One of my all time favourites. "Stand straight, though your back breaks from trying", especialy this line, but the entire piece as well gave me strength in hard times - since almost 50 years now. Thanx Peter
Yes, this was the new, relaxed, jazz rock VDGG - and they were even more so in concert - lighter, less angst, more fun. I think Hammill's Nadir's Big Chance project was an important factor, which fed into the band. So too was the thriving British jazz scene around this time. Some of this album is very like Soft Machine of 5,6,7 vintage. Jackson, Banton and Evans recorded an instrumental jazz rock album called The Long Hello - it's perfectly fine but a little bland - that unit was at its best stretching out as part of VDGG. I feel so lucky that I was around when they were at their peak and I could experience their development over so many tours of North West England, even luckier to be still around to enjoy a young guy from Florida relishing their music, too, so many years late. Thanks so much for brightening my day, again!
Dear JP I just wanted to let you know that I get huge pleasure from your channel. I have been following for a couple of years and there has been revelation after revelation. I grew up listening to music in the sixties and seventies and boy were we blessed! Every week came albums that were amazing, groundbreaking and sensational but…… there were so many of them that it was impossible to embrace them all. So whilst I listened to Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Genesis, King Crimson. Incredible String Band, Caravan, Wishbone Ash, Camel and Traffic, I was also aware of Judas Priest, Van der Graaf Generator, Hatfield and the North, Gong, Gentle Giant, Hawkwind and many others. I knew the names but I didn’t listen as there was too much to take in. (I could list dozens more in both categories). Your reactions are now giving me the opportunity to go back and revisit not only the artists that I loved but the ones I largely missed and for that….. I thank you.
I once saw a live interview with Hammill where he said that this was the first song he wrote after his marriage broke up, and I realised today (after watching your reaction to When She Comes) that, while Over is overtly a break-up album, World Record could be seen in the same way. When She Comes, fear and desire and resentment; Masks, wearing the mask (fairly obviously); Meurglys III, loneliness ("All human contact seems painful, risky, odd"); all ending in a hymn. I’m not sure that this idea all works, but I do think it's not a bad approach. Thanks though, for helping me to hear these songs anew, after 40 years.
You are totally right about the groove, Justin. Hammill said in an interview once that "World Record" was intended as a dance album. Hammill plays a lot of guitar on that album, especially in the next two tracks. Since "Meurglys III - The Songwriter's Guild" is planned for Saturday we suppose "Masks" will be tomorrow.
😃 Out in the country, with family, friends, and creatures. Wild or tame, space to be mad or sane. Out here in the wilds, "A Place to Survive". The only place to be truly alive.✌
You have correctly identified VdGG approaching commerciality (the almost funky sax and bass) , yet still remaining several miles away from anything that could be a hit single - the usual Hammill vocal and the instrumental coda make sure that radio planners wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole. Second division VdGG but undeniably intriguing and 'groovy'.
I find it hard to separate Peter Hammil's solo work from Van der Graaf Generator, I pretty much love it all, but I have to be in the right sort of mood. I seem to be in the mood more and more often as I get older.
If you're new to VDGG , but a lover of prog rock , I think that the easiest way to begin to appreciate the genius of this band is to have the music on in the background , whilst you're maybe doing the mundane things in life. Exactly how I did it. Worked for me. That was about 35 years ago maybe , still love them now. Great album this one , Godbluff probably their most complete work. Thanks JP. 😍
Love this song. On the surface its just straight blues and boring. But the vocal noise at the right times, and that crunchy distorted organ is damn tasty. A pleasure to the ears!
@@Katehowe3010 But I didn't know JP was doing VdGG at this moment - you messaged me - I went to JP's page - and there was VdGG. I was going to comment on whatever JP was covering.
At the time I assumed that the album title was linked to Charisma's "Van Der Graaf is for everyone" marketing campaign. While the fans love of the band had grown their record sales had not, so this was marketed (unsuccessfully) as an album for everyone - for the whole world. The darkness in this album is much more Peter's own than the usual existential fear elsewhere, which probably comes from the breakup of him and his partner and after this album the breakup of the band. You can hear his regret in God Bluff's La Rossa, his self pity and resolve to carry on in this album, and his doubtful hope in the last line of Over's Lost and Found "Everything's going to be alright?" .
World rêcord vs. Wôrld record? And then it could just be a "whirled" record, too? One thing I personally like about Vdgg is the "very brassy brass", so one of the thing I like about this song is that there's lots of it. Nice and brash and raspy - with a bit of a croak in its voice. Lovely. :-)
I might as well add that there's a former world snooker champion in *The Utopia Strong* (the kind who likes Magma) ruclips.net/video/gG02P9j406I/видео.html
I enjoy this album a lot more than I used to - for a long time I could only compare to the others, which is unfair. It's very loose and almost un prog at times. Shows a different, more rhythmic side of the band.
Looking forward to hearing "Wondering" again! Are you still looking for more creepy recs? I can think of a couple: "Creaking Doors" by Pink Industry ('80s new wave) and "Full Circle" S/T Album by Colin Towns... 😸
@@Katehowe3010 Great ! I really liked the Ian Gillan Band then later Gillan in which Colin Towns played. You were lucky to see Ian Gillan when he still had his voice intact! I didn't have that pleasure since I saw him with Purple when they reunited in 85.
@@Katehowe3010 I have seen on Discogs a plethora of Colin Towns albums for TV or film but in my opinion they must have been pressed in very small quantities ! Even his 1982 solo album Making Faces is impossible to find on RUclips (just a snippet or two).
@@Katehowe3010 Do you mean "Meurglys III" by VDGG? If so, the answer is no. I have never been attracted by this piece which I find too long. It's really only its intro that I really like. From World Record I only like "Wondering", and anyway I think Justin should have focused on doing the whole album at once rather than doing a piece every day, it is too annoying.
Underrated song from VdGG. The group is looser and the lyrics are encouraging, not gloom and doom. It is a bit long but we get nice instrument interplay.
Isn't this the same song you played of theirs yesterday? A simplistic tune with some noodling, the usual histrionic vocals, and 10 mins, I mean, come on, just felt so dragged out. And on top of which... so, so many interjections.
@@lemming9984 I find they run hot 'n' cold. And there's times PH's vocal approach really gets on my bits... Othertimes not. What can i say, i'm fickle 🙂 For instance, I love Hammill's Silent Corner, Empty Stage, and let's face it PH is VDGG. Sometimes the stuff grabs me, sometimes not... this one's a not.
@@jfergs.3302 Mmmmn, understand what you're saying, but I think Jackson, Banton and Evans are AS important to VDG as Hammill! Have you heard the Gentlemen Prefer Blues album?
Yeah, probably this is not the best. On Mergullys 3 they do a more structured song like in the early seventies, but they do it also with humor (ending of song) Otherwise you will find it a little boring...
Musically it's frankly average and it really drags on too much for my taste, as for the voice of Peter Hamill, I find it really repulsive on this piece. Can't wait for "Wondering" to come, because I won't be able to stand the next two songs !
One of my all time favourites. "Stand straight, though your back breaks from trying", especialy this line, but the entire piece as well gave me strength in hard times - since almost 50 years now. Thanx Peter
Same for me. In times of depression (just like right now), PH helped many times. Seems like a paradoxe, nut he gives strength to stand straight.
Yes, this was the new, relaxed, jazz rock VDGG - and they were even more so in concert - lighter, less angst, more fun. I think Hammill's Nadir's Big Chance project was an important factor, which fed into the band. So too was the thriving British jazz scene around this time. Some of this album is very like Soft Machine of 5,6,7 vintage. Jackson, Banton and Evans recorded an instrumental jazz rock album called The Long Hello - it's perfectly fine but a little bland - that unit was at its best stretching out as part of VDGG. I feel so lucky that I was around when they were at their peak and I could experience their development over so many tours of North West England, even luckier to be still around to enjoy a young guy from Florida relishing their music, too, so many years late. Thanks so much for brightening my day, again!
Dear JP
I just wanted to let you know that I get huge pleasure from your channel. I have been following for a couple of years and there has been revelation after revelation. I grew up listening to music in the sixties and seventies and boy were we blessed! Every week came albums that were amazing, groundbreaking and sensational but…… there were so many of them that it was impossible to embrace them all. So whilst I listened to Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Genesis, King Crimson. Incredible String Band, Caravan, Wishbone Ash, Camel and Traffic, I was also aware of Judas Priest, Van der Graaf Generator, Hatfield and the North, Gong, Gentle Giant, Hawkwind and many others. I knew the names but I didn’t listen as there was too much to take in. (I could list dozens more in both categories). Your reactions are now giving me the opportunity to go back and revisit not only the artists that I loved but the ones I largely missed and for that….. I thank you.
I once saw a live interview with Hammill where he said that this was the first song he wrote after his marriage broke up, and I realised today (after watching your reaction to When She Comes) that, while Over is overtly a break-up album, World Record could be seen in the same way. When She Comes, fear and desire and resentment; Masks, wearing the mask (fairly obviously); Meurglys III, loneliness ("All human contact seems painful, risky, odd"); all ending in a hymn.
I’m not sure that this idea all works, but I do think it's not a bad approach.
Thanks though, for helping me to hear these songs anew, after 40 years.
Even the chaotic ending can't ruin this wonderful song. Guy Evans? I haven't the words to describe how much he has enriched my life.
The final two songs of the album bring the drama in spades.
You are totally right about the groove, Justin. Hammill said in an interview once that "World Record" was intended as a dance album. Hammill plays a lot of guitar on that album, especially in the next two tracks. Since "Meurglys III - The Songwriter's Guild" is planned for Saturday we suppose "Masks" will be tomorrow.
This is an underrated album. This is the VDGG album that Hammill incorporates more electric guitar in the music.
😃 Out in the country, with family, friends, and creatures. Wild or tame, space to be mad or sane. Out here in the wilds, "A Place to Survive". The only place to be truly alive.✌
You have correctly identified VdGG approaching commerciality (the almost funky sax and bass) , yet still remaining several miles away from anything that could be a hit single - the usual Hammill vocal and the instrumental coda make sure that radio planners wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole. Second division VdGG but undeniably intriguing and 'groovy'.
I find it hard to separate Peter Hammil's solo work from Van der Graaf Generator, I pretty much love it all, but I have to be in the right sort of mood. I seem to be in the mood more and more often as I get older.
Yeah. Love this song.❤ I used to have this album on cassette.
If you're new to VDGG , but a lover of prog rock , I think that the easiest way to begin to appreciate the genius of this band is to have the music on in the background , whilst you're maybe doing the mundane things in life. Exactly how I did it. Worked for me. That was about 35 years ago maybe , still love them now. Great album this one , Godbluff probably their most complete work. Thanks JP. 😍
Marvellous track!😍
This one's just a jam. Pretty simple, but with some fun bits of spice sprinkled in, like that teasing bit of funky bass.
Love this song. On the surface its just straight blues and boring. But the vocal noise at the right times, and that crunchy distorted organ is damn tasty. A pleasure to the ears!
VdGG - just the best. Perhaps it takes a few listens - but once that's done they reward like no other!
@@Katehowe3010 I got to do a positive comment - I didn't expect that. All because of you - thx buddy.
@@Katehowe3010 But I didn't know JP was doing VdGG at this moment - you messaged me - I went to JP's page - and there was VdGG. I was going to comment on whatever JP was covering.
@@Katehowe3010 Watching it now - thx again.
@@Katehowe3010 Vale 3 Lincoln 1
@@Katehowe3010 Oh - Astros probably win the series - but the game is on right now. Do you want to know the score? Game 1 is on now.
Surely one of my faves by this band
At the time I assumed that the album title was linked to Charisma's "Van Der Graaf is for everyone" marketing campaign. While the fans love of the band had grown their record sales had not, so this was marketed (unsuccessfully) as an album for everyone - for the whole world.
The darkness in this album is much more Peter's own than the usual existential fear elsewhere, which probably comes from the breakup of him and his partner and after this album the breakup of the band.
You can hear his regret in God Bluff's La Rossa, his self pity and resolve to carry on in this album, and his doubtful hope in the last line of Over's Lost and Found "Everything's going to be alright?" .
World rêcord vs. Wôrld record?
And then it could just be a "whirled" record, too?
One thing I personally like about Vdgg is the "very brassy brass", so one of the thing I like about this song is that there's lots of it. Nice and brash and raspy - with a bit of a croak in its voice. Lovely. :-)
Some *Jazz* just arrived! ruclips.net/video/JJKJHsEsUSU/видео.html
I might as well add that there's a former world snooker champion in *The Utopia Strong* (the kind who likes Magma) ruclips.net/video/gG02P9j406I/видео.html
6:49 isnt that synth too?
I enjoy this album a lot more than I used to - for a long time I could only compare to the others, which is unfair. It's very loose and almost un prog at times. Shows a different, more rhythmic side of the band.
Awesome.
Looking forward to hearing "Wondering" again! Are you still looking for more creepy recs? I can think of a couple: "Creaking Doors" by Pink Industry ('80s new wave) and "Full Circle" S/T Album by Colin Towns... 😸
Full Circle by Colin Towns is a good Soundtrack !
@@Katehowe3010 Great ! I really liked the Ian Gillan Band then later Gillan in which Colin Towns played. You were lucky to see Ian Gillan when he still had his voice intact! I didn't have that pleasure since I saw him with Purple when they reunited in 85.
@@Katehowe3010 I have seen on Discogs a plethora of Colin Towns albums for TV or film but in my opinion they must have been pressed in very small quantities ! Even his 1982 solo album Making Faces is impossible to find on RUclips (just a snippet or two).
@@Katehowe3010 He is an excellent keyboard player and composer, unfortunately quite overlooked.
@@Katehowe3010 Do you mean "Meurglys III" by VDGG? If so, the answer is no. I have never been attracted by this piece which I find too long. It's really only its intro that I really like. From World Record I only like "Wondering", and anyway I think Justin should have focused on doing the whole album at once rather than doing a piece every day, it is too annoying.
Underrated song from VdGG. The group is looser and the lyrics are encouraging, not gloom and doom. It is a bit long but we get nice instrument interplay.
Isn't this the same song you played of theirs yesterday? A simplistic tune with some noodling, the usual histrionic vocals, and 10 mins, I mean, come on, just felt so dragged out. And on top of which... so, so many interjections.
OK, we get it - you don't like VdGG! 😉
Okay, grandpa, i have your Yanni records right here. Don't blow a gasket.
@@lemming9984 I find they run hot 'n' cold. And there's times PH's vocal approach really gets on my bits... Othertimes not. What can i say, i'm fickle 🙂 For instance, I love Hammill's Silent Corner, Empty Stage, and let's face it PH is VDGG. Sometimes the stuff grabs me, sometimes not... this one's a not.
@@jfergs.3302 Mmmmn, understand what you're saying, but I think Jackson, Banton and Evans are AS important to VDG as Hammill! Have you heard the Gentlemen Prefer Blues album?
Yeah, probably this is not the best. On Mergullys 3 they do a more structured song like in the early seventies, but they do it also with humor (ending of song)
Otherwise you will find it a little boring...
Musically it's frankly average and it really drags on too much for my taste, as for the voice of Peter Hamill, I find it really repulsive on this piece.
Can't wait for "Wondering" to come, because I won't be able to stand the next two songs !