| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
penguindf12 
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 20 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 831
|
 Topic: Van Der Graaf Generator live
Posted: May 27 2005 at 02:07 |
|
I've been looking around for some Van Der Graaf Generator live stuff, and am having trouble deciding what to get. Is the "Vital" album any good, sound quality wise and musically (because the lineup was a weird at the time)? Also, does "The Box" have "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" live? If not, where can you find that live?
|
 |
paulindigo
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 24 2005
Location: Italy
Status: Offline
Points: 469
|
Posted: May 27 2005 at 05:13 |
|
the only vdgg live album i have an experience of is vital. it's pretty
raw compared to the studio albums, but to me it's a masterpiece.
hammill really seems to be singing for his life, as well as playing
manic guitar. there's an astonishing version of "still life" with violin
and cello replacing organ for the intro, a 17 minute long "pioneers
over c", "last frame" with distorted and flanged guitar... the sound
quality (as far as i remember, i bought the vinyl in the 80s and my
turntable stopped working around 1993...) isn't top notch, but who
cares! if you're interested in the cd, don't get the virgin original
release becuase it misses three tracks. there should be a japanese
edition, although i've never seen it myself in the shops, otherwise
wait for the remastered version, which should hopefully have the
whole set
|
|
Mategra
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 23 2004
Location: Sweden
Status: Offline
Points: 592
|
Posted: May 27 2005 at 05:29 |
Maida Vale is one of the best live albums I have heard, ever (by any band).
Vital is good too.
The Box has live versions of "Lemmings" and "Man-Erg" (but the sound quality is poor).
Another VdGG-related live album is The Union Chapel Concert (1997) by Peter Hammill & Guy Evans (also featuring David Jackson and Hugh Banton). It has a great version of "Lemmings".
|
|
JrKASperov
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 07 2004
Status: Offline
Points: 904
|
Posted: May 27 2005 at 07:42 |
I'm going to be seeing some live vdGG stuff 23th of june. 
|
|
Epic.
|
|
penguindf12
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 20 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 831
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 02:02 |
|
Dang. They aren't planning to tour in America, I guess?....I guess they
probably won't, they never toured here, even in their prime.
I heard somewhere that the remaster of "Vital" is coming out soon. Does anyone know more about this?
And still, is there in existence a live full version of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers"?
|
|
BaldJean
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 28 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10377
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 03:15 |
I can only agree with paulindigo: The sound quality of "Vital" is not the best, but the band is full of energy, and Hammill is exploding on stage. And one thing no-one mentioned: The bass of Nic Potter is a monster; I never heard such an aggressive bass again except for the Magma live album of 1975, where the bass has a similar quality. "Vital" is on of my favorite live albums ever, and we have a huge collection of live albums at home. Let's hope Virgin will publish the remastered "Vital" as a double CD!
Live versions of "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" so far only exist on bootlegs.
Edited by BaldJean
|
|
samuel.jeronimo
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 26 2005
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
Points: 132
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 03:25 |
i'm gonna see them in Lisbon next july
|
|
|
|
BaldJean
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 28 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10377
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 06:29 |
|
We attended the reunion concert on the 6th. Hammill bungled up some lyrics, but else it was fantastic! I can only hope this concert will be published as a live double CD.
|
|
samuel.jeronimo
Forum Senior Member
Joined: May 26 2005
Location: Portugal
Status: Offline
Points: 132
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 06:34 |
 BaldJean wrote:
We attended the reunion concert on the 6th. Hammill bungled up some lyrics, but else it was fantastic! I can only hope this concert will be published as a live double CD. |
A new live album would be great 
|
|
|
|
Duncan
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 23 2004
Status: Offline
Points: 180
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 06:39 |
|
You can find a live-in-the-studio video
of "A Plague..." on the Godbluff Live DVD. The different sections were
edited together, though (and the special effects are hilarious).
|
|
BaldJean
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 28 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10377
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 06:47 |
|
The "Godbluff" live DVD is NOT officially sanctioned by PH and therefore a rip-off.
Edited by BaldJean
|
|
penguindf12
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 20 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 831
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 11:38 |
|
Special effects...you mean like onstage antics and special effects? Man, I can only imagine what a band like them would do onstage in their prime....I'm scared even now....
|
|
NetsNJFan
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 12 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3047
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 14:19 |
samuel.jeronimo wrote:
BaldJean wrote:
We attended the reunion concert on the 6th. Hammill bungled up some lyrics, but else it was fantastic! I can only hope this concert will be published as a live double CD. |
A new live album would be great
|
yea, I am a big VdGG fan, but don't like Vital much.
|
|
|
|
BaldJean
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 28 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10377
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 14:45 |
|
Vital is one of the best live albums ever! Yes, the sound is crappy (and hopefully the Virgin re-edition will do something about it), but the music is fantastic! I like the raw power of it. But then we probably all expect different things from live albums.
|
|
NetsNJFan
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 12 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3047
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 15:36 |
BaldJean wrote:
Vital is one of the best live albums ever! Yes, the sound is crappy (and hopefully the Virgin re-edition will do something about it), but the music is fantastic! I like the raw power of it. But then we probably all expect different things from live albums. |
yea its a little to hard rocking and raw for my VdGG, and banton's organ and Jackson's sax were always my favorite part of VdGG and they are absent.
|
|
|
|
BaldJean
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 28 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10377
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 15:53 |
NetsNJFan wrote:
yea its a little to hard rocking and raw for my VdGG, and banton's organ and Jackson's sax were always my favorite part of VdGG and they are absent.
|
Not true, Jackson enters on track 4, "Mirror Images", and stays until the end. And the violin and cello add some interesting musical colors.
Edited by BaldJean
|
|
penguindf12
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 20 2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 831
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:04 |
I read somewhere that Jackson did play on all of it, but he was only given one track and when they listened to that track, they heard only silence because something had gone wrong. So they had to search the other tracks which may have picked up some of the sax's sound accidentally (like the vocal tracks), and magnified that and put it on the record. So it's very hard to hear...apparently. Of course, I don't know, I just read it somewhere.
But I will miss the organ...but the violin and cello sound intriguing...
|
|
salmacis
Forum Senior Member
Content Addition
Joined: April 10 2005
Status: Offline
Points: 3928
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:09 |
'Maida Vale' and 'The Box' feature some astonishing BBC live sessions; the version of 'Darkness' on 'Maida Vale' is incredible- Hammill's vocal beats the one on 'The Least We Can Do...' hands down.
'Vital' is a very good live album, featuring a superb 'Still Life' and 'Last Frame' in particular, plus two stunning heavy rock tracks in 'Door' and 'Ship Of Fools'.
|
|
BaldJean
Prog Reviewer
Joined: May 28 2005
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
Points: 10377
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:23 |
penguindf12 wrote:
I read somewhere that Jackson did play on all of it, but he was only given one track and when they listened to that track, they heard only silence because something had gone wrong. So they had to search the other tracks which may have picked up some of the sax's sound accidentally (like the vocal tracks), and magnified that and put it on the record. So it's very hard to hear...apparently. Of course, I don't know, I just read it somewhere. |
Not true, the sax can be heard very well There is even a part in "Pioneers Over c" where the sax plays all alone.
|
 A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta
|
|
NetsNJFan
Prog Reviewer
Joined: April 12 2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 3047
|
Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:25 |
|
anyone know if there is a VdGG live album with the song PILGRIMS (from Still Life). I am obsessed with that song, by far my favorite VdGG song.
|
|
|
|
Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.
/PAlogo_v2.gif "Progarchives.com Homepage")
Van Der Graaf Generator live
