The Beginning of Van der Graaf Generator Decline?

Of course Pink Floyd, Genesis and Van Der Graaf Generator have to go into decline, what a positive discussion

Don't agree with the poor (or strong) showing for World Record. I got into it immediately when first heard and still think it moves. The strong stuff is bookended by weak material in the first two albums and the reunion albums. It didn't help that David Jackson got the boot during the latter.

None of them are unacceptable, but there's definitely a downhill slope in those first 4 records, then everything's just pretty mediocre afterwards.

What is Time Vaults doing here? Its just a collection of outtakes and stuff recorded 1972-1975 and not a real album. Nothing here is unacceptable of course, but I don't care as much for any of their recordings post The Quiet Zone/Pleasure Dome (which I consider a New-Wave masterpiece) as I do for their nearly flawless 70's discography. No vote I guess.

A band that I have heard from their very beginnings and have never liked at all.

World Record was much weaker than all the previous pH/VdGG releases from 1970 onwards.

Real Time/Present



The ending of VdGG decline.

Hercules wrote: One of two well known 70s bands I just cannot get into at all (the other is King Crimson). I quite like some of the music but, like Dream Theater, it's the vocals that kill it for me.

Hercules wrote: A band that I have heard from their very beginnings and have never liked at all. The reasons are simple: Hamill's vocals and their dark compositions.

sorry, but  I hear no decline.

"Present" is often not liked because of the second disc, but I just love those improvisations. and the first disc should be absolutely on par for every friend of VdGG. they even throw in some humor (oh the self-irony of "Abandon Ship!"), which is quite unusual for them.

of course "ALT" is a very different album by Van der Graaf Generator. VdGG without vocals!  but it just shows how experimental the band still is. some people may not like this kind of experiments though, but you can definitely not speak of a decline.

"World Record" is one of my favorite albums by them; the only song I'm not so fond of is "Wondering" (though on the live album "Real Time" it is the perfect closer).

"Trisector" is severely underrated, maybe because of the shorter songs. but these shorter songs are nevertheless very complex (just listen to "Interference Patterns").

their latest album "Do Not Disturb" is a five-star album in my book. everyone should have it. again some humor here; "Alfa Berlina" is perhaps even more self-ironic than "Abandon Ship!".

this so-called "decline" is only in the ears of those who want them to repeat themselves, which they firmly reject. those with open ears will welcome their later oeuvre.

so once again: decline? what decline?


Edited by BaldJean - December 16 2016 at 08:03

This band is a monumental waste of time and an insult to life itself.