GODBLUFF

"Godbluff," is the 5th album by the classic progressive rock outfit, "Van Der Graaf Generator." Following their 1971 masterpiece, "Pawn Hearts," the band took 4 well-spent years to craft their magnum opus, "Godbluff." In my opinion, this is the greatest album the band ever released and I absolutely love it. The band has a way tighter and perfected sound on this album with much less experimentation than their previous works, as this was the first self-produced album by the band. Clocking in at a humble 35 minutes, the album features 4 tracks only, all of which respectively clocking in at close to 10 or over 10 minutes long.

The album opens with the echoing flutes of the track, "The Undercover Man." Peter Hammil's eerie voice soon enters with light high-hat and soft organ before a drum fill shifts the octave higher. Soon a beautiful piano and organ sequence kicks in with Hammil's vocals shining. The instrumentation is absolutely perfect just a mere 3 minutes into the song. As Hammil cries out "These Phantom Figures all around you," the song shifts into an amazing Honher Clavinet jam (which Hammil had started using primarily after the Pawn Hearts album). This is my favorite part of the song, but unfortunately, it shifts back into the main theme quicker than it even starts. The sound of this song is extraordinarily full despite the lack of bass on the album, and this is because of the inventive use of Bass Pedals on the Hammond Organ by Hugh Banton. The best way I could think to describe this song is a tale of someone's subconscious taking over as "the undercover man," as shown in lyrics such as "When the madness comes, let it flood on down and over me sweetly." The next track on the album is my personal favorite, "Scorched Earth." The track opens with a ravenous clavinet riff which is quickly accompanied by snare fills and Hammil's voice which leads the song into its main sequence. This song is easily 10 times more aggressive than the opener, and I absolutely love it. The song enters a very eclectic trippy section around 2:50 with a heavy filter on Hammil's voice. Hammil is a genius lyricist in the sense that he can write great lyrics that leave the audience interpreting what he meant. I think that the song is about free will and not giving in to the man which could be assumed by lines such as "He will not be hostage, he will not be slave," or "In his wake, he leaves scorched earth and work in vain." Towards the end of the track, the song picks up and Hammil recites the lyrics at record pace. At around 7 minutes, the track goes through some clean key switches and countless variations of the theme. The end of the song is extremely grandiose and filled with massive horns, phased drums, and equally eclectic sections reminiscent of the most obscure prog imaginable. The song eventually ends on a heavy note which is a fitting end to this masterpiece.

Side two opens with the 9:30 song "Arrow." The song opens with a random drum beat, that is joined by some interesting bass. For around a minute the song executes a very experimental jam before the clavinet kicks in and the song begins to take shape. The percussive work on this track is tier 1 and amazingly done by Guy Evans. Hammil's voice reigns loudly as if he is singing to a valley of soldiers. The song has extremely minor overtones and is a very dark track in general even in the lyrics. As Hammil bellows, "Arrow!" the drums pick up and the clavinet keeps on powering through. The song repeats its main theme throughout most of it, and Hammil's voice strains mightily. Once again, the lyricism on this track is top-tier, and there are many theories as to what the song entails. I personally believe that it is a song about death and its impending inevitability which is signified by the main line "How swiftly comes the Arrow!" An exemplary track and one of the band's best. The album closes on the 10-minute epic, "The Sleepwalkers." The song opens quickly with a jumpy organ theme and spatial toms that lie under Hammil's vocals. The organ takes the song into a segment where the drums pick up and fanfare can be heard from David Jackson (similar to something by Renaissance except much darker). The song is a bit of a circus interlude around the 3-minute mark, with a high vibrato organ and horns in the background. The fanfare quickly sours, and the key switches into a new theme similar to "The Undercover Man." This song continues the dark and tragic theme of the album's lyrics with another deathly theme which symbolizes sleepwalking through life like a cog in the machine, until simultaneously awoken and put to sleep by death. The song gives an extremely doom-metal theme with prog overtones such as the sounds of Hugh Banton's modified Hammond E112 Organ. Around the 9:00 mark, the song goes through an ethereal passage with light organ arpeggios before fading to black.

On the remaster, there are two bonus tracks: "Forsaken Gardens," and "A Louse Is Not a Home." Both of these tracks could've easily made the cut for the album, and as perfect as I think this album is, I think It could've been even better had these tracks been added. Although the audio quality is worse than bad on these, they somehow possess some of that awesome good bluff feel. The first track, "Forsaken Gardens," is very heavy and has the rare sound of an electric guitar present. Clocking in at 12 minutes, the second track is no joke either. "A Louse Is Not a Home," is an eerie and quiet song that barely picks up until the 7-8 minute mark. I would love to see a fully mastered version of these tracks released or re-recorded in the future.

At the end of the day, this album is a staple of progressive rock that I would obviously recommend to anyone. Whether it be the outstanding voice of Hammil, the creative keyboards of Banton, David Jackson's mystical yet dark flutes, or Guy Evans's impressive drum exhibition, this album is refined (even down to the imaginative lyrics). There isn't a weak point on this album, and so I think It is well deserving of a perfect rating. All four songs are great, and this is (In my humble opinion), one of (if not the) greatest comeback albums in Progressive Rock (if not all music) history. 5 stars, and highly recommend.