God I wish they would tour the US again! They haven't been to the west coast in how long? I reached out at one point and got a message back through the grapevine that Hamill thinks it's too much work to transport a Hammond organ overseas. Not sure why he wouldn't consider a rental...
I had the good fortune to see the current trio live in Washington DC a few years back at the newly renovated and reopened historic Howard Theater. Unforgettable. It was unbelievable to me how complex the (polyrhythmic) music could be live coming from those guys.
I don't think Banton's keyboard setup is any kind of stock Hammond you could rent from Guitar Center or whatever.
I am having a blast (re-)discovering this amazing band via this box set. Even if I can’t play the surround mixes yet due to the Blu-Ray issue it is an incredible set. I may have already mentioned that I had the 2000 4CD box so I was not unfamiliar with the band, but something about the pacing and selection of that set made me not get into and realise how good some of the stuff is. Highly, highly recommended and worth the effort to get into.
Hmm, yes, but the question is now, is this due to the absence of Guy a PH solo show or really the set VdGG would have played with Guy on board? VdGG did often not play the same sets every evening, which other bands often did and do, but the variations were of course limited to a few. But this here is closer to what PH did in the last years, playing completely varied sets, with songs taken from all decades on consecutive evenings. The less musicians play, the easier is that. So it looks like a bold mixture of PH solo and regular VdGG. But I love it, and if this is only a result of Guy's passport trouble, hey, thank you for that nevertheless ... ... and I hope good audience recordings appear soon ...
From what he said on twitter he sat with Hugh Banton and they chose together which songs they could play with a duo. Apparently the list wasn't very short! Guy Evans has applied for an emergency passport so I think the shows in Helsinki will be the only ones as a duo.
Well. Firstly, I've never owned any music by VDGG. Listening to it by way of sampling things on Youtube, I drew some impressions, but they were mostly in the "this is going to take some work to love". Ordinarily, I'd just move on and forget about it, if they came back into my purview at some other time, then I'll go again. On the other hand, this is a complete box (more or less), and it has Surround mixes. For music this intricate and dense, Surround can really help. Besides, I'm a sucker for Surround. Still, this remains all new music, with no real draw to my ear. Then, listening to another sample, my brain made some kind of connection between VDGG and Henry Cow. I don't know, something about the approach and sound seemed to link them. I've very much enjoyed the HC box set, and I could see a glimmer of getting into VDGG by way of the association. So I added this to my Wish List, and left it at that. I've been tracking it since release. Which leads me to yesterday. I don't know if this set is limited, or if there'll be a subsequent press, but I noticed it had gone out of stock at Amazon UK. Even Discog's looked like prices had gone up a bit. So I jumped over to Ebay - and prices there were worse - with one exception, a single copy for sale at £100. Figured it was now or never. So I jumped in. I'm looking forward to experiencing the band, probably first in Surround. But I'm expecting a challenge. Sometimes that's what it's all about, right?
Congratulations, you made the right choice! One of the reasons why I love these career retrospective boxes is that you can get the feeling of how the band has progressed from album to album through the years. Of course you can get the same by listening to the original albums in sequence (I'm doing that also). After listening this VdGG box through a couple of times I'm happy that they broke up in the late '70s. It means that we don't need to listen to how they would try to adapt their sound with the changing times and fashions of the next couple of decades. Just imagine the album credits from 1986: Peter Hammill, vocals and synthesizers: Hugh Banton, synthesizers: Guy Evans, electronic percussion and drum programming. I have the same sort of opinion about Gentle Giant also.
Well, good luck! I'm amazed that people who have never listened extensively to a band like VDGG are willing to dive in head first with an entire expensive box set, instead of first buying say, the 2 disc Pawn Hearts release first and seeing if the band is in their wheelhouse. It took me years quite honestly to get into VDGG. I knew of them only vaguely in the 70s because I'm a huge Genesis fan, and I read about the Charisma Tour that Genesis did with VDGG as the headliner band. That piqued my curiosity but I don't recall ever running across their records in my neck of the woods back in the 70s and 80s. I think they were one of those "import only" bands in the US. I finally bought Pawn Hearts when CDs came out either in the late 80s or early 90s. It intrigued me but Hammill's vocals turned me off. I also eventually came across the Classic Rock DVDs, which had the Belgium TV video of Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, which got me more interested because of the music and the mysterious nature of the band, but still didn't dive in because of PH vocals and his delivery. As I explored more kinds of prog beyond the melodic symphonic progressive style of Yes, Genesis etc, and got more into King Crimson, Soft Machine and bands from various European countries, I suppose my palette widened and more "against the grain" type bands with a wider variety of vocal styles became more tolerable. So I finally bought most of their Charisma cds, and Vital is the one that really sold me. That live album smoked and I really felt the power of the band, and "got it". Quite honestly, I'm still not crazy about PHs vocals, but what attracts me is the instrumental power of the band, and seeing them live at Nearfest really made me a fan. So I've seen them live 4 times and I can tolerate the vocal delivery much easier because its more about the entire sonic experience and power. If you already like a more avant band like Henry Cow, you probably won't have as much difficulty as I did getting into them, but my journey literally took decades. Gentle Giant was kind of the same way for me.
It's funny how I have always sort of placed VdGG and Gentle Giant together in my head, and they do have something in common: - Both never made it to the top tier of prog luminaries. - Both are somewhat inaccessible at first sight, or tough nut to crack, mainly because of vocal delivery. - Both made an unsuccessful attempt to adapt with the changing times (punk explosion), but soon after gave it up.
I must confess that I'm not too familiar with Peter's solo discography. I was just fantasizing what VdGG might have done in the '80s, like many big names when they tried desperately to "go with the flow".
That album is not one of his better solo efforts. He did sort of attempt to have a hit but that went nowhere. It just didn't add up to a hit.
Peter Hammill had already adapted with the changing times with "Nadir's Big Chance" or actually was ahead of the times. The VDG line-up and "Quiet Zone/Pleasure Dome" was a natural progression and as good as the albums before it. Hugh Banton and David Jackson were irreplaceable and it was a wise decision to revamp the lineup differently.
I really don't know if I'll take to them or not. I 100% agree regarding the vocals - they're bad (at least from the current standpoint). Musically they seemed interesting. But then, Henry Cow weren't exactly a band of Frank Sinatra's! I mean, Dagmar Krause isn't Linda Ronstadt (although frankly, she's more musical than what I've heard from VDGG). So there's work to do, and I may never like the vocals, who knows? I'm going to give it a go. But why buy a huge box? Well, it's mainly because of three things, 1) I happen to be able to afford it at the moment; 2) Surround Sound might help, and I love the format; 3) I saw the box getting more pricey, and didn't want to be in a situation where I got into a band and then not be able to afford it later. Which may or may not pay dividends. But I listen to a lot of experimental music, and the way my brain works is that I'm not expecting something that sounds traditional or "nice". My last evening was a Stockhausen disc and disc one from the Further Perspectives and Distortion box set from Cherry Red, which had some real doozies on there. I do view music as my entertainment, and that means earworms to Duds. Don't forget, I'm the guy who just had to have the CD from the Smithsonian of Office Sounds from the 1970's. Now that's a fun listen! it's all about not simply buying things I know I'm going to put into heavily rotation, but is going to get the brain spinning its wheels trying to find traction. It doesn't always work, but it's a fun exercise that keeps my horizons wide, wide, open.
I'm not even sure I would call Hammils vocals "singing", its more of a spoken stream of consciousness, almost like you're listening to a patient on the psychiatrist's couch, lol. But in the context of Banton's droning distorted Hammond and Jackson's bizarre off center double reed saxes, it somehow works, But probably not an every day listening band--I have to be in the right mood. I do put Plague of Lighthouse Keepers up there near (almost) Genesis' epic Suppers Ready. Oh to be back on that early 70s Charisma Tour seeing those bands perform those epics!
While I'm discussing it - I have only one complaint about the box set, the aesthetic. Making every CD look the same, and the box, and all. It all looks really bland. It's all about the contents, of course, but they had some really colorful art, and it seems a shame they went the way they did. But perhaps they were building a look based on the vocals alone. Also, I know the debut album was a different deal, but I wish the price would drop on the Cherry Red Deluxe Edition. The inclusion of Vinyl pushes it to £50 or so, and that's more than I'd pay for 2 CD's and a book. I've had that one on my wish list forever it seems, but the price hasn't changed.
Yep, I was surprised the look of the box was so....bland and white. There is a lot of discussion re the lack of artwork on the Prog Ears site. Maybe working on a limited budget and saving it for the contents? But I agree, wish they at least used the individual album artwork on the album sleeves in the box for easier identification.
Are you serious about Hammill's vocals? "Bad", "not singing"? Come on, I understand it's an acquired taste but they guy wasn't called The Hendrix of Voice without a reason. The range, the dynamics. Beautiful "Ophelia", terrifying "The Lie".
Who called him the "Hendrix of Voice"? It's not traditional melodic singing. It really is stream of consciousness poetry or yes, talking with inflection and dramatic emotion. To my ears anyway. He's not Sinatra or Karen Carpenter!
This was my reaction as well. I've always believed that Hammill had (when in his prime) the finest, most varied voice in rock. Apparently not everyone agrees.
Not sure how you could consider "Refugees" or "Pioneers Over C" to be "not traditional melodic singing." PH does eventually move towards "talking with inflection" as his voice deteriorates, but during the period reflected in this box he was, IMO, the Hendrix of Voice. (Not sure where that quote comes from, but I like it.)
