Emperor in His War Room (Pt. 1: The Emperor, Pt. 2: The Room)
Lost, Pt. 1: The Dance in Sand and Sea, Pt. 2: The Dance in the Frost
Pioneers over C.
Limited Edition Japanese "Mini Vinyl" CD, faithfully reproduced using original LP artwork including the inner sleeve. Features most recently mastered audio including bonus tracks where applicable.
Limited Edition Japanese "Mini Vinyl" CD, faithfully reproduced using original LP artwork including the inner sleeve. Features most recently mastered audio including bonus tracks where applicable.
"I'm glad you like the band and this ablum, but as far as Guy Evans being just moderatly competent your showing very little knowledge of drumming. While he may not be as tight as Bill Bruford, he makes playing in odd meters with multiple changes look effortless in the DVD. Just being able to play this music is worth more than that. Also Jackson plays some of the most creative sax and devices I've ever heard. Your review just seemed like a backhanded compliment to me.
"
He to H Who - waa??
M. Detko | Scarborough, Ontario Canada | 04/22/2003
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Alright, something to do with helium. Maybe Peter Hammill was sniffing it when he sang this stuff. I find he's way over the top, chewing the scenery on every song. He ranks with Richard Harris for over-acting. The songs themselves are pretty boring, not much going on. Would be a total waste if not for Fripp's short guitar solo on one song. I listened to this a few times and sold it on eBay. This is not the great missing piece of the progressive rock puzzle. Too melodramatic. There's not much instrumentally, just hammond organ everywhere, like wallpaper, and some adequate woodwinds. Not much in the way of arrangements either. The songs are too long considering their simplicity. Put in some electric guitar - it's all Hammill's acoustic other than Fripp - and maybe this would do more than make you want to shut your eyes - impossible to sleep though due to Hamill's constant emoting. However, if you are depressed or enjoy being depressed, this may be the album for you."
The Best
ElvisCostellosWeiner | Michigan | 05/06/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"i don't suggest starting here with Van Der Graaf. It's an album to work up to. Because it is easily their best. Peter's song writing suggest complete genius here. Very beautiful, very harsh, very strange, very van der graaf. I just want to say all these guys are way above average on their instruments. They just don't "flash". They're not about that. They're about experimentation, pulsation, contrasting beauty with ugliness. Killer."
A forgotten landmark you really need to know about
mianfei | 11/13/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Although starting out as a psychedelic band, Van der Graaf Generator were soon firmly placed in the Euro-prog camp but they were really quite unlike and much better than most bands from that era.
Instead of focusing on overblown guitars, Van der Graaf Generator relied largely on passionate drumming and organ work that reaches an intensity quite unlike most music ever could. The production may be as "clean" as most progressive rock, but the music is just blistering with passion and feeling.
"H to He Who Am The Only One" was where Van der Graaf really came into their own. Their previous album The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other had shown some remarkable moments like "White Hammer", but here they manage to weave volume and beauty in a way that was never matched for over twenty years afterwards. "House With No Door" might seem like an ordinary ballad, but unlike almost all progressive rock it had genuine, touching intimacy that really makes a listener truly feel for what Peter Hamill is saying. The flutes in the middle of the song really are beautiful and then the song turn visceral in a quite unique way.
The opening track, "Killer" shows the band's harder, louder side to the fore. Some of the most passionate sax work you will hear from David Jackson intertwines with Guy Evans' dense drumming and Peter Hamill's unqiue voice. The result is explosive, even aggressive yet as touching and dramatic as Laura Nyro on Tendaberry. Together with Hamill's wonderful lyrics about being attacked by a fish, this makes for one of the best songs of its era.
The remaining three tracks move towards even heavier organ-led work, and "The Emperor in His War-Room" is perhaps the definitive Van der Graaf track with Hamill alternating between quiet singing and dramatic shouts that still have melody. It is hard to believe rock bands could get so loud with hardly any guitar or bass - yet Van der Graaf were a band who at their best could seemingly break almost any rule. "Lost" is even more intense and moving, yet faster in tempo. At times, though, it is a truly reflective piece. The closer "Pioneers Over C", with its space-travel theme, is the culmination of Hamill's remarkable lyrical vision.
For all its labelling, "H to He, Who Am the Only One" is one of the most unique albums you will find. Fiery, yet beautiful, heavy without guitars, thickly produced yet emotional, there is very little like this. Fans of bands like Slint, later Talk Talk and Godspeed You Black Emperor really should hear Van der Graaf Generator. In many ways their passionate, touching, intense, despairing sound was that of the first-ever post-rock band, and Hamill's dramatic voice and cerebral lyrics make this album a true masterpiece."
Van der genius... but not perfect... or maybe it is
B. E Jackson | Pennsylvania | 05/31/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"This is my NEW review (it's a 5 star album now but amazon won't let me change the rating).
To me, if you like one Van Der Graaf album, you'll probably end up liking most of them (then again, I haven't heard the supposedly bad late 70's albums the band did so we won't count those). The only thing that can separate one of their albums compared to the rest is whether the songwriting is a little bit better or a little bit worse. For this album, I believe the songwriting is a bit improved.
From beginning to end, the lyrics are better than usual, and the vocal melodies are a tad more emotional and exciting. Compared to Pawn Hearts, well, it's hard to match the quality of the songwriting on THAT album, but this album honestly isn't far behind.
In fact, you should probably go ahead and make sure you own BOTH albums, to experience a double shot of greatness. Both albums are just very very good the entire way through. Give yourself time to adjust to the lead singer though, because you might believe he comes off like a goofball with a strange vocal range the first couple times you hear him sing.
Favorite song? Well, probably "Lost". At 11 minutes it goes through a roller-coaster ride of lyrical emotions and puts colorful images in my mind, but if you go into the album familiar with the band you know that MOST of their songs do the same thing. It's a really good song from a really good album.
and this is my OLD review.
Van Der Graaf Generator is a very talented band, both lyrically and musically (and VERY underrated atmospherically) but this album contains nothing we haven't already heard before. Basically all their albums sound the same, and whether you like the bands style or not is completely up to you.
They are definitely a band that likes to focus more on lyrical themes over instrumental chops, which makes them *much* different from that of, say, Emerson, Lake & Palmer or Camel.
Overall, a great album (and a great band) but if you have another album by Van Der Graaf Generator and enjoy it, don't go in expecting to be blown away with something that's much different from the album you already have. Just expect more or less the same thing, with different lyrics, but with an identical mood and style.
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1
