WORLD RECORD

For many years I thought "World Record" was the weakest VDGG album. After two previous masterpieces ("Godbluff" and "Still Life") it seemed to me that the band ran out of ideas leading finally to the second break-up of the 4-piece group. But from the present perspective and having re-visited it for several times, it seems that I have not duly listened to this record!

First three songs on the A side of the vinyl are all excellent, ranking among the Hammill's best, with recognizable yet a bit bold sound and more tight performance than on previous records. "A Place to Survive" even survived to this date being a part of the concert set of the 3-piece VDGG reformation of the 21st century.

More problematic aspect of the album can be found on B side, with the epic "Meurglys III (The Songwriter's Guild)" and the closing "Wondering". The former contains one of Hammill's signature lyrics of a lonely, isolated and misanthropic artist whose only true friend is his guitar while there are some groundbreaking musical achievements like the unexpected closing reggae jam or some odd avant-garde jazz elements, but overall the piece is definitely too stretched (20 minutes) and sometimes repetitive. "Wondering" is a lush symphonic ballad which although not too bad is somehow watering down and spoiling the album, delaying unnecessarily its closure for the last several minutes.

Still, there is one important element that separates "World Record" from all previous albums ? prominent use of electric guitar, the instrument that was never a part of VDGG standard musical set! Of course, Hammill never tries to play lead, feeling safer in providing rhythm and percussive elements of guitar but in some moments during "Masks" and "Meurglys III" in particular you can hear some really unexpected guitar noise coming from Hammill's fingers. All in all, even not on par with their classic albums, "World Record" is a worthy listening experience, proving once again that this band cannot really produce bad record.

PERSONAL RATING: 3,5/5