WORLD RECORD

Peter Hammill had to have been one of the most prolific and hardworking musicians of all 70s prog with perhaps the sole exception of Frank Zappa. If you begin to peruse his canon of the era either as a solo artist or with VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR and compare the two canons side by side, you will soon realize that this man with many of VdGG band members released two albums per year in 1970, 71, 74, 75 and 76 and still had time to tour and deal with all the niceties of the music industry. It's simply mind blowing considering the musical adeptness and depth of the compositions and overall quality of all the albums that were cranked out in this period. The year 1976 may have been nearing the end of the second phase of VdGG as a band but the quartet of Peter Hammill (vocals, keyboards), Hugh Benton (organs, bass, bass pedals), David Jackson (sax, flute) and Guy Evans (percussion) still managed to release two albums in its twelve month duration. First in the year came "Still Life" after the successful comeback that started with "Godbluff" along with a tour before releasing the following album of the year, their seventh overall, WORLD RECORD which continued to take the band into new musical arenas. It's not wonder these guys burned out!

WORLD RECORD was created during the hectic non stop tour of "Still Life" and introduces completely new elements in the band's ever changing sound which in many ways presaged the 80s by about four years and introduced a unique hybrid of the classic early 70s prog with the new wave that was beginning to take off. WORLD RECORD is sort of the band's version of King Crimson's "Discipline" only before the group broke up. Once again VdGG was ahead of its time and despite a ridiculously brilliant album released in the latter half of 1976 found too little success in financial terms and would lead to the break up of the classic lineup after this one as both Hugh Banton and David Jackson had reached their breaking points and left the band soon after. While the classic members are still on board on this one, the album sounds like a completely different band in many ways. While some of the taming down of the prog excesses began to present themselves on "Godbluff" and "Still Life," WORLD RECORD takes the more commercial sounds to even greater extremes but make no mistake about it, this is still a prog album through and through.

While earlier VdGG albums eschewed the use of excessive guitar usage with only a few appearances here and there, Peter Hammill developed his electric guitar playing skills and on WORLD RECORD becomes a major aspect of the album's overall style. As usually the five tracks are filled with the melodic keyboard runs that play off of Hammill's emotive vocal style. While many aspects of the album race to the future to tackle new wave styles of cyclical melodies and rhythms, new genres like ska and Styx-like arena rock sewn into the fabric of the compositions, the heavy use of Hammond organs and Mellotron firmly anchors the album's sound into the past which gives it a rather interesting blend of the past with modern flavors. David Jackson's sax solos are less frenetic and more smooth like on Supertramp albums or more pop oriented artists like David Bowie but somehow still convey a sense of magnanimity absent from such acts. While the progressive rock, jazz and psychedelic elements are still around in abundance, they are more streamlined by super catchy ear hooks that keep the music flowing in an almost jam band fashion only in a very calculated way.

The passionate "When She Comes" starts the album off with an almost funky groove as Hammill belts out his ferocious lyrics like Freddie Mercury without losing his idiosyncratic trademarks that has always allowed him to stand out amongst the crowds. The track clearly demonstrates how VdGG could generate an almost pop-like hit and extend it out into an eight minute track by subtly creating changes and developments that are almost imperceptible but stream along perfectly. "A Place To Survive" continues the trend with a standard 4/4 timed beat and Styx like keyboard stabs. It also shows how VdGG adds a funky groove with a more soulful delivery. The drumbeat on this one starts out sounding something like Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" before the other instruments join in which insinuates a sense of disco. However while the track is more tailored for an easy on the ears experience with a soulful sax and syncopated key accompaniment, the band still found ways to have proggy breakdowns and extend the track to a surprisingly pleasant ten minute playing time.

"Masks" thematically conveys the story of a man who was afraid to show his true self in front of others and after wearing face covers for too long, finally lost sense of his true self. While the upbeat musical delivery creates a less dark atmosphere than on albums such as "Pawn Hearts," VdGG find more subtle ways to bring in the darkness. The highlight of the album is the whopping almost 21 minute behemoth "Meuglys III (The Songwriters Guild)," the longest track VdGG had cranked out since "Pawn Hearts," yet nothing like it. While it recounts the tale of a guitarist whose only friend is guitar, the musical delivery is by the most interesting aspect of the lengthy prog behemoth since most of the track is instrumental. It's also no surprise that this is the most proggy track of the album as the time signature liberties are unleashed as are all the past glory attributes as psychedelia and psychotic frenzies VdGG are quite talented in expressing. The entire near 21 minutes is practically engulfed by a single cyclical melodic run with an infinite run of variations although there are many breakdowns and time outs. Structured in both quiet and more aggressive passages, the most memorable climactic frenzy occurs around the 13 minute mark before the main melodic framing picks up again only in a reggae ska style and finds a way to keep the track interesting for another seven minutes with Hammill's guitar call and responses interacting with the syncopated rhythms and flute flutterings!

One of the underrated albums in the VdGG canon. It's hard to compare this one to the ones that came before. While VdGG were always ahead of the curve, this time they were right on it as the musical landscape was changing around them. The band's tight knit chemistry allows this album to shine and even through the basic grooves that drive the compositions have a more commercial appeal, the complexities of how everything is strung together and laid out is utterly brilliant and ultimately addictive. The only track that doesn't resonate with me is the closing "Wondering" which is so happy and exuberant that it sound like a gospel choir happy hour that should have been on Hammill's cheerful and happy debut "Fool's Mate." Needless to say, VdGG at this point were masters of their game and could easily move on from album to album and always find a way to incorporate new methods of musical madness that always created the proper addictive earworms while allowing the instrumental interplay to shine. And of course Hammill never ceases to amaze as his vocals are almost unhinged on this one as he screams and whispers and everything in between to make his passionate pleas to the audience. This is one that continues to grow on me and shouldn't be disregarded because of some of the more pop elements on board. This one is as magical as anything that came before. Despite half the band walking out, Hammill would release one more unique musical specimen before disbanding VdGG for the second time.