FEATURED ALBUM: Van der Graaf Generator - Still Life

[hippypants]

I had He to He before Still Life and wasn't that into it, but it was Still Life that finally won me over and made we want to buy more of their CDs.

[The Czar]

I think this is VDGG's best album.

[Bucka001]

Oh Jim, You are always so hard on this band, I often believed that it wasn't beacuse of their chaotic style of playing that kept them being more famous here, but their lack of touring here in the US which doomed them. As we are finding out especially from the likes of your due dilligence, we now know that VdGG is far more beloved by many outside of the "Progressive Rock" realm.

Hi Charles, good point about the band not touring over here; that definitely was a major factor in their not picking up a big audience in the U.S. But, honestly, I don't think I'm being hard on the band at all. If anything, I'm probably knocking mainstream audiences of the 70s. I think it's *great* and very prescient that Banton didn't go for all that synth/mega-keyboard stuff. He was (and is) a brilliant *organist*. But because fans back then were so impressed with capes, glitter, and the sight of a guy surrounded by 15 keyboards -- and, more importantly, foolishly equated that with wizardry and talent -- I was merely saying that if HB had gone that route, they might have picked up some more followers. I'm glad they didn't, it shows remarkable maturity on HB's part. I remember a review from '75 calling him the least affected organist the reveiwer could think of. I mean, he only had one organ with him on stage in '75/'76!! That's unheard of for a prog band from that era, yet his playing has not aged in the way many of his contemporaries have (Banks, Emerson, et al); Banton's playing on Still Life still sounds fresh, whereas the keys on Tormato and Trick of the Tail don't. And I also think it's a feather in VdGG's cap that they didn't wallow in indulgent solo-ing; to my taste, incredible maturity. But to the average prog listener back then (especially those who would also gravitate toward the jazz-fusion end of things) VdGG didn't seem to be virtuosic (read: indulgently "flashy") musicians and a lot of fans *liked* to feel that their fave musicians were superior superman musos. So, it's not VdGG I'm being hard on, it's more the average prog fan of the day... I just don't think the mainstream music fans were caught up with VdGG.

Now Hammill's voice... I love it, I get it, I think he's a genius, and he's my favorite singer (bar none). But I can't knock anyone for not liking it.

I was a member of a cassette library (i know, I know....) in the mid 70s where you submitted a list of albums you'd like to hear and they sent you two at random at monthly or two weekly intervals. One month I got 'Still Life' along with 'The Lamb...', having never heard a note by either VdGG or Genesis.

I fell in love with this album and with the band at first listen. I have never seen why some people consider them - or Hammill's incredible voice - to be 'difficult'. And the title track possesses probably the finest set of lyrics I have ever heard. I do consider 'Godbluff' to be a marginally better album, but they are both masterpieces.

The Lamb? After Still Life, it sent me to sleep, which every other Genesis album I've ever heard has also succeeded in doing. Now it's THEM I don't 'get'....

I got into Genesis first (it was through my love of them that I got into VdGG). But, like you, once I truly got into VdGG, they were so far above the others that it ruined a lot of music for me (I can't even enjoy Genesis anymore and haven't been able to for years; seeing the Musical Box perform The Lamb last year was a revelation... I was majorly bored, but I do know that they pretty much nailed what an old Genesis concert was like). I now know a lot of VdGG fans who say the same as you (they're bored by Yes, Genesis, et al and they don't really put VdGG in the same category). I don't mean to rub anyone the wrong way (and I still do like some early Yes -- TAAW is one of my fave albums -- as well as even Owner of a Lonely Heart!).

Maybe you guys don't think he has a sense of humor, but I have cracked up listening to his music. The over the top drama kills me sometimes.

Exactly!! For the earlier poster who isn't seeing the humor (which I totally understand), it's there but it's just not overt (it's not the barbershop quartet of Excuse Me, or the kazoo solo in Counting Out Time, or Benny the Bouncer), the Pythonesque chorus in Imperial Zeppelin notwithstanding.

Hammill was asked once back in '72 about the horror movie-like elements of Lighthouse Keepers, to which he replied something like, "Well, if it is a horror film, it's more Bunuel than Hammer." That's it in a nutshell. The absurdity of things, the intensity to where it's so over-the-top that you just have to laugh. I think the original guy who questioned the band's sense of humor mentioned he liked Pawn Hearts over Still Life. Pawn Hearts is a nightmarish albums in some ways, but it's also very funny. Cog ("Out of control, out of control") is so bizzare and out there that I just crack out every time I hear it, but I also think it's extremely cool music/vocals. Parts of Lighthouse are like that as well.

Paul Whitehead (cover artist) told me that he visited the studio often while they were making Pawn Hearts and during playback the band would be listening to an intense, dramatic part and then just suddenly they'd all burst out laughing. Not that the music was meant to be funny, or that they didn't take it seriously, but that it's like, "WTF?!! What on earth are people going to make of this?" Because it was so twisted / gloriously over-the-top. They definitely found humor in their own music (so do I), but if you're looking for an obvious quip or the "this is meant to be funny, ha ha!" section, well, yeah, it's not that kind of humor.

If you can find it, check out VdGG's "It All Went Red" to see what I'm getting at. The darkest, scariest music ever (that's hyperbole, but it is great!), followed by howls of laughter when it's all finished.

Still Life (the song) also has bits like this that I still find myself chuckling at.

[JJ88]

^I do get a bit bored of this implicit 'VDGG were *so* much better than all those other bands' stuff, to be honest. I don't agree, in as much that I think VDGG were fantastic, but so were ELP, Yes, Genesis etc. They have different approaches. Being pedantic, that's also not a kazoo solo in 'Counting Out Time'- it's a treated guitar. I've always loved all those bands because what's largely been in the mainstream in my lifetime is bland, corporate conformity, and none of these prog bands are remotely like that IMHO.

Anyway, for me this is another 5-star album in a long string of them...though for me, it's the last the band released. Not that anything they did later disgraces their legacy either, but there's less focus and consistency IMHO. This one, I love from start to finish- only negative for me, if I can call it that, is the ferocious live version of 'Still Live' on 'Vital' is better IMHO. That one is industrial strength! But so is 'La Rossa' on here, I guess, plus 'Pilgrims' soars and 'My Room' is a lovely composition.

As for the alleged lack of humour, well, I don't particularly want 'jolly' music ever.

[Bucka001]

^I do get a bit bored of this implicit 'VDGG were *so* much better than all those other bands' stuff, to be honest. I don't agree, in as much that I think VDGG were fantastic, but so were ELP, Yes, Genesis etc. They have different approaches.

I hear you, and while I do think VdGG were better than (and different to) the other bands, I can also see where a lot of people love ELP, Genesis, and Yes but absolutely dislike VdGG (and there are a *lot* of prog fans who feel that way). I'm like that, but in the opposite (I dig VdGG, not the others so much). And anyway, those bands all sold millions more than VdGG so what do I know!

[Progatron]

This was my favourite VDGG album in my younger days but it's located more in the middle of their catalogue for me nowadays. I absolutely adore side one, but unfortunately I've never been able to get into "My Room", and that brings my overall rating down a point. As for "Childlike Faith...", I love it to death but I can recognize now that it could have used a little trimming. I can happily listen to it as is, of course... don't get me wrong. Some incredible, essential material here for sure but as a full album listen, I don't think it matches up to the masterpieces that are Godbluff and Pawn Hearts.

Over makes for a nice companion piece to this album IMO. And as I've often stated here on PE, it's one of my favourites of the overall Hammill catalogue, whether solo or VDGG.

[zombywoof]

Exactly!! For the earlier poster who isn't seeing the humor (which I totally understand), it's there but it's just not overt (it's not the barbershop quartet of Excuse Me, or the kazoo solo in Counting Out Time, or Benny the Bouncer), the Pythonesque chorus in Imperial Zeppelin notwithstanding.

What about the 'cha-cha' in "The Sleepwalkers"? Always gets me!

[strawberrybrick]

I hear you, and while I do think VdGG were better than (and different to) the other bands, I can also see where a lot of people love ELP, Genesis, and Yes but absolutely dislike VdGG (and there are a *lot* of prog fans who feel that way). I'm like that, but in the opposite (I dig VdGG, not the others so much). And anyway, those bands all sold millions more than VdGG so what do I know!

Critically speaking, most "outside" the prog world woudl say that VdGG has left a better legacy than any of their prog brethren. Not that one must agree with it, but it's out there.