PRESENT

Van Der Graaf Generator

Eclectic Prog

3.63 | 596 ratings

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dog3000like

More like 3.5 stars -- 4 stars for the first disc and 3 stars for the second one.

This is as good a reunion album as could be hoped for! The first disc of songs are classic Hammill, and the band sounds like they never went away. An absolutely worthy addition to the catalog. The topical "Every Bloody Emperor" and zany "Nutter Alert" are standouts.

The second disc is a bunch of jams recorded during the album sessions. Some of them are interesting, but on the whole this second disc just seems superfluous -- like a bunch of throwaway b-sides.

The recording is very raw and in-your-face, a bit like the "Vital" era sound (only the mix isn't bungled the way that particular album's was -- Jaxon's sax in particular sounded horrid on that one, but sounds great here.) Some might complain about this, but I think it was wise for them not to try to duplicate the 1970's-style production of their earlier albums. For this reason, "Present" doesn't sound dated at all.

| 4/5 | 2005-10-9

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