THE AEROSOL GREY MACHINE

Despite the fact this is the first VDGG album, it's kinda good if you take it as AN album, not THE first album of VDGG, as I think it should be. The band's line-up is unusual for VDGG: Evans' drums are developing and Banton's keyboards are not very important in this album (instead later he'll improve and now he's one of the best keyboardists I know), while Hammil's electric guitars are present here, ever if they'll disappear to reappair only on godbluff and world record, and the bass, that is something not always present in VDGG, is well-played. So: little piano, a bit of drumming and bass, and only accompaniment guitar. What's left? only Peter's young voice? how can they make an album (and long songs!)? Well, VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR can. and here their extraordinary tempering is evident. "You see? we can make a good album as we are now. Try to stop us!" and no one would stop them. So, a STRONG debut album for a STRONG band. We have surely some psychedelic influences on Afterwards, that remains the best track of the album (great the piano solo in the middle!). Orthenthian street is good, but it simply slips away from my mind like Into a game. Running back has a bit of flute, that make it the most various track on this side. Aguarian is maybe the best track of the album, the most structured and very beautiful. Necromancer is nice, but the lyrics are a bit stupid in my opinion (unfortunately Hammil will do something similar, White Hammer), while Octopus is good, but it's also the track with the worst intrumental parts. So I give it 4 stars, mainly not for the album itself, but for what it represents: the beginning of a great band that can do whatever they want with music, and so they're something else more than prog: they're good prog.