amusing to hear these unpolished works of art since they show exactly how Van Der Graaf Generator managed to develop these ideas later on. To put it in other terms, all the instruments are here, the only problem is that they don't yet manage to produce those sweet tones that we are so accustomed to.

After The Flood is the band's first stab at a lengthier composition and despite it being clumsy and underdeveloped the main idea is brilliant and I applaud them for such an uncompromising over-the-top approach to the material. Just listen to that crazy instrumental jam in the middle of the track and you'll see exactly what I mean!

If you're new to Van Der Graaf Generator then I would recommend listening to H To He, Who Am The Only One or Godbluff before approaching this release. Fans of the band's later albums will most definitely find this material to be an unpolished treat so my final grade should be somewhere in between the two!

***** star songs: Refugees (6:22)

**** star songs: Darkness (11/11) (7:27) Whatever Would Robert Have Said? (6:17) After The Flood (11:28)

*** star songs: White Hammer (8:15) Out Of My Book (4:07)