The best single-CD compilation of Van Der Graaf's output
Gavin Wilson | 08/23/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I own most of VdGG's studio albums, both of the earlier Virgin compilations (FIRST & SECOND GENERATIONS), and a number of less official CDs by the band, and this is definitely the best-sounding of all of them. At the moment there are just two remastered Van Der Graaf albums: this, and the four-CD THE BOX. Both arose from the same remastering. For the VdGG beginner, this is an excellent introduction to the band's classics. For the long-in-the-tooth aficianado, it's a sound test, to see whether the quality of the remasters is strong enough to justify buying THE BOX.VdGG released just eight official albums on the Charisma label, which was then purchased by Virgin. This compilation largely goes for the one-track-from-each-LP system of selection, apart from: wisely avoiding the live VITAL album altogether, including two tracks from LEAST WE CAN DO ... and the non-album track 'Theme 1'. It would be pointless to haggle over the track selection -- all the songs chosen here are excellent, but there are plenty of excellent songs left for newcomers to discover on the original studio CDsSongs like 'When She Comes' positively sparkle here. Beatles producer George Martin's 'Theme 1' continues to be a dense mix -- I still cannot tell whether there is a lead guitar tracking the sax note-for-note. 'Still Life' features a sustained bass with a lot of reverb.The text on the inlay card is informative but badly written. It needed something like the self-deprecating words provided by VdGG themselves for the FIRST and SECOND GENERATION CDs. Without them and with only the song lyrics to go by, you feel Hammill takes himself just a little too seriously. No details are given about the remastering -- these days with multiple remastered versions available for many albums (not VdGG yet!), I feel the customer deserves to know who, where and when. No mention is made of the session artists appearing on the tracks selected -- it would have been nice to see Robert Fripp get some credit, for instance.It's crazy to try to pick just one, but for me the stand-out track here is 'Man-Erg'. Scheduled soon after the seemingly endless riffing of 'Killer', it is a track packed with ideas, music and effects, and it helps to demonstrate what a mature culminating masterpiece the PAWN HEARTS album really was."
Great intro to a top progressive band from the seventies
Ignaciocue | Mexico | 11/20/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Peter Hammill remastered songs from VDGG, include a very representative selection of one of the greatest progressive british rock bands ever that did not make it commercially wise. Another great VDGG compilations, not remastered, are First Generation, Second Generation and Maida Vale, and the 4 cd BOX set. Any one of these an excellent choice."
Track Listings (9) - Disc #1