Van Der Graaf Generator [Still Life]
Now this was a wonderful experience to play this album again, it's only 5 tracks long, and yet 45 minutes in length, the tracks are 7-12 minutes in length, and that's the DNA of VDGG, long tracks that are not hampered around 'charts & singles' lengths, truly what i call an 'album band', there's not a dud on the album, every single one of these tracks had mee thinking 'VDGG are a genius of a band', this is some of the very best off the beaten track Rock your money can buy, reviewd twice in my Blog so far [5th February 2012 & 3rd January 2011].
Van Der Graaf Generator are an English Prog Rock band, first formed in Manchester in 1967, they hit their peak in seventies, and then they split up!, but amazingly they reformed again in 2005 [you know i still haven't got round to listening to 'Trisector' yet], this album was recorded in 1976, the front cover is fairly minimal, the band logo at the top is small, in a 3D silver / grey, and yet i like the picture, it really does fit in with what VDGG are about.
All of these tracks were just so fantastic, every one a gem in its own right, on this listen it's tracks 4 & 5 which are the best, but track 4 'My Room, Waiting For wonderland' just pips it, it's actually a very mellow track by VDGG's standards, David Jackson plays sax in the higher registers, possibly soprano sax, such beautiful playing, just floats and floats, and Guy Evans cymbal tap tap tap as a background metronome is fantastic, Peter Hammill's voice is more restrained than usual, sweet if you can call his voice that, two wonderful verses, and then a chorus, followed by a third verse, and then a differently worded chorus, then an instrumental section, where Jackson's sax can get a little angrier, and then a last fourth verse, but then there's still 3 minutes left for a long outro / jam, and it's mainly Jackson who meanders away on the sax, it's a great song, it ebbs away and ends on the trailing organ mist of Hugh Banton.
Here's 'My Room [Waiting For Wonderland'] being played on YouTube.
Here's 'My Room [Waiting For Wonderland'] being played on YouTube.
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