Van Der Graaf Generator 'The Aerosol Grey Machine' deluxe boxset

[peterpyser]

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/...kNSgvttrIUwIpQ


Esoteric Recordings is proud to announce the release of a new re-mastered limited edition boxed set of the classic debut album by VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, THE AEROSOL GREY MACHINE.

Van Der Graaf Generator were true pioneers of so-called Progressive rock, and their impressive career spanning five decades features many ground-breaking works. Always progressing stylistically in the true sense of the word, Van Der Graaf Generator’s music remains inspirational. Formed in Manchester University in 1967, VDGG initially featured Peter Hammill (vocals, guitar), Chris Judge Smith (drums, vocals) and Nick Pearne (organ). The band signed to Mercury Records in May 1968 after the submission of a two-track demo tape. Nick Pearne departed the fold and Hammill and Smith relocated to London recruiting keyboard player Hugh Banton. By the Autumn of 1968 the band had signed a management contract with Tony Stratton-Smith and had recruited drummer Guy Evans and bassist Keith Ellis into the group. This line-up recorded the single ‘People You Were Going To’ & ‘Firebrand’ in 1968 and a session for BBC Radio One, before Chris Judge Smith departed. The ‘People You Were Going To’ single, issued in January 1969, was withdrawn just days after release due a contractual dispute with Mercury Records.

After several months of touring, including a support spot for the Jimi Hendrix Experience at the Royal Albert Hall, the band broke up after the theft of their equipment and on-going contractual difficulties. THE AEROSOL GREY MACHINE sessions began life as an intended solo album for Peter Hammill, featuring Banton, Evans and Ellis as session players. However, the album appeared in September 1969 in USA only credited to VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR as part of a contractual settlement which enabled the band to sign to Tony Stratton-Smith’s newly formed Charisma label later that year (for whom they would record a series of classic albums). A planned UK release by Mercury of THE AEROSOL GREY MACHINE (which featured a different and lavish gatefold sleeve design) was shelved after a handful of test pressings were made.

This deluxe set celebrates the 50th anniversary of the very first VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR release and features the re-mastered album, an additional CD of rare & previously unreleased tracks including two previously unreleased demos from 1967, the complete BBC Radio Top Gear session from 1968 (including the “lost” previously unreleased version of ‘Octopus’) & the single tracks ‘People You Were Going To’ and ‘Firebrand’, a facsimile 180 gram vinyl LP of “The Aerosol Grey Machine” (cut at Abbey Road Studios) housed in the impossibly rare unreleased British gatefold sleeve design, a 7-inch single of the very rare withdrawn release ‘People You Were Going To’ b/w ‘Firebrand’, a lavish book with many previously unseen photos and cuttings and an essay by Sid Smith featuring an exclusive interview with Peter Hammill and a replica 1968 poster designed by Peter Hammill.



DISC ONE: CD

THE AEROSOL GREY MACHINE



AFTERWARDS
ORTHENTIAN STREET (PARTS 1 & 2)
RUNNING BACK
INTO A GAME
FERRET AND FEATHERBIRD
AEROSOL GREY MACHINE
BLACK SMOKE YEN
AQUARIAN
GIANT SQUID
OCTOPUS
NECROMANCER


DISC TWO: CD

SUNSHINE (1967 DEMO)
(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

FIREBRAND (1967 DEMO)
(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

PEOPLE YOU WERE GOING TO
(BBC SESSION – NOVEMBER 1968)

AFTERWARDS
(BBC SESSION – NOVEMBER 1968)

NECROMANCER
(BBC SESSION – NOVEMBER 1968)

OCTOPUS
(BBC SESSION – NOVEMBER 1968)

(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

PEOPLE YOU WERE GOING TO
(SINGLE VERSION)

FIREBRAND (SINGLE VERSION)


DISC THREE: LP

THE AEROSOL GREY MACHINE

180 GRAM GATEFOLD LP (UNISSUED UK SLEEVE)

ESOTERIC RECORDINGS ECLECLP 2661



SIDE ONE

AFTERWARDS
ORTHENTHIAN STREET
RUNNING BACK
INTO A GAME


SIDE TWO

AEROSOL GREY MACHINE
BLACK SMOKE YEN
AQUARIAN
NECROMANCER
OCTOPUS


DISC FOUR: 7”

7-INCH SINGLE:

ESOTERIC RECORDINGS ECLECS 2661



SIDE A

PEOPLE YOU WERE GOING TO



SIDE B

FIREBRAND

[Udi Koomran]

Wow
I love this album

[squonkduke]

cherry red records is not exactly well recognized for care and accuracy on their reissues.
Let's just hope they don't butcher this fine album with their usual treatment.

[Shadow]

What is the transfer rate to American dollars.

[TheH]

cherry red records is not exactly well recognized for care and accuracy on their reissues.
Let's just hope they don't butcher this fine album with their usual treatment.

Hmm.. I would rather rate Esoteric to be one of the best if it comes to reissues

[arturs]

If they've got a simple 2 cd edition, i'm in!

[moecurlythanu]

Yeah, the package as described above is overkill. This is the only pre-comeback VDGG album I need, but I don't need vinyl and CD versions.

[nsmith1002]

What is the transfer rate to American dollars.

I just ordered it using PayPal and £59.99 GBP = $79.78 USD.

[polmico]

If they've got a simple 2 cd edition, i'm in!

Same here. Maybe down the road.

[helix]

cherry red records is not exactly well recognized for care and accuracy on their reissues.
Let's just hope they don't butcher this fine album with their usual treatment.

Hmm.. I would rather rate Esoteric to be one of the best if it comes to reissues

you know what helps the reader of these 2 posts?


giving some examples

[Progatron]

Hmm.. I would rather rate Esoteric to be one of the best if it comes to reissues

Agreed, I quite like what they've done with a lot of them.

If they've got a simple 2 cd edition, i'm in!

Also agreed, as I have no desire for vinyl. If not, this one will remain - as with the Chris Squire set they put out a year or two ago, unpurchased by me.

[Trane]

Wow
I love this album

I like it a lot, but not enough to shell out bucks and soace for this album

If they've got a simple 2 cd edition, i'm in!

even the second disc doesn't seem all that essential... Certainly am curious about some of those BBC sessions, but not enough to get suckered into this

Yeah, the package as described above is overkill. This is the only pre-comeback VDGG album I need, but I don't need vinyl and CD versions.

yup, CD will suffice ... I've got the Repertoire (don't like the looks of the booklet, though) and it's missing the Ferret & Featherbird track (is it good?), but has the People/Firebrand single as bonus - which means that it's not "PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED" as they claim

Also agreed, as I have no desire for vinyl. If not, this one will remain - as with the Chris Squire set they put out a year or two ago, unpurchased by me.

wonder why they feel forced to peddle that petrol slice... Not only does the object become over-dimensionned, but jacks up the price as well (not even mentionning the shipping costs)... and I'm not sure it will bring them more sales, coonsidering they're losing some with us.
What the could do is sell a double vinyl album with the second bringing the bonus tracks. I'm sure they would move quite a few more of this compilation by maling all-CD and all-vinyl reissues.

[peterpyser]

... I've got the Repertoire (don't like the looks of the booklet, though) and it's missing the Ferret & Featherbird track (is it good?), but has the People/Firebrand single as bonus - which means that it's not "PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED" as they claim

Ferret & Featherbird is on line with the rest of the songs, not better nor worse, but the one i like a lot is Giant Squid, which was on the very first vinyl pressing, but soon replaced by Necromancer, and it's also missing from the Repertoire cd release.
Regarding the single tracks People You Were Going To/Firebrand, they're only listed as 'single version', because they've already been previously released on cd. Peter Hammill considers the Repertoire cd release as unofficial, that's the reason he put out his own version on the Fie Records only a few months after it, but both sides of that first 7'' single have been finally officially released on a 2008 Polydor 3CD compilation called 'Spirit Of Joy: Tales From The Polydor Underground 1967-1974', allegedly from the master tapes, and they sound so. Here is the reference:
https://www.discogs.com/it/spirit-of...elease/3336900

The tracks marked as 'previously unreleased' on the forthcoming box are just 3: the 1967 demos of Sunshine and Firebrand and the 'lost' BBC Sessions track 'Octopus'. And all of them are already out in unofficial form, so, nothing new for the fanboy.
Yes, it's very little. It's hard to even consider spending some £60 for 3 officially unreleased songs of content. The rest is just useless 'stuff': the vinyl LP - with the added bonus of the deleted originally intended UK cover art - the 7'' vinyl repro and the book.

I passed the news but honestly i am absolutely *not* going to buy it.

[Trane]

Ferret & Featherbird is on line with the rest of the songs, not better nor worse, but the one i like a lot is Giant Squid, which was on the very first vinyl pressing, but soon replaced by Necromancer, and it's also missing from the Repertoire cd release.
Regarding the single tracks People You Were Going To/Firebrand, they're only listed as 'single version', because they've already been previously released on cd. Peter Hammill considers the Repertoire cd release as unofficial, that's the reason he put out his own version on the Fie Records only a few months after it.

Indeed, if memory serves, the AGM release came with two alternatives: the one I own (Repertoire) and the one with Ferret and Giant Squid (the other release from Fie), but without the single tracks...
I thought that sucked the bone back then as there was enough space to include both alternatives as bonus tracks in one disc

I suppose that Giant Squid was rehashed into the H To He bonus tracks... isn't Giant Squid a bit the same track as the Octopus track on the Fie release? >> this sort of directed my choice towards Repertoire reissue, back then.

EDIT: I just heard it on Last FM, and I'd consider it as a full worthy track from Octopus, as GS is sufficiently different, but there are similarities

[alanterrill]

Ferret & Featherbird is on line with the rest of the songs, not better nor worse, but the one i like a lot is Giant Squid, which was on the very first vinyl pressing, but soon replaced by Necromancer, and it's also missing from the Repertoire cd release.
Regarding the single tracks People You Were Going To/Firebrand, they're only listed as 'single version', because they've already been previously released on cd. Peter Hammill considers the Repertoire cd release as unofficial, that's the reason he put out his own version on the Fie Records only a few months after it, but both sides of that first 7'' single have been finally officially released on a 2008 Polydor 3CD compilation called 'Spirit Of Joy: Tales From The Polydor Underground 1967-1974', allegedly from the master tapes, and they sound so. Here is the reference:
https://www.discogs.com/it/spirit-of...elease/3336900

The tracks marked as 'previously unreleased' on the forthcoming box are just 3: the 1967 demos of Sunshine and Firebrand and the 'lost' BBC Sessions track 'Octopus'. And all of them are already out in unofficial form, so, nothing new for the fanboy.
Yes, it's very little. It's hard to even consider spending some £60 for 3 officially unreleased songs of content. The rest is just useless 'stuff': the vinyl LP - with the added bonus of the deleted originally intended UK cover art - the 7'' vinyl repro and the book.

I passed the news but honestly i am absolutely *not* going to buy it.

I'd agree -the unreleased tracks are nothing special -I've not heard the live Octopus in recent times, but the 'live in the studio' one on the H to He re-issue is so good, I don't need another one. Fireband I regard as a historical curiosity - having heard it, my curiosity is satisfied and I don't need a demo version of it as well. And 'Sunshine' -well there was a demo version of it as a bonus track on the 'Fools Mate' reissue, so is this one really any different? And like you I have no need of vinyl, so I'll pass on this as well.

[JJ88]

MP3s of the acetate tracks have long been on this site:

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/mp3.htm

I think all the BBC tracks are on that After The Flood set which came out a few years back.

However I too like the idea of a simple 2-cd version without the records.

[peterpyser]

Well, i guess if there's someone who still need this album, then (s)he can buy this cd edition and be done with it:
https://www.discogs.com/Van-Der-Graa...elease/8440936

[alanterrill]

MP3s of the acetate tracks have long been on this site:

http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/mp3.htm

I think all the BBC tracks are on that After The Flood set which came out a few years back.

However I too like the idea of a simple 2-cd version without the records.

Thanks for the reminder about those odd tracks -listening again I think I prefer the demo version of Firebrand to the studio one, but unless they've managed to improve the quality I'd still pass. Most of the BBC tracks are on After the Flood and The Box, but Octopus wasn't.

And to the guy who's only got the Repertoire verison of Aerosol Grey, I'd say the Fie one is much better. I had both for a few weeks before I got the Fie one and then disposed of the other one. I think the Repertoire one is a straight vinyl copy, whereas the Fie one is from the original tapes and is of much better sound quality as well as having superb sleeve notes and those two extra tracks. Ferret and Featherbird is also to be found on 'In Camera' in a different form. Having heard this one years before the one on Aerosol, I found the original version sounded rather awkward in comparison, but it's improved with familiarity.

[peterpyser]

Thanks for the reminder about those odd tracks -listening again I think I prefer the demo version of Firebrand to the studio one, but unless they've managed to improve the quality I'd still pass. Most of the BBC tracks are on After the Flood and The Box, but Octopus wasn't.

And to the guy who's only got the Repertoire verison of Aerosol Grey, I'd say the Fie one is much better. I had both for a few weeks before I got the Fie one and then disposed of the other one. I think the Repertoire one is a straight vinyl copy, whereas the Fie one is from the original tapes and is of much better sound quality as well as having superb sleeve notes and those two extra tracks. Ferret and Featherbird is also to be found on 'In Camera' in a different form. Having heard this one years before the one on Aerosol, I found the original version sounded rather awkward in comparison, but it's improved with familiarity.

The demo version of Firebrand is surely better than the one released on 7'' single, if only for the terrible presence of Judge Smith on vocals on the latter.
Anyway, i wouldn't be surprised to find out Esoteric Recordings have lifted both demos from the mp3 of the website above, 64kbps as they are, rather than using a fresh transfer of the original reel.

The Fie version of the album has clearly superior sound compared to the Repertoire one, and both sides of the 7'' single are like night and day comparing the Repertoire cd and the 'Spirit Of Joy' compilation i mentioned before.

[strawberrybrick]

From what I can tell, everything else has been released, except for these:

SUNSHINE (1967 DEMO)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
FIREBRAND (1967 DEMO)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
OCTOPUS(BBC SESSION – NOVEMBER 1968)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

Goddamn shame they don't release a 2CD version. But to be honest, it's the year 2019 and I don't know who gets too excited about reissues anymore. Everything has been re-released a couple of times by now - these by Repertoire and Fie! - and readily available on eBay, discogs, etc and the idea of spending $70+ for a couple of unreleased tracks...

[Mister Triscuits]

Esoteric Recordings is proud to announce the release of a new re-mastered limited edition boxed set of the classic debut album by VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR, THE AEROSOL GREY MACHINE.

This seems like such an unlikely candidate for this kind of lavish deluxe album treatment to begin with. Classic? This album is baby steps, like the debuts by Yes or Gentle Giant or even Genesis--the promising work of a band that has not yet found its footing. Very good, but hardly a "classic" in light of what was to follow. And who is clamoring for a vinyl copy? As far as I can tell, the Mercury vinyl reissue is still in print.

Surely the obvious choice for the box set treatment would be Pawn Hearts, or even Godbluff or Still Life--I don't believe the latter two have had legit vinyl reissues yet, not that their covers are the most exciting. Me, I already have a vinyl copy and both the Fie and Repertoire CDs, so I can't justify shelling out for this. Too bad, as it sounds like a really nice set, just not enough musical content to make it worth the bucks.

[Buddhabreath]

As a VDGG aficionado I have to agree that this is not a classic album. In fact I don't consider it a VDGG album proper and it was not originally intended as such as far as I can recall. It does seem like overkill, however I love the idea of reproducing the super rare gatefold which is vastly superior to what was issued. That gatefold would be my personal holy grail as a record collector and this reissue might just become quite the collectors item some day if the VDGG legacy maintains any kind of traction.

The Pawn Hearts CD reissue several years back with the improvised tracks that apparently would have been part of a 2-LP set was a minor revelation and is definitely a seminal album worthy of the going all out on a "definitive" re-issue hyper deluxe box set complete with a Whitehead-inspired chess set hand-carved in flawless jade.

[JJ88]

This seems like such an unlikely candidate for this kind of lavish deluxe album treatment to begin with. Classic? This album is baby steps, like the debuts by Yes or Gentle Giant or even Genesis--the promising work of a band that has not yet found its footing. Very good, but hardly a "classic" in light of what was to follow. And who is clamoring for a vinyl copy? As far as I can tell, the Mercury vinyl reissue is still in print.

I fully agree. 'Afterwards' and 'Necromancer' are probably the two best known songs on here and I think they are also the best. There was a similar big record set of From Genesis To Revelation but I suppose even there, the mono mix of the album was a bit of a rarity. As noted above this only has three songs which have not previously been released.

I'm not sure why so little has been done with VDGG, reissue-wise. I suppose it's possible there's nothing much in the archives to release, though.

[Zappathustra]

I was for a very long time at the "eclipsed by what followed" camp for Aerosol, but not anymore. I believe it is a classic on its own merit, and if this had been Van Der Graaf's sole album they would be still discussed as pioneers of progressive rock music (the same, and even more, goes for Caravan's debut, which has a very similar place in my heart). If one achieves to disassociate Aerosol from the rest of VDGG works, one discovers an incredibly ready band with a completely unique, for the era, sound. Listen people, just listen to the full-front bass playing, the otherworldly Banton piano that never sounded like that again, listen to young Peter scratching the guitar and his insecure singing, listen to the underlying dissonance, so familiar of VDGG's art: this is a sound that no else ever replicated or even came close.

I think the comparison with Yes or Genesis's debuts is completely off-mark. This is not just a band that hasn't found its feet yet, it is a different musical proposal altogether, one closer to the aesthetic of the psychedelic 60's. And to my opinion it is beautiful.

[strawberrybrick]

The Pawn Hearts CD reissue several years back with the improvised tracks that apparently would have been part of a 2-LP set was a minor revelation and is definitely a seminal album worthy of the going all out on a "definitive" re-issue hyper deluxe box set complete with a Whitehead-inspired chess set hand-carved in flawless jade.

That would be priceless...