MAIDA VALE

This is the closest thing we can get to a live VDGG album by the classic line-up of Hammill, Banton, Jackson, Evans (OK, there are live tracks at "The Box", but a box-set does not count as a live album - except King Crimson's "The Great Deceiver". In fact, as the songs here were culled from BBC Sessions, this is actually a "live in the studio" album. That said, let's face the facts: this is a great album, with a fantastic song selection and good recording quality (the first two tracks, recorded in 1971, are slightly poorer than the others in terms of recording). From 8 tracks, six comes from VDGG's "second generation" (two from each album recorded by the classic line-up during this period). So this album also serves as a satisfactory introduction to the second generation, but not to their full career. Another BBC sessions can be found at the aforementioned "The Box", and maybe this album should have been re-released as a 2-CD set to fans who cannot afford to the more expensive box set. Highlights: "Darkness", "Scorched Earth", "La Rossa" and "When She Comes" (the last two are actually better than the studio versions). Recommended to all VDGG fans and to all prog-rock lovers.