H to HE Who Am The Only One Appreciation
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Bands, Artists and Genres Appreciation
Forum Description: Discuss specific prog bands and their members or a specific sub-genre
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=122199
Printed Date: December 01 2024 at 11:37
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Topic: H to HE Who Am The Only One Appreciation
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Subject: H to HE Who Am The Only One Appreciation
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 11:45
 I've been on a massive H to HE kick this week. I've always enjoyed it, but totally forgot about the poll thread I started last year. It's amazing to see how little love the final two tracks get; they are some of the most catchy and prog on the album for me! This record is ahead of its time for me. Very Earthy, organic production. I need to do a thorough review. This one's resonating strongly this winter! What are your honest thoughts on this classic piece of progressive rock? I love everything about the production, songwriting, themes and feel. Lost and Pioneer Over C truly are pioneering tracks for me, given this came out in 1970. KC was still gearing up and Yes were barely getting started with Fragile material. Discuss!!! ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Replies:
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 12:26
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My introduction to VdGG...on a long bus ride back home after a trip to the Métropole. Love at 1st hearing (repeat mode on the discman) and still a favorite after all these years. ------------- |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 13:09
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One of the "holy" trio of VdGG for me alongside The Least We Can Do... and Pawn Hearts. I like it a great deal. "House with No Door" was my introduction to VdGG, soon heard "Killer" which was killer, and then got the album (my first to get by VdGG). ------------- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXcp9fYc6K4IKuxIZkenfvukL_Y8VBqzK" rel="nofollow - Duos for fave acts |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 14:41
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Hard to get into, but rewarding in the long term. Not for VdGG starters. ------------- 
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Posted By: ForestFriend
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 15:23
Personally, I've found it to be one of the more accessible VdGG albums that I've listened to. Accessible if you're coming at it from the perspective of a classic prog fan, that is. ------------- https://borealkinship.bandcamp.com/releases" rel="nofollow - My prog band - Boreal Kinship |
someone_else wrote:Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 15:24
I got into H to He straightaway after hearing it for the first time on Christmas Day, but it's a good thing I didn't start with the Pawn Hearts album, or that might have put me off Van der Graaf Generator for life.
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Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 15:43
That's a broad generalisation, which seems bit odd considering the two posts that came before yours. Both Barbu and I (the only two respondents at the time) had both stated that it was our introduction and it worked for us. Love at first hearing Barbu said, and it was the same for me. What should we have started with would you think? I guess The Least We Can do might have been just as good a starting point for me. The post Pawn Hearts ones proved rather more challenging for me. ------------- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXcp9fYc6K4IKuxIZkenfvukL_Y8VBqzK" rel="nofollow - Duos for fave acts |
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 18:23
Bien au contraire...The Least We Can Do, H to He and Still Life are the sole three i would recommend to a VdGG newbie, in that order. ------------- |
Posted By: Psychedelic Paul
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 18:33
The least I can do is say I totally agree with you, because that's the same order I listened to those albums in as a VDGG newbie.
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Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 18:47
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I love this thread! You've got me listening to the album as I write this! "Killer" was the key for me getting into VDGG/Hammill (though it is now one of my least favorite songs on the album--the other songs have all grown in my esteem)--after YEARS of trying. I finally picked up H to He a half dozen years ago and I was sold, I became a fan. (There is a lot of commonality with this album with a lot of the stuff coming out of the RPI scene within the next three-four years.) And, yes! Side two is amazing: "Pioneers over C" is my absolute favorite song of theirs! Even though the "Lost" suite used to be my "least" favorite song on the album, it has grown on me to become a favorite: it has so many memorable riffs and motifs and now earns 18 or 19 points out of 20 on my personal rating system. I hear so much in this album that predates so much in prog: Uriah Heep, Gentle Giant, and so much of the RPI scene had to have been influenced by these songs and all they did in 1970. I suspect that maybe even Bowie and Roxy felt emboldened and empowered to become more sonically experimental by this album and I can only imagine what effect it may have had on Robert Fripp. ------------- Drew Fisher https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/ |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: February 11 2020 at 18:57
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Along with Pawn Hearts, one of THEE best albums EVER -------------  https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: February 12 2020 at 01:27
Yes!!! Predates is a great way to describe it. They were already experimenting with archetypes and sounds that would become prog staples. I always, always come back to H to HE the most out of any VDGG album. I think it's the production and presentation. It's perfect to me!
Honestly I can't think of a single good record to start with regarding VDGG; I heard H first, and the vocals immediately threw me off. Pawn Hearts didn't click because I'd rather have heard Genesis or Yes epics at the time. Godbluff was over my head. They are all some of my favorite records now! I find myself returning to H the most, however. ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: February 12 2020 at 01:31
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It's the VDGG album I've listened to the most and when/if I'm in the mood for them, I usually returm to this album. |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: February 12 2020 at 02:00
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On some days it is my personal favorite from them. Everything that makes prog good is represented here. ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: February 12 2020 at 02:17
 Agreed! It hits all the right notes, pun fully intended. The production does it for me big time. "...Crawling over the windowsill...into your...LIVING ROOM..."; when the bass trills during that part = prog orgasm lol. The whole album just BREATHES. ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: February 12 2020 at 23:54
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Nice to read that some othere here had less problems getting into H to He, but this album took me way more time to get into than Godbluff or Still Life. H to He is my third favorite VdGG album nowadays. -------------
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Posted By: LAM-SGC
Date Posted: February 13 2020 at 06:47
| Thanks for reminding me about it. Actually the only VDGG i really like. In about 1988 an old head, and a friend, gave me his original vinyl copy, one day out of the blue, he liked the pronky music me and my band were making. |
Posted By: I prophesy disaster
Date Posted: February 13 2020 at 10:18
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Hydrogen to Helium is my second favourite album (not just VdGG album) after Pawn Hearts. It was the fourth or fifth VdGG album I got (which I got at the same time as Godbluff) after World Record, Pawn Hearts, and The Quiet Zone / The Pleasure Dome. Currently, my favourite track from the album is Lost, although in earlier times, my favourite was Pioneers Over C. My favourite lyric from the album is: Ghosts betray you, ghosts betray you, in the night they steal your eye from its socket and the ball hangs fallen on your cheek. from The Emperor in his War-Room. House With No Door is my favourite VdGG ballad. Killer is a great track that makes the album easier to digest, though it pales in comparison to the last three tracks of the album. ------------- No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man. |
Posted By: ProcolWho?
Date Posted: February 13 2020 at 22:36
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If nothing else, always loved the improper English .
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Posted By: Aroid
Date Posted: February 27 2020 at 13:41
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Not that improper, it takes 4 Hydrogen to get one Helium (or actually 6, but you get two back). So Peter, who certainly knew this, might have been playing his language skills when using this plural. At least that has always been my thought, Aroid
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Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: April 16 2020 at 00:56
 Love It Love It LOADS!!!! my second fav album Peter Hammill is an awesome songwriter imho------------- Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music Is Live Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Keep Calm And Listen To The Music… < |
Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: April 16 2020 at 03:19
| My first VDGG records were Least We Can Do and Pawn Hearts - $4 and $6 respectively. Back around 1990 - Original mix Pink Scroll Charisma for Least and Gatefold of PH . Loved Least We Can Do a whole lot from the get-go, Pawn Hearts took many more spins to fully appreciate. I slowly bought all their records. He to He was instantly magical. Was buying Hammill’s records too around then - Chameleon was my first of his and close to my heart to this day, likewise Silent Corner and In Camera. Love ‘em all. |
Posted By: Adger
Date Posted: April 16 2020 at 04:46
| 1970 was a milestone in the culture of British underground music due to records that were released back then. Genesis' Trespass, Caravan's If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You, Emerson, Lake & Palmer s/t, King Crimson's Lizard, Gentle Giant s/t and Van Der Graaf Generator's H to He, Who Am the Only One are all magnificent and timeless albums. My favourite song from H to He always has been Emperor in His War-room; I really love its melody, Hammill's vocals, superb organ work and Fripp presence that probably turn the song into slightly Crimsonesque atmosphere. Personally, I am a huge fan of VDGG. Though, my all time favourite VDGG's record is Godbluff from 1975. |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: April 16 2020 at 06:47
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Timeless. So glad to see others enjoying this record! ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: Mortte
Date Posted: April 16 2020 at 11:27
| Just listened this, it´s really good, but I prefer The Least We Can Do..., Pawn Hearts & Godbluff. |
Posted By: siLLy puPPy
Date Posted: April 16 2020 at 11:34
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What's to say other than the trilogy of albums from Least We Can Do to Pawn Hearts are in my personal top 100 albums of all time. Probably like Pawn a wee bit more than H to He but depends on which day you ask me. ------------- https://rateyourmusic.com/~siLLy_puPPy |