Van der Graaf Generator -- Godbluff
Progressive Rock/Experimental
1) The Undercover Man – 7:25
2) Scorched Earth – 9:48
3) Arrow – 9:45
4) The Sleepwalkers – 10:31
When you think of progressive rock, the bands that are mentioned straight away are Pink Floyd, Genesis, King Crimson, Yes etc.
Possibly better than all of these is one of Johnny Rotten's and John Frusciante's favourite bands (some useless information for you), Van der Graaf Generator. Although harder to get into than other prog bands like Genesis or Floyd, VdGG create a dark yet beautiful atmosphere in their songs, with the use of sometimes depressing (yet genius) lyrics and Peter Hammill's fantastic singing (described by some as 'the Hendrix of the voice.')
The album starts with The Undercover Man, beginning with a flute and Hammill whispering. It builds but is still quite a calm song for VdGG standards. A good start to the album.
The next song, Scorched Earth, also starts slowly. Only this time it builds a lot getting more and more frantic. I don't really know what else to say about this track, but that doesn't mean it's bad in any way!
The next song, Arrow, is not only my favourite on the album, but also one of my favourites of all time. Ever. From any band. Usually long introductions bore me, but I have never once been tempted to skip the start of this. A dark but lively jazz influenced track.
The Sleepwalkers is another lively song and a good end to the album, but not quite up to the quality of the other songs IMO.
The only real criticism with the album is that it's too short, but if you get the remastered CD (You know you want to ) you get two extra tracks which I couldn't review as I don't have them.
Be warned though, Peter Hammill's voice can be an acquired taste. Even I didn't like them when I first heard them, but now I can't see why not, so give them a chance.
And if you don't believe me, just look at the reviews on progarchives.com:
There aren't many good quality videos on youtube, so I'll just post these two:Originally Posted by progarchives
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDmhP6YiN6s
And from their recent reunion concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaPTXK94UBA
Oh, and this is the first review I've written, so if it's rubbish, I don't care.