Published on Jul 19, 1999
Recently, Loznik presented a review of Curved Air, a woefully
underappreciated band in the second tier of English progressive
rock. These are the bands who made music as (and sometimes more)
inventive, interesting, and grandiose as their more notorious
comrades (the ELPs and Yesses of the world) while toiling in
relative obscurity. These bands include Gentle Giant (to a degree),
Nektar (actually a German group, but in this same territory), some
of the better Canterbury school bands like National Health and
Camel, and Van der Graaf Generator.
Van der Graaf Generator (VdGG)is an odd rock group – let’s put
it on the line right away. First, their instrumentation is anything
but normal – at their beginning they embraced a relatively normal
voice-organ-sax-bass-drums with Robert Fripp (of King Crimson fame)
supplying electric guitar in the studio. By
H To He, the bassist (Nic Potter) had left the group
(although he appears on a few tracks) and the quartet that is
VdGG’s “classic” formation was established.
A note on the players: Guy Evans is the drummer, and is heralded
by many as a virtuoso second only to Carl Palmer and Bill Bruford.
I think he’s on their level. David Jackson supplies alternatively
strident and squealing woodwinds, both in a solo and rhythm
capacity. Hugh Banton is the organist, and what a powerful organ it
is – customized to the hilt by Banton (an electronics genius, if
rumor is to be trusted), it spits out huge washes of doomy power
and trumpet-like blasts of apocalyptic fanfare. The final member is
the enigmatic Peter Hammill, a legend in progressive rock for a)
THE most over-the-top vocal delivery in rock, complete with
screams, whoops, etc., and b) some of the weirdest lyrics ever
(“you are the man whose hands are rank with the SMELL OF DEATH!” is
my favorite on this album).
Surprisingly, with all this eclecticism, VdGG is a very
approachable band who writes catchy tunes (albeit six or seven of
them per song) and sounds remarkably at times like the Doors.
H To He Who Am The Only One (the title refers to the
chemical reaction that creates the majority of energy in the
universe – I assume this was Hammill’s idea) is the group’s third
album, after the psychadelic colored
Aerosol Grey Machine (released 1969) and the more melodic
and pleasant
The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other (early 1970). The
elements were in place to create a great progressive album, and do
it they did. This record ranks in my personal top ten albums in
progressive rock history along with their next album (
Pawn Hearts) and should be eagerly accepted by fans of
melodic progressive, organ-based, depressing, or otherwise weird
music.
So, you’ve got five pieces of music here, the shortest at five
minutes, the longest at a hair over thirteen, all of them
tremendous. “Killer” starts off, with a bass/organ/sax riff that
you know you’ve heard before but can’t place. Hammill enters, full
of blustering doom, telling the heartwarming story of a homicidal
maniac (namely a fish) whose mother dies during birth and who can’t
find anyone to love because he tends to kill anything that comes
close. About halfway through it kicks into high gear with the
introduction of a new, faster organ riff, and a killer disjointed
sax solo over the melee. If VdGG had ever broken out in the States,
it would have been on the strength of this song – it easily
could’ve been their “21st Century Schizoid Man”.
“House With No Door” is the opposite – a gentle, piano-based
ballad more akin to Hammill’s later solo output than the usual VdGG
fare, but very good nonetheless. Here we see the other side of
Hammill’s voice – gentle and capable of a stirring, beautiful
falsetto that comes to the fore during the choruses. Lyrics dealing
with alienation and lonliness, coupled with the sparse musical
landscape (the exemplary production was handled by John Anthony)
lead to a truly touching piece of music.
“The Emperor and his War-Room,” the first really extended track
at about nine minutes, deals with (what else?) war and power, and
(surprise) the corrupting aspects thereof. This one usually is
singled out for praise – Hammill’s lyrics are especially tasty
here, and the Evans/Fripp duet that begins the second part
showcases the former’s considerable percussive talents. Still, for
me, it’s the weakest track on the album (although considering the
company it keeps that’s no slight).
The second side of the record features two expansive tracks that
are much more exploratory and “difficult” than the first side.
“Lost”, marked with swirling keyboards and saxophones over an
alternately driving and plodding beat, is a real Hammill showcase –
his yearning lyrics telling the story of the search for lost love
are the real focus here. The climax of the piece, with crashing
chords under Hammill’s plaintive cry of redemption is very
satisfying.
The final track gives some insight into the genesis of the songs
on
Pawn Hearts. “The Pioneers Over c,” thematically similar to
“Space Oddity” and
2001 and all the other stories of space travel prevalent at
the time, is a truly linear song – many themes are introduced with
different, catchy melodies, but only some are recapitulated as the
piece continues, and often new melodic ideas crop up as well. This
gives the listener the sense of being on a journey, or that the
song is telling a story. I would compare it in this way to songs
like “The Gates Of Delirium” by Yes and “Supper’s Ready” by Genesis
(indeed, “A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers” off
Pawn Hearts is very reminscent of the Genesis epic, which
came out the following year – unsurprising that these two closely
linked bands were labelmates and toured together in the early
Gabriel-era years). Highlights include the periodic organ fanfares
courtesy of Mr Banton’s wonderful noisemaker, Hammill’s always
exciting vocal shifts, and the minimalist woodwind instrumental
section toward the end of the piece.
I heartily recommend this album to progressive rock fans. It’s
high time that Van der Graaf Generator gets the first-tier respect
they deserve for their short, but artistically successful career.
If you’ve never heard any VdGG/Hammill, I would say this is the
place to start.