Van Der Graff Gentle Giant Camel

I take issue with VdGG being called "second rate".  In my opinion they're the best proggers in the land!

Guldbamsen wrote: No vote from me. These acts are far too different from one another for me to choose. That wouldn't be a problem, if I only loved one of them, but I happen to love all three for entirely different reasons. I prefer Van Damme in the evening, Camel in the mornings and Gentle Giant for dancing.

Dayvenkirq wrote: ^ These thoughts belong to a different thread.

Okay, sorry to Dellinger for the diversion into related avenues.  You should become a moderator, I hear there's an opening. ;)

Dayvenkirq wrote: Since, in all due honesty, I haven't charted all of VdGG's classic prog territory, what is their most melodic record? And I don't mean a lot of noodling, but melodies that are actually mesmerizing ... or catchy at the very least?

You have chosen the wrong band for that. VdGG are rarely if ever catchy. Some of their melodies are indeed brilliant, but they unfold over a long period of time. That said, I would start with Godbluff, but beware: The first track is arguably the least memorable track melody-wise.

As a matter of fact, I'm just getting into this bands. The one I know better so far is Camel, and have been listening to Van Der Graff Generator for the last week or two. About Gentle Giant, I have only heard the live album "Playing the Fool" once. As far as I have heard, I really like Camel a lot, but it seems mainly the original line-up period (plus "A Live Album"). As for VdGG, I was trying to choose what to buy to check them out, but they had so many high ratings that I chouldn't choose the "best 2 or 3 albums", so I ended up buying all from "The least we can do..." up to "Still Life". Now, I did my first listening at house with my wife, all the album one after another, and at first I was a bit nervous that I might have made a big waste of money and that I might have found a band that was too much for me (and the fact that my wife kept on complaining about me buying such horrible music didn't help at all). However, I've been listening to them more and I have found many songs I am really digging a lot; I still think some songs are a bit too much for me, but others I am really loving and just want to listen to them again and again. As for the one Gentle Giant album I got, I didn't like it so much, but only heard it once, so I hope I can make more sense out of it later on. I might ask for help here about which albums I should try after Playing the Fool. So far, I don't dare to vote. And indeed, I only called this bands 2nd tier because that's the way I have seen them refered to here, but I don't think they below Yes, Genesis, King Crimson, Jethro Tull, etc in any way. I was also thinking about including Renaissance on this poll, which I also love a lot, but I haven't seen such a cult praise for that band in the site, so I thought this 3 bands are the real "close followers" to the 1st tier bands.

Yeah, I would go for Free Hand as the one that mixes accessibility and complexity the best. Honestly, I seem to be the only one who has always found Gentle Giant very accessible. 

HarbouringTheSoul wrote: Honestly, I seem to be the only one who has always found Gentle Giant very accessible.

What are you so confused about? You really think the weird vocals on and the sound of tape rolling at the end of "Valedictory" is something a girlfriend of a fellow progger could put up with?

HarbouringTheSoul wrote: Honestly, I seem to be the only one who has always found Gentle Giant very accessible.

I thought I was the only one

HarbouringTheSoul wrote: Dayvenkirq wrote: Since, in all due honesty, I haven't charted all of VdGG's classic prog territory, what is their most melodic record? And I don't mean a lot of noodling, but melodies that are actually mesmerizing ... or catchy at the very least? You have chosen the wrong band for that. VdGG are rarely if ever catchy. Some of their melodies are indeed brilliant, but they unfold over a long period of time. That said, I would start with Godbluff, but beware: The first track is arguably the least memorable track melody-wise.

Yeah, Godbluff is a pretty easy/ melodic album on the whole.  I find the opening track very memorable melody-wise. Still Life is another.  I actually find a lot of VdGG very catchy -- like GG it was pretty much a love at first listen band for.  Like GG, I also started with just two tracks: House With No Door and Man-Erg.  Pawn Hearts was my first VdGG full album, and it did take me a while before I fully liked/ then loved it.  Despite loving lots of moments, and finding some great melodies in it, Hammill's histrionics I found off-putting and even rather embarrassing at first, and found bombastic noodlings in parts hard going, but there were more than enough pay-offs in the music to keep listening..  As said, I loved Man-Erg even before I heard the whole album, but Lemmings was really tough going.  Plague of Lighthouse Keepers didn't take long to really mesmerise me.  I find parts of it so catchy.  Nowadays my palette is much wider than it was even eight years ago, and I don't need to approach music in quite the same way.  If I could find "moments" that I loved, and I've long appreciated contrast in music, then that was enough to bring me back to the music.  And I found lots with VdGG.  So much of a Plague is very catchy for me, and has a tension and contrasts that I love.  ""All things are apart".  I do love the way the melodies with VdGG unfold over time.  It's a band that may require some patience on the whole, and some elements may take a while to accept as part of the musical tapestry, but I found that it wasn't that long before I could appreciate all of the aspects of VdGG (mind you, I've long been attuned to both consonance and dissonance in music and commonly appreciate elements of both in music.  Contrast is so important to me commonly as it engages me more).

^ For what zero value it's worth, and despite my echoing the Power and the Glory sentiments, I found the Power and the Glory one of the weakest of GG's first eight albums.  I like the earlier ones much more.  I really like the first three albums.