Van der Graaf Generator

Honestly I think Peter Hammill is an amzing vocalist, one of the very best in all prog. VDGG, for me is a great band because they are so different to anything I've heard before. Pawn Hearts Is one of my favorite albums ever...I don't see how anyone could not like VDGG. 

for starters H to He.. which I have  been recommended in the past to those who didn't/couldn't get into Pawn Hearts.. and it worked..  it's a  fabulous album.

Godbluff as well though I prefer H to He.

N Ellingworth wrote: I find it amazing that people say that Pawn Hearts is not suitable for newcomers to VDGG, it was my first (and currently only) VDGG album, I loved it on the first listen.

hahha... for you sure... but  plenty have have been turned off by an intro via that album.  It's not a universally loved album.. if you seriously want to start recommending albums to people.. start thinking about what THEY might like as opposed to what you like.  Other albums they did are stronger throughout and don't require you to make an effort to appreciate. Which is important if trying to turn someone on to a group.  Once you have nibble.. then you yank the line

I think I did!

I know it sounds a bit squeeky and out of tune... but I'd like to hear a 5 year old play that!  I'd like to hear most Sax players play that actually!

Jaxon is one of my favourite sax players.  I wish he'd have played flute more however.  I love "My Room (Waiting For Wonderland)".  The flute solo is beautiful.

She didn't care for "Refugees" either, because of his falsetto voice.  Yet she likes Jeff Buckley!


Edited by Geck0 - July 15 2006 at 13:10

Oh of course it's the entry point and I don't hate the track at all and I always love to hear it live.  I just have other tracks that I prefer over it.  Killer probably doesn't reach my top 5.  The sax in the middle is mindblowing though!

My friend hates it though, she says it sounds like a 5 year old is playing it!  Grrr!!!!!!

You need to try more, my friend.  You cannot say you dislike all VdGG until you've heard all VdGG!

Indeed.  The only KC you'll hear in VdGG are when Fripp guests for them and even then, they sound nothing like KC!  The closest they get to a KC sound is "Meurgly's III (The Songwriter's Guild)" from World Record.

And I find it amusing how people like Killer.  Yet it's a great tune, but it's also not one of their best.  I guess it's easily accessable and more tuneful than most VdGG.  It seems this tune first draws people in.  I think it did with me as well.

Killer now however isn't my favourite tune.

I mean, come on "Fishes can't fly, fishes can't fly, neither can I, neither can I"!  It's Fish, Peter, not Fishes!

Or maybe that was his point...


Edited by Geck0 - July 15 2006 at 12:49

    I also had trouble with VDGG. I had heard three of their albums, and nothing really grabbed me. As I saw more posts about them, from people with similar tastes, I decided to give it another try. I still didn't see the appeal, but there was something there that gave the impression of a very good band. Then a friend told me to try "H to He Who Am the Only One." That did it. "Killer" grabbed me, and the beauty of the music began to unfold. "The Least We Can Do" immediately became accessible after that. Next was "Godbluff," and now it's "Still Life." I suppose "Pawn Hearts" will be next.
   Hammill's voice can take some getting used to. I wouldn't say he is a great singer in the classic sense, but he is very unique. Sometimes he sounds a bit like Bowie, or Iggy Pop. The next moment he can scream it out like the best rock and rollers. The similarity to KC is obvious with the darkness, and especially in the sax. As I hear more of it, I am also seeing a relationship to Genesis. Now, those are comparisons to two of my top prog bands, and two other great artists. That's got to say something.
   My advise is, don't give up too fast. You could be missing out on something.   

In my last tranche of CDs wot I bought, I decided to buy stuff from bands I hadn't heard before - to a fair degree influenced by threads, reviews & recommendations from peeps here. So, although I'm no spring chicken, and have been listening to bands like KC, Floyd, Zep, and a few weirdies since the early 70s, it's only in the last few weeks that I bought my first VdGG, Rush, Gnidrolog, Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree, Riverside & RPWL, all basically on spec (I'm a risktakin' kinda guy......)

Tony Fisher wrote: pero wrote: Tony Fisher wrote: laplace wrote: I tend to listen to VdGG mixed in with King Crimson, I find them to be mutually complimenting. Interesting! King Crimson are the other major 70s band I don't like much, except for a couple of tracks on the first album. Perhaps it's just the dark, avant-garde style of VDGG that puts me off. In the end, there is no good and bad; it's all just a matter of taste and opinion. If you don't like VDGG and KC what do you like? Genesis are also dark. Genesis (who are only somewhat dark on Trespass), Camel, Strawbs, Mostly Autumn, Horslips, Gentle Giant, Tull, Floyd (after AHM), Gryphon, Renaissance, Wishbone Ash, BJH, The Enid and many more. There's far more to prog than VDGG and KC, but I tend to pick up that many fans of these bands think that they are the be all and end all.

That's not fair, or even close to correct. Most fans of KC and VdGG knows that there is far more to prog than just them. You are the one who keeps mentioning the same symphonic prog/prog folk bands again and again. While most other people here likes hundreds of bands (including most of your own favorites) from all the different sub genres.