Godbluff vs Free Hand
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Polls
Forum Description: Create polls on topics related to progressive music
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=112881
Printed Date: April 26 2024 at 22:08
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Topic: Godbluff vs Free Hand
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Subject: Godbluff vs Free Hand
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 02:35
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Two legendary 1975 progressive rock recordings, typically heralded by the community as top-tier entries into the genre. If you could only pick ONE of these fantastic records, which would it be? I won't lie...I don't know if I can choose! I'm interested in seeing the community's take on these monster albums! Discuss!
------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Replies:
Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 02:45
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To very sinister, raw and groovy albums with dark imagery on cover art. -------------  
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Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 02:50
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"Godbluff" for me, though "Free Hand" is a very good album too -------------  A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 02:53
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There are a few bands, I never really could get into: Tool, Muse, Radiohead, Vandergraaf Generator, Godspeed You Black Emperor. Nothing negative, so I'm not going to bash bands, but it just never really appealed to me. Maybe it's the dark undertones, the lack of romanticism, the lack of pastoral themes. Too modern, not playful,/joyful enough? Anyhow, I would go for Free Hand anytime, anyplace. I maybe have played this album at least a dozen times a year for the last 25 years. Maybe the most played album by me (with Thick as a Brick, Octoberon and Mirage). |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 03:22
my dear Sir, you apparently never really listened to VdGG, else you would have noticed how incredibly playful they are. many of the lyrics are tongue-in-cheek (especially some of the very dark ones), and the music is very playful too. who else but VdGG would start a song as a fugue and end it as a reggae? and they incorporated many dances into their music too, like cha-cha, bossa nova or fandango. and many of their melodies are very pastoral indeed. no, my dear Sir, you are entirely wrong with your evaluation of VdGG. and this inherent irony of VdGG's music is very romantic indeed. have you never heard the term "romantic irony"? ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Kingsnake wrote:Posted By: Tom Ozric
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 03:51
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Fried Eggs !!!!!!! I’ve listened to each of these albums as much as each other over the last 20-30 years........ Very tough to pick.......(at least I’ve listened to Godbluff many times in an altered state of mind.......... VDGG gets my vote. |
Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 04:04
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A rather tough challenge. Free Hand by a narrow margin. ------------- 
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Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 04:08
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I haven't listened to either albums in quite a while. I will listen to both and get back to this poll :)
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Posted By: maryes
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 04:51
| Gentle Giant. I had Godbluff in vinyl , but I never liked ,so, I gave the album to one friend !!! |
Posted By: Quinino
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 05:03
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^ And you certainly made your friend very happy - one of the albums of my life, without the shadow of a doubt (you should give it a second chance, it's impossible to dislike it that much, considering you are a GG fan...like loving manga and hating mamão...) |
Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 07:08
| Gentle Giant of course. VDGG s also quite good, but GG is higher ranked in my list. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 07:17
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kudos the OP.. that's an interesting poll question. Two of the most overrated albums on this site.. beloved by those that love them.. ie.. hardcore.. non sexed non musically diverse live in their mama's basement prog fan. for the rest of us.. pfff.. no vote.. but hey.. great poll!!!! ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 07:37
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GG.......but mostly because Hamill's voice has always annoyed me. ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 08:01
Oh yeah---can't take Hamill at all but Free Hand is my fav GG album
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Posted By: Magnum Vaeltaja
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 08:33
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Don't really like Free Hand at all, but Godbluff has a few really awesome tracks on it, like Undercover Man, so it got my vote pretty easily. ------------- when i was a kid a doller was worth ten dollers - now a doller couldnt even buy you fifty cents |
Posted By: Wanorak
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 09:04
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Godbluff. ------------- A GREAT YEAR FOR PROG!!! |
Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 09:18
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VdGG d G G d GGdV ------------- https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ipg=50&_sop=1&_rdc=1&_ssn=musicosm" rel="nofollow - eBay |
Posted By: The.Crimson.King
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 09:53
Neither are in my top 5 albums for each band, but head to head I'd definitely go with Godbluff  ------------- https://wytchcrypt.wixsite.com/mutiny-in-jonestown" rel="nofollow - Mutiny in Jonestown : Progressive Rock Since 1987 |
Posted By: Larkstongue41
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 10:06
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Godbluff easily. ------------- "Larks' tongues. Wrens' livers. Chaffinch brains. Jaguars' earlobes. Wolf nipple chips. Get 'em while they're hot. They're lovely. Dromedary pretzels, only half a denar." |
Posted By: Kingsnake
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 10:25
Perhaps I listened to the wrong albums.
But I when I am dissapointed once by a band, I tend to forget about them. It's like eating something that's burned or rotten. Then I won't even a try a good one. Same goes for Zappa. I listened to some albums and songs and he and I never hit it off. Perhaps the wrongs? Perhaps the wrong albums? I don't know. But it will take a lot for me, to put on a record by Zappa and Vandergraaf Generator. But for the sake of this post, I will try it. But not today, nor tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going into the nature, and I can only stand music I love then, otherwise it will ruin my experience. |
Posted By: The Bearded Bard
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 10:29
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It's not often I'd go with VdGG over GG, but Godbluff is just an incredibly good album, from start to finish, so it easily beats FH, which is very good, too, but it's not the statement that Godbluff is. -------------  
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Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 10:46
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I'm genuinely surprised Free Hand is leading...I set this one up ready to see people catapult VDGG ahead! ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 11:05
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For Bearded Bard.....so what exactly is the 'statement' that Godbluff is making...? ;) ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 11:11
according to Peter Hammill the band tried to get what is called a "peak experience" on an album ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 11:30
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With the right help that can be done with just about any album.... LOL ;) ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: mlkpad14
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 11:34
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It is Godbluff this time around. ------------- https://gamecrazyprofessional.weebly.com/ |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 12:28
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Godbluff tires me so, so it's Freehand! ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 12:28
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Free Hand - by a million miles. It's my favourite GG album and a 5* effort. I really cannot stand VdGG - partly because of Hamill's voice. ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: The Bearded Bard
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 13:50
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Posted By: Dopeydoc
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 15:34
| GG |
Posted By: YESESIS
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 17:01
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I like both of these albums. I'm actually starting to like Godbluff a lot, but Freehand is special so had to vote for it. I'm starting to like Van der Graff Generator more and more lately though and have no issues with the lead singer's voice whatever, in fact I like it. |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: February 10 2018 at 17:07
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Ramble alert. Like both, but Godbluff is more special to me. That said, I have to be in the right mindset for much of the music on that album as I can find Hammill's vocals on it to be so overwrought that it can take me out of the music. There are times when I've listened to music on it and his vocals have just jarred me out of it so much that I have stopped appreciating the music and instead felt an uncomfortable embarrassment at his theatrics (similar experience to watching a film and you are immersed and then something happens and you can't suspend your disbelief and you become analytical instead of just having it wash over you or you read a book and some bad grammar or other clunkiness pulls you out of the story and you become aware of yourself watching the page instead of the inner movie experience one can find when reading). At other times the vocals don't bother me at all. In general, I find earlier VdGG albums such as The Least We Can Do is Wave To Each Other (my traditional fave) much easier listening. As for Gentle Giant, the Free Hand title track, along with the In a Glass House title track, got me into GG, but I never fell for the album to the same extent as Acquiring the Taste or Three Friends or the self-titled, or In a Glass House and other GG albums despite loving various songs on the album. Said this many times before as VdGG often gets compared to GG (and not just because of the GG with or without the VD, haha, bit in the initials), but Gentle Giant was a band I got into very quickly and was my favourite band in the mid 2000s. VdGG, apart from a few songs, took me longer to really appreciate. I still have more GG albums (I purchased all the studio albums plus Playing the Fool very quickly). That said, VdGG has remained a regular part of my diet now for many more years. For quite a few years I was so burnt out on GG that I couldn't listen to them at all, but I am enjoying GG again (especially Acquiring the taste which was long my favourite). While GG and VdGG are often compared to each other, I think another later one also has many similar qualities -- Cardiacs. As I listened again to Godbluff earlier, I was thinking about A Little Man and a House and the Whole World Window (an album I was obsessed with not long ago). ------------- Just a fanboy passin' through. |
Posted By: zwordser
Date Posted: February 11 2018 at 03:14
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I like Free hand, but never been able to get into as much as other GG albums. Godbluff took a while for me; but now I absolutely love the Sleepwalkers and Undercover Man. Gets my vote. ------------- Z |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: February 11 2018 at 03:21
 Thank you for taking the time to share your analysis!I think Free Hand edges it out for me by just a tad. It's never as close a call for me with anything GG, but this one just might be the exception challenge. ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: February 11 2018 at 03:27
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Thought Godbluff would be a no-brainer for most here but obviously people are more fond of my eight favorite GG-album than myself. ------------- 
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Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: February 11 2018 at 17:43
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Free Hand just can't compete with Godbluff. ------------- |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: February 11 2018 at 21:32
Good you're getting into VdGG... I thought you should like them if you liked ELP and Gentle Giant and other somewhat weird stuff. And indeed Peter Hamill is a monster of a singer... some may find him difficult to like, but I really like his boldness and his will to do whatever he feels works for the music. A true prog singer. |
Posted By: Mortte
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 00:13
| Godbluff |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 01:52
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VDGG. Easy choice. Apart from a few tunes here and there, I can't listen to a whole album of GG. I've managed toi get through Octopus a few times. That's not bad. Free Hand has it's moments, bit overall I don;t like their 'forumla' ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 01:58
| Hammill easily. |
Posted By: digdug
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 06:20
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Free Hand ------------- Prog On! |
Posted By: Mormegil
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 06:28
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Godbluff gets the nod. ------------- Welcome to the middle of the film. |
Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 08:28
| Slight edge to Free Hand. |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 14:15
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Godbluff ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: YESESIS
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 16:02
Yeah I agree with all of that. He really is special, no question. |
Posted By: Mortte
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 22:18
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Posted By: I prophesy disaster
Date Posted: February 12 2018 at 22:51
In the age-old choice between the music and the lyrics, I very much go for the music as I suspect most prog-lovers do. But with Van der Graaf Generator (as well as Peter Hammill solo), I very much appreciate both the music and the lyrics, and also the vocal delivery by Peter Hammill. ------------- No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man. |
Posted By: stewe
Date Posted: February 13 2018 at 01:25
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Free Hand (my favorite GG album along with Acquiring the Taste). I think especially from a sound, originality and creativity standpoint, FH stands test of time better, it is fun to listen to it, but it still brings variety of moods. I appreciate sort of raw intensity and other qualities of Godbluff though. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/trevorrabin/?chartstyle=basic10" rel="nofollow">  <a href="http://steveer.ic.cz" rel="nofollow" |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: February 13 2018 at 02:15
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Just as I thought, Godbluff is ahead. You get very used to Peter's vocals, btw. Now they're all part of the chaos for me lol. ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: Progmind
Date Posted: February 13 2018 at 13:21
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GG free hand |
Posted By: BarryGlibb
Date Posted: February 13 2018 at 20:05
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That's better...GG catching up. Free Hand all the way for me. Hammill is a bit too theatrical in his singing for me. I always thought that any VdGG album would make a great stage show a la Andrew Lloyd Webber-type production. Any thoughts on that? |
Posted By: dr wu23
Date Posted: February 14 2018 at 11:02
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^Hammill a bit too theatrical at times ? He's often downright annoying imo which is the reason I don't often play VDGG.....the music is good and the lyrics are often very interesting but when he starts over emoting it turns me off . I usually use the dr wu litmus test in these polls: If I had to listen an album over and over (as on a desert island) for a long time which would I go with and in this case after a few days I would probably have a nervous breakdown listening to Hammill. ;) ------------- One does nothing yet nothing is left undone. Haquin |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: February 14 2018 at 20:39
 agree 100% |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: February 14 2018 at 22:19
------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: February 15 2018 at 02:08
His voice is the biggest barrier without a doubt. When I first heard VDGG I thought the guy was yelling through a tin can on top of a hill; that's the vibe I got LOL. Like all good things, you get used to it. I try to pay more attention to the organization of the music, but I understand why most can't deal with the vocals. ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: mlkpad14
Date Posted: February 15 2018 at 05:26
Ha, the vocals are my favorite part of the music. ------------- https://gamecrazyprofessional.weebly.com/ |
Posted By: The Jester
Date Posted: February 15 2018 at 08:46
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Godbluff ------------- If anybody wants please visit: http://www.gfreedomathina.blogspot.com/ This is my Blog mostly about Rock music, but also a few other things as well. You are most welcome! Thank you. :) |
Posted By: Formentera Lady
Date Posted: February 15 2018 at 16:11
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Free Hand for me. But Godbluff is a great album, too. Tough choice. ------------- http://theprogressiveweb.blogspot.de" rel="nofollow - Visit me in Second Life to talk about music. |
Posted By: Formentera Lady
Date Posted: February 15 2018 at 16:20
------------- http://theprogressiveweb.blogspot.de" rel="nofollow - Visit me in Second Life to talk about music. |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: February 15 2018 at 17:09
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Jeez, neck and neck yet again! ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: DeadSouls
Date Posted: February 16 2018 at 09:27
| Godbluff |
Posted By: ProgMetaller2112
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 04:02
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Godbluff ------------- “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four "Ignorance and Prejudice and Fear walk Hand in Hand"- Neil Peart |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 05:05
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what actually surprises me is that no-one considers the voice of Derek Shulman to be annoying. after all the years of having listened to both bands I still am sometimes annoyed by his vocals. Peter Hammill's voice was quite a shock to me at first (hearing "Pawn Hearts" for the very fist time at the age of 3 in 1972 is one of my first childhood memories; my parents had bought the album), but I quickly got used to it simply because I grew up with it ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 07:46
Same here. Derek's somewhat cold, hard vocals are part of why I rarely listen to most later GG-albums. Post Octopus/Phil Shulman there's very little left of the warmth and playfulness that makes Acquiring the Taste such a delight. Sometimes I'm not in the mood for Peter Hammill but I do love his voice. On Still Life its a little too often too much on the gruffy side for me too fully appreciate the whole album. -------------
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Posted By: tempest_77
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 09:23
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This was probably one of the most difficult polls ever. I love both. Voted for Godbluff but could have easily gone with Free Hand. ------------- I use they/them pronouns (feel free to ask me about this!) Check out my music on https://tempestsounds.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - my bandcamp ! |
Posted By: I prophesy disaster
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 09:24
I do a little bit.
I've always liked Peter Hammill's voice, though I was 17 when I first heard it. I don't understand why so many people here don't like it. ------------- No, I know how to behave in the restaurant now, I don't tear at the meat with my hands. If I've become a man of the world somehow, that's not necessarily to say I'm a worldly man. |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 09:29
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Peter Hammill=Perfect Prog ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 10:05
as I said, I was 3 years old when I first heard "Pawn Hearts", and I had only heard a voice like that when my dad was angry ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: June 22 2018 at 11:05
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I do understand why so many people here don't like Hammill's voice and singing style. Derek's voice and singing style is just perfect for the harder-rocking Giant songs. And speaking of childhood memories: I was three and a half year old the first time I deeply fell in love. There was this girl on the huge sreen at the drive-in, her name was Leia. ------------- |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: July 04 2018 at 17:36
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Damn this is close! ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: The Dark Elf
Date Posted: July 04 2018 at 22:00
Definitely GG and definitely because of Hammill's voice. ------------- ...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology... |
Posted By: austrianprogfan
Date Posted: July 05 2018 at 08:24
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If I could vote, I'd go for Godbluff. Because of Hammill's voice. |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: July 05 2018 at 08:42
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Posted By: Boojieboy
Date Posted: July 16 2018 at 13:46
| Originally Free Hand, but over the years, Godbluff has pulled ahead (to me). I still like both about the same. But I drift to GG's "positive energy" more than VDGG's "darkness and angst". |
Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: July 17 2018 at 07:53
| They're both great but I have a soft spot for Free Hand. |
Posted By: geekfreak
Date Posted: April 19 2020 at 00:46
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Godbluff ------------- Friedrich Nietzsche: "Without music, life would be a mistake." Music Is Live Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. Keep Calm And Listen To The Music… < |