Music Banter - View Single Post - I know what I like: Trollheart's History of Progressive Rock and Progressive Metal

Trollheart · 11-08-2019, 03:24 PM

Album title: The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other
Artist: Van der Graaf Generator
Nationality: English
Label: Charisma
Year: 1970
Grade: A
Previous Experience of this Artist: See The Aerosol Grey Machine
The Trollheart Factor: 6
Landmark value: If for nothing more than giving the world two of its premier prog vocalists in Peter Gabriel and Fish - in addition to Peter Hammill himself - Van der Graaf would be indispensable to prog rock. But apart from that, they inspired so many other bands and influenced the overall prog rock sound by building on jazz and classical in a perhaps more accessible way than contemporaries ELP, that they have forever assured themselves of their place in progressive rock history.
Tracklisting: Darkness (11/11)/Refugees/White Hammer/Whatever Would Robert Have Said?/Out of My Book/After the Flood
Comments: Only six tracks, but one is the kind of length we would go on to see increasingly used by prog rock bands, coming in at eleven and a half minutes. You can already hear the sound that would colour Genesis’s later prog rock concept masterpiece The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in the darker, more ominous tone of the opener, “Darkness (11/11)” with a powerhouse vocal performance from Hammill and some great sax from David Jackson. Another instrument that prog rock claimed almost exclusive ownership of was the organ, and here it’s used to great effect by Hugh Banton, coloured by some superb touches on the piano. I’m sure he wasn’t the first to use the technique, but I haven’t heard anyone use whispering on a prog rock track up to this, sort of echoing the sung vocal in a foreshadowing somewhat of how Roger Waters would later howl the vocal in a very short delay after his normal one, the best or at least most effective example of which I can bring to mind is on “The Gunner’s Dream” on The Final Cut. I’m sure you know what I mean.

Attempting something that again few if any prog bands up to then had done, “Refugees” changes the tone completely, a simple ballad driven on soft organ and breathy sax, and here we see how effortlessly Hammill changes his vocal to suit the song. Where on the opener he was loud, brash, manic even, here he’s gentle and relaxed, a trick Gabriel would certainly utilise to the full later. This has always been one of my favourite VDGG songs. I think they may have been the first to use a choral effect, too, though of course that may not be the case. Actually, no: didn’t the Moody Blues do that? Well it sounds great either way.

Starting slowly but building, “White Hammer” uses the organ to great effect, and Hammill is back to his manic, angry best. What I like about the way VDGG use the horns here is that they don’t blast you away with them, but yet they’re not what you’d call soft or relaxed. They’re powerful, but not in your face. In fairness, this is not always how the band use them, but on this album they’re just right for me. The track goes into almost a doom metal groove there near the end as everything explodes in a sort of frenetic madness, Hammill laughing maniacally. Major stuff.

After that shock to the system, “Whatever Would Robert Have Said?” has a sort of striding rock vibe, with some great vocal harmonies and some incredible vocal gymnastics by Hammill, a lovely duet between Banton on the organ and Jackson on the sax about halfway through. “Out of My Book” is the only track on the album not written solo by Hammill, and also the shortest as he collaborates with Jackson on a sweet pastoral little ballad, then in total contrast “After the Flood” is the longest track, the already-mentioned song that runs for just under eleven and a half minutes. In prog terms, this would not even be seen as particularly long, and beside Pawn Hearts’ “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” it would pale into insignificance, but up to then it was the longest track that Van der Graaf Generator had recorded and it closes the album in fine style.

Some interesting sound effects here, considering the band hadn’t access to the kind of synthesisers that would characterise the latter half of the seventies, and to some extent I guess it could be linked to Genesis’s “Watcher of the Skies” as a song about the passing of man and his kingdoms. A lot of different changes as you would expect in a song of this length, a few really good instrumental passages, and the thing is really kept ticking over, never allowed to flag for a moment, with one of what would become their famous freak-out jams petering out into a soft acoustic guitar part, everything calming down until Hammill starts roaring like a Bowie convert then turns into a Dalek for what it’s said is “prog rock’s scariest moment”, when he growls “Annihilation!” Pffft, didn’t scare me.

Then he goes into an almost inaudible murmur before the organ rises (yes, yes, ooer I know!) and brings him with it, his voice soaring in triumphant despair to survey the carnage, again like the Watcher in Genesis’s 1972 epic.

Favourite track(s): Everything
Least favourite track(s): Nothing
Overall impression: What do you expect me to say? I love this album, and it’s a real step forward for prog. Yes would certainly take the crown, sharing it with a few others and VDGG would be left standing a little to the right of the throne, near the toilets, but they showed the way and this is what you call a true prog record, perhaps even the first such, other than King Crimson’s epic debut. Fucking superb.
Personal Rating:

Legacy Rating:

Final Rating:

11-08-2019, 03:24 PM	#160 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Album title: The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other Artist: Van der Graaf Generator Nationality: English Label: Charisma Year: 1970 Grade: A Previous Experience of this Artist: See The Aerosol Grey Machine The Trollheart Factor: 6 Landmark value: If for nothing more than giving the world two of its premier prog vocalists in Peter Gabriel and Fish - in addition to Peter Hammill himself - Van der Graaf would be indispensable to prog rock. But apart from that, they inspired so many other bands and influenced the overall prog rock sound by building on jazz and classical in a perhaps more accessible way than contemporaries ELP, that they have forever assured themselves of their place in progressive rock history. Tracklisting: Darkness (11/11)/Refugees/White Hammer/Whatever Would Robert Have Said?/Out of My Book/After the Flood Comments: Only six tracks, but one is the kind of length we would go on to see increasingly used by prog rock bands, coming in at eleven and a half minutes. You can already hear the sound that would colour Genesis’s later prog rock concept masterpiece The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in the darker, more ominous tone of the opener, “Darkness (11/11)” with a powerhouse vocal performance from Hammill and some great sax from David Jackson. Another instrument that prog rock claimed almost exclusive ownership of was the organ, and here it’s used to great effect by Hugh Banton, coloured by some superb touches on the piano. I’m sure he wasn’t the first to use the technique, but I haven’t heard anyone use whispering on a prog rock track up to this, sort of echoing the sung vocal in a foreshadowing somewhat of how Roger Waters would later howl the vocal in a very short delay after his normal one, the best or at least most effective example of which I can bring to mind is on “The Gunner’s Dream” on The Final Cut. I’m sure you know what I mean. Attempting something that again few if any prog bands up to then had done, “Refugees” changes the tone completely, a simple ballad driven on soft organ and breathy sax, and here we see how effortlessly Hammill changes his vocal to suit the song. Where on the opener he was loud, brash, manic even, here he’s gentle and relaxed, a trick Gabriel would certainly utilise to the full later. This has always been one of my favourite VDGG songs. I think they may have been the first to use a choral effect, too, though of course that may not be the case. Actually, no: didn’t the Moody Blues do that? Well it sounds great either way. Starting slowly but building, “White Hammer” uses the organ to great effect, and Hammill is back to his manic, angry best. What I like about the way VDGG use the horns here is that they don’t blast you away with them, but yet they’re not what you’d call soft or relaxed. They’re powerful, but not in your face. In fairness, this is not always how the band use them, but on this album they’re just right for me. The track goes into almost a doom metal groove there near the end as everything explodes in a sort of frenetic madness, Hammill laughing maniacally. Major stuff. After that shock to the system, “Whatever Would Robert Have Said?” has a sort of striding rock vibe, with some great vocal harmonies and some incredible vocal gymnastics by Hammill, a lovely duet between Banton on the organ and Jackson on the sax about halfway through. “Out of My Book” is the only track on the album not written solo by Hammill, and also the shortest as he collaborates with Jackson on a sweet pastoral little ballad, then in total contrast “After the Flood” is the longest track, the already-mentioned song that runs for just under eleven and a half minutes. In prog terms, this would not even be seen as particularly long, and beside Pawn Hearts’ “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” it would pale into insignificance, but up to then it was the longest track that Van der Graaf Generator had recorded and it closes the album in fine style. Some interesting sound effects here, considering the band hadn’t access to the kind of synthesisers that would characterise the latter half of the seventies, and to some extent I guess it could be linked to Genesis’s “Watcher of the Skies” as a song about the passing of man and his kingdoms. A lot of different changes as you would expect in a song of this length, a few really good instrumental passages, and the thing is really kept ticking over, never allowed to flag for a moment, with one of what would become their famous freak-out jams petering out into a soft acoustic guitar part, everything calming down until Hammill starts roaring like a Bowie convert then turns into a Dalek for what it’s said is “prog rock’s scariest moment”, when he growls “Annihilation!” Pffft, didn’t scare me. Then he goes into an almost inaudible murmur before the organ rises (yes, yes, ooer I know!) and brings him with it, his voice soaring in triumphant despair to survey the carnage, again like the Watcher in Genesis’s 1972 epic. Favourite track(s): Everything Least favourite track(s): Nothing Overall impression: What do you expect me to say? I love this album, and it’s a real step forward for prog. Yes would certainly take the crown, sharing it with a few others and VDGG would be left standing a little to the right of the throne, near the toilets, but they showed the way and this is what you call a true prog record, perhaps even the first such, other than King Crimson’s epic debut. Fucking superb. Personal Rating: Legacy Rating: Final Rating: __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018