Original

Van der Graff Generator are a band from England. This is their fourth album from 1971 and the first music I heard from them. In 1976 my friend and I drove to the Granite Run Mall about 25 miles from Wilmington just for the hell of it. I went into a record store there and bought the first record from Starcastle and this one which was a U.K. import. I may have heard the name before and had an idea that sounded like Pink Floyd. This record is a masterpiece and is one of my favorite albums. A Progressive band but with elements of Jazz, Rock, Krautrock and Avant-Garde they sound like no other band I know except maybe The Legendary Pink Dots. Led by Peter Hammill who sings in a very emotional and dramatic voice, other members are Hugh Banton on organ David Jackson on sax and flute and Guy Evans on drums. Robert Fripp adds some electric guitar but the primary instrumentation is from Jackson’s sax and Banton’s organ. Two tracks on side one the frantic “Lemmings” and the more subdued piano based “Man-Erg”. The 23 minute “A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers” is on side two. In ten parts it is about a lighthouse keeper disturbed by the people he sees drowning. Going from frantic sections to quiet the music is always changing. The structure of the song is similar to Genesis’s “Supper’s Ready”, which came out around the same time, but more adventurous. Both Van der Graff Generator and Genesis were label-mates on the Chrisma label and toured together in the early 70’s. Perhaps there were some influences between the bands. This record was played any, many times and is pretty scratchy sounding ,of course more noticeable in the more quiet parts, but no skips and sounds generally good. After hearing this I looked for everything the band had put out.