PAWN HEARTS

Dex F. was right when he wrote that Pawn Hearts was unorthodox and not for the faint of heart, and despite the fact that the majority of reviewers believe this to be a five-star album, I do not agree. I am not writing this simply to add another not so great review to counterpoint the majority, but more to emphasize the point, for those who may be trying VDGG for the first time (like I recently did in picking up a copy of the Pawn Hearts CD based on the abundant glowing reviews on this site) that this music is different, and even for those who believe it is a masterpiece, it requires an open mind.

On the down side, the vocals are certainly not great, often approach irritating to me. James Lee wrote, "Hammill is an acquired taste" and Bryan Adair commented that Hammill's vocals are more akin to "helpless cries, uttering bleak, self- absorbed poetry" than traditional singing. Both remarks ring accurate with me. On the plus side for the vocals, they do fit the music. As to the instrumentation, the music is lacking in guitar which is a bit of a deficiency to me.

I found Man Erg to be the most easily likable track. A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers has some fantastic moments, but they are too few and too far between. The music and lyrics of Lighthouse Keepers do, however, depict and tell the story well, and the track is growing on me overall with each listen. I do not know that I will ever be able to like Lemmings.

As Peter Rideout observed in his five-star review, this is "[b]y no means an 'easy' album". It is not. Neither is it essential or excellent. There are simply too many things to dislike while getting to the good parts.