Brilliant! Thank you Evans & Hammill
velvet_green | 05/25/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Peter Hammill never did want to unite Van Der Graaf Generator, his celebrated prog-rock band of the 1970s. Yet, against all odds, he did just in this 1997 concert that is worthy of the title 'one-in-a-life-time' event. Is this a true representation of the VDGG sound? No, and this was not the intention of Hammill & Guy Evans when they conceived the concert. Indeed, they've tried to play only off-beat, rarely played songs, which makes this album a bit demanding - you want hear the usual Hammill concert favourites here. Instead, there's Ship of Fools (originally a B-side of a VDG single, no less), and many of Hammill's solo songs, spanning from the early "Red Shift" to the 1996 "A Forest Of Pronouns". This should not serve as an introduction to Peter Hammill or to Van Der Graaf. Yet, as Robert Fripp puts out limited editions of somewhat obscure yet fascinating live performances of King Crimson for his fans, this is perhaps the VDGG equivalent.For those of us who are familiar with all other VDGG albums (which is not saying much, as so little was recorded by this group), this album is definitely worth buying. Some of the songs are strange, true, but the experimental atmosphere is there, as is the complexity of instrumentation, and creativity of playing live, that were the trade marks of any Van Der Graaf live concert.Inside you'll find informative notes, explaining the setting of this unique event, and suggesting the sound quality is inadequate... Although this may be true, the quality is much better than many other live albums of prog rock bands which were recorded back in the seventies. If you need further reasons to but these 2 CDs, here's one - "Lemmings". One of Van Der Graaf best 'songs', played live after, well - more than 15 years? It's brilliant, and deserves the price of the album alone. Hearing a majestic rendition of Barber's Adagio played by Banton's eerie organ provides yet another reason to purchase this album. While others might also find "Traintime" encore performance exciting, I thank Hammill for his decision to play "Red Shift", a true masterpiece, at the concert. Again, this track was not performed for many, many years before, and has received the loving treatment it deserved."
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1