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VDGG vs Gentle Giant vs Soft Machine
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Poll Question: Which do you prefer
Poll Choice Votes Poll Statistics
21 [40.38%]
28 [53.85%]
3 [5.77%]
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Mellotron Storm View Drop Down
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^ I just recently went through my VDGG cds for the first time in years and was surprised that I liked Godbluff the most. H To He... and Pawn Hearts are right there too.
I've told this before but what a moment it was coming back from the store to get ice and getting out of my car and hearing Pawn Hearts blasting from my backyard. My Krautrock(Can especially) loving brother in law took the liberty of choosing that cd out of the many I had on the shelf to play while I was gone.
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Pawn Hearts predictably would be my choice, if someone or anyone wants to claim that is the best prog album ever made then I'm not arguing.Smile
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^ Nor would I.

Originally posted by Mellotron Storm Mellotron Storm wrote:

^ I just recently went through my VDGG cds for the first time in years and was surprised that I liked Godbluff the most. H To He... and Pawn Hearts are right there too.
I've told this before but what a moment it was coming back from the store to get ice and getting out of my car and hearing Pawn Hearts blasting from my backyard. My Krautrock(Can especially) loving brother in law took the liberty of choosing that cd out of the many I had on the shelf to play while I was gone.


There have been a couple of times when I enjoyed Godbluff the most and a couple times when it did not appeal on the whole. A kind of beauty of VdGG is that I react as differently as I do to their different albums at different times. I compare that to Gentle Giant where I almost immediate got and really liked all of the albums up to and including Interview, but it lacked the holding power on me on the whole that VdGG and Soft Machine have. I have felt like I have more to experience and experience with VdGG and Soft Machine than GG despite still liking those early GG albums very much. GG can seem more superficial to me I guess, a bit busy, a bit too show-offy, and a bit too precious at times. I stopped listening to GG altogether for some years. Still, Three Friends and Acquiring the Taste I will always want in my collection.
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I really find it impossible to choose between Soft Machine and VdGG. Take their 1971 releases Fourth and (the latter bands fourth album) Pawn Hearts. Both are perfect to my ears. But the musical content on these don't share enough common ground for me to feel that I can make any kind of meaningful comparizon. 

Because I consider them to belong in a similar universe of music, I can easily state that I choose Pawn Hearts over (GG's fourth album) Octopus. Without hesitating. Although the latter album is excellent too, that's a no-brainer.

Anyway, love all three bands. Gentle Giant a little bit less than the other two. In the end I voted for Soft Machine. But that was mainly because seeing that they only had two votes made me feel kind of sad.
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To my ears & brain Godbluff is surely a masterpiece and closely followed by Still Life, so the vote was for VDGG (btw I also love the other 2 bands, maybe more SM)
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Not an easy listening, but probably Gentle Giant are easier to get into respect to the free jazz form of Soft Machine. 
I quite like the few VDGG I have listened to, but honestly I'm not much into them too. 
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VDGG of course
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Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Pawn Hearts predictably would be my choice, if someone or anyone wants to claim that is the best prog album ever made then I'm not arguing.Smile

I was listening to Pawn Hearts the other night. While I do think it's great APOLK has yet to really grow on me. I like the first two tracks a lot though. I think as it stands I probably prefer Godbluff and Still Life to Pawn Hearts though.
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To me thats an odd grouping of 3 bands.....VDGG and GG are certainly quirky and eclectic but well liked bands while SM are in a different  style completely imho and an easier listen. I might have put KC in there since they are eclectic and can certainly be challenging.
I choose GG since for me they are more listenable than VDGG....while the music can be very interesting , I'm one of those who dont really care for Hammill's singing style.
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Gentle Giant
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Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Pawn Hearts predictably would be my choice, if someone or anyone wants to claim that is the best prog album ever made then I'm not arguing.Smile
 
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Originally posted by Logan Logan wrote:

Three bands that have been absolute favourites of mine.

I have always liked quirky music and music that seems different, and bands that offer contrasts, and these three qualify. Often those with more "conventional" melodic Prog tastes have had problems with all three of these. I might posit that for many who totally dislike all three bands, they have not spent enough time getting to know and acclimate to the discographies. Bu then I could say that of a huge amount more. These are all tastes I'm glad that I acquired.

When I joined here, I was especially into Gentle Giant, but over the years it is Van der Graaf Generator that I have returned to the most. I understand that Hammill's vocals -- "hammy" as one might uncharitably put it" -- might be off-putting to many. The albums I have returned to the most over the years are Pawn Hearts and The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each to Each Other. "House With No Door" off He to He.. and Man-Erg off pawn Hearts were the first tracks I heard by VdGG and it was love at first listen. To me A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers is a true masterpiece. An album like Godbluff has been harder for me, but I really like albums that follow Pawn hearts as well as the Least We Can Do to pawn hearts run of albums. This is one of my VdGG faves:



With Soft Machine, I like music off the first few albums a lot. Third and the second are the two that I have returned to the most. I was obsessed with "Moon in June".



With Gentle Giant, I especially like the early albums. Were I to choose just two, I would keep Acquiring the taste and Three Friends. The music can be a by fussy and precious I think and I rarely listen to the band now but still love the early albums. Go me there is real beauty playfulness that comes through on those albums and the music is warmer on the earlier albums and feel less like an exercise in trying to impress to me on the whole (sorry, I could phrase that much better).


This is the core of the issue with these three bands for me, and why I chose this particular grouping. I too appreciate a little quirkiness in the music I listen to (I would have left it all behind if this wasn't the case), however these three groups seem to revel in their quirkiness and push the boat out a little too far for me.

These three bands have always received their fair share of recognition by aficionados of the genre, so I very much tried to understand the attraction.

It's a question of accessibility and how much time I am willing to spend acquiring the taste. So far I just haven't reached that sweet spot, although I do find it interesting hearing from those who have.
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Jared View Drop Down
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Points: 17534 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Jared Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 29 2024 at 23:15
VdGG
Gentle Giant


Soft Machine (I must try harder)
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Points: 103 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gnik Nosmirc Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 30 2024 at 11:17
Though I enjoy Soft Machine, most of their albums are more in the jazz-fusion territory rather than the prog one. Therefore I think the choice has to be VdGG or Gentle Giant.

Though Pawn Hearts is one of my all time favorite, Gentle Giant is so underrated that it must be my choice.
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Cristi View Drop Down
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VDGG out of these.
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I don't like Hamill his voice, I am not into the Canterbury scene but I like Gentle Giant, especially the live albums so a pretty simple choice for me.
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1. VDGG
2.GG
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.
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3. Soft Machine
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