Van der Graff Generator were formed in 1967 by Peter Hammill, Chris Judge Smith and Nick Pearne, later adding Hugh Banton, Guy Evans and Keith Ellis in 1968. After recording a few singles, they broke up in early 1969. A few months later Hammill brought back Banton ,Evans, and Ellis to record a solo album “of nice, sweet, gentle things” that eventually became the first Van der Graff LP. According to the liner notes it was recorded in 12 hours from July 31 to August 1 1969. Side one definitely has some mellow songs with Hammill playing acoustic guitar and Banton playing piano. “Running Back” and “Into A Game” have some great instrumental sections with bass by Keith Ellis and flute by guest Jeff Peach. Side two is more like their later style of more Progressive Rock. “Aquarian” and “Octopus” both over 8 minutes feature heavy bass by Ellis and organ by Banton. “Necromancer” is one of the most commercial sounding songs they ever recorded. This song could easily be called a Heavy Metal song with it’s lyrics about magic and spell casting and a heavy Rock beat. Initially only released in the U.S, in 1969 on the Mercury label. The copy I have is a German reissue from 1978 on the Fontana label. I bought this in ’90 or ’91 when I was living in Philly at the store off Cottman Ave. Another one played a lot and is very scratchy sounding. I may want to replace this one.