Plague of Lighthouse Keepers "click "
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Recommendations/Featured albums
Forum Description: Make or seek recommendations and discuss specific prog albums
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=25057
Printed Date: April 26 2024 at 12:11
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Topic: Plague of Lighthouse Keepers "click "
Posted By: glass house
Subject: Plague of Lighthouse Keepers "click "
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 14:35
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There were some threads that described the feeling when finally the music clicked with a person. For a long time now I really like Pawn Hearts by VDGG, except the third song, it used to destroy it for me. For me compared with the first two songs the third one was the odd one out. But finally I'm starting to get it, still not my favorite or easy to listen to for me, but in time it will be I think. I am beginning to like it after so many years listening to it. Strange isn't it ?
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Replies:
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 15:00
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Not at all. 'APOLK' is a slow grower for many people. I love 'Lemmings' and 'Man ERG' and wasn't able to sit through all of the third track, until about a year after buying the album. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: Rust
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 15:14
I think there is a way to control when a song "clicks", I'm sure it has to do with your mood.
 ------------- We got to pump the stuff to make us tough from the heart Its astart What we need is awareness we cant get careless Mental self defensive fitness Make everybody see in order to fight the powers that be |
Posted By: glass house
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 15:15
A slow grower for you is a year, it took me years !!
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Blacksword wrote:Posted By: chamberry
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 15:33
Exactly. The same thing happened to a reviewer with the album You by Gong. You got to be in the mood for it. ------------- 
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Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 15:33
Yes it is strange that it took that long. 
Seriously though, glad you stuck with it. Its an awesome song.  ------------- 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: glass house
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 15:56
I think you've got a good point there.
http://www.progarchives.com/forum/member_profile.asp?PF=1502&FID=3 - Man With Hat : It is strange and I can not really explain why I had such a dislike for it.
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Posted By: Marwin
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 16:04
| for me it was harder to get into the first 2 songs. |
Posted By: video vertigo
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 16:23
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It took me just a few listens, I liked it the first time I loved it the 5th. ------------- "The rock and roll business is pretty absurd, but the world of serious music is much worse." - Zappa |
Posted By: Rust
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 16:59
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Hated the album first listen.
Liked it when I just randomly came back to it after half a year.
Loved it by the 5-7 listen.
------------- We got to pump the stuff to make us tough from the heart Its astart What we need is awareness we cant get careless Mental self defensive fitness Make everybody see in order to fight the powers that be |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 17:20
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It didn't take much for me for it to to click. I actually found Lemmings harder to get into that A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers. A suggestion to you, Tony: watch the live performance of A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers from the Belgian concert DVD. Actually, it's also available on youtube in 3 sections. This performance really shows how good this track is and you may claim a new love for it. An excellent track. -------------   
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Posted By: el böthy
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 17:29
I used to hate VDGG...I even wrote an I star review about them...and then one day "click", and now I think they are so fantastic!!! That song...that album!!! 
------------- "You want me to play what, Robert?" 
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Posted By: Arnold Layne
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 17:51
i was going to say exactly the same thing, i never found A plague to be a difficult song but i did think that way about lemmings ------------- HELP! |
Posted By: Bj-1
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:20
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I found Pawn Hearts and all of it's tracks pretty accessible, actually. It "clicked" first time I heard the album for me. 4.5/5 stars! ------------- RIO/AVANT/ZEUHL - The best thing you can get with yer pants on! http://www.last.fm/music/Exerior" rel="nofollow - EXERIOR Experimental tech/death/progmetal from Norway! |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:21
Erm, where did the .5 of a star go, Blowie? 
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Posted By: Bj-1
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:23
I don't know. I just can't give it 5 stars, but I can't give it lower than 4.5 either  ------------- RIO/AVANT/ZEUHL - The best thing you can get with yer pants on! http://www.last.fm/music/Exerior" rel="nofollow - EXERIOR Experimental tech/death/progmetal from Norway! |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:24
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It's a 5 star album easily! I would give it 6 if I could.
-------------
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Posted By: Forgotten Son
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:24
Same for me, too, actually. -------------  
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Posted By: chamberry
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:28
I actually had a harder time getting into Godbluff 
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Posted By: micky
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:33
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for this one... a tale of two halves... the first half (roughly)
through the Presence of Night section is IMO some of the most
interesting, atmospheric and I'll come out and say it.. some of
the best prog I've heard. The second half though.... a real
let down.
------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: bhikkhu
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:34
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Van Der Graaf Generator, on the whole, is going very slowly with me. At first I didn't like it at all, and didn't think I ever would. Now I see something there, but I usually end up turning it off in favor of something else. ------------- a.k.a. H.T. http://riekels.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow - http://riekels.wordpress.com |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:39
what are you listening to specifically....have you tried H to He... personally I think it's their best album. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: bhikkhu
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:43
The only ones I could find were "The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other," "Godbluff," and "Still Life." ------------- a.k.a. H.T. http://riekels.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow - http://riekels.wordpress.com |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:45
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Good point well made Micky. It depends heavily on the album he's listening too. Still Life is my favourite. I love H to He as well though. I love all their albums (except the 3.5 or 4 star The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome, which isn't as great). Edit: "The least we can do is wave to each other" is the most accessible of their albums, so keep listening to that one, is my suggestion. Godbluff and Still Life are perhaps (apart from Pawn Hearts) the two most difficult to get into for beginners. -------------
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Posted By: laplace
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 19:54
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Lighthousekeepers is cool, but Scorched Earth from Godbluff is NUTS.. I've never heard such a complicated, well-played song unfold so easily on the ears. Godbluff's my favourite VDGG mostly for this reason. yes, they had to click on me too, but I approached them in phases. I hated them the first three times I listened but on the fourth my jaw dropped. it's significant (to me) because I had no problem getting into bands like Magma, Gentle Giant or Henry Cow.. |
Posted By: bhikkhu
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 20:00
This is exactly why I want to keep trying. I also had no problem with Magma, and Gentle Giant (haven't heard Henry Cow yet). Micky also has a pretty good idea of what I like. So, I'll focus on "The Least We Can Do..." and look for a copy of "H to the He." ------------- a.k.a. H.T. http://riekels.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow - http://riekels.wordpress.com |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: June 20 2006 at 20:11
I would rate (for what it's worth of course hahah) Godbluff as their
2nd best album and I agree, Scorched Earth is awesome... my favorite
off of that album. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: Rocktopus
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 05:08
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Took one listen to know I would love it eventually. And ca. ten to become my favorite progepic of all.
------------- Over land and under ashes In the sunlight, see - it flashes Find a fly and eat his eye But don't believe in me Don't believe in me Don't believe in me |
Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 05:12
'Godbluff' took a little longer, maybe two years. For a long time 'Sleepwalkers' was the only track I could listen to from that album. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: Zargus
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 05:28
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I had no real problem with any song from pawn hearts my favorite VDGG album, the hardest album for me was Godbluff it took me some time to love that one. ------------- 
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Posted By: Sean Trane
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 05:34
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fpor Lighthouse Keeper, you should try out the Godbluff DVD as they do for the Belgian TV the full plague track (which they had to rehearse and Hammill is seen reading the lyrics from the album's lyrics sheet on his electric piano.
This was one of those VdGG "clicks " for me. ------------- let's just stay above the moral melee prefer the sink to the gutter keep our sand-castle virtues content to be a doer as well as a thinker, prefer lifting our pen rather than un-sheath our sword |
Posted By: Teaflax
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 05:39
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I listeend once to to Vital in my very early Prog days and didn't get it at all. Then I didn't hear them for maybe five years, and after that never had a single problem with them again - loved them from beginning to end. -------------  
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Posted By: Tony R
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 05:48
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I dont get them at all. There were a number of bands from the early-70s that my immature musical tastes could not appreciate:VDGG,Jethro Tull,Gentle Giant and the post 72 KC albums. This has afflicted me to the point that I have been trying to "re-discover" them for the last couple of years,still without success. I have a problem with Hammill's voice which is surprising seeing as I am a big fan of Fish. Maybe I havent had enough time to really scratch the surface and there is always "new" music flying around here... |
Posted By: NutterAlert
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 05:51
a plague of P.A. Admin keepers  ------------- Proud to be an un-banned member since 2005 |
Posted By: BaldFriede
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 06:24
Great footage of that song; I especially love the "Maelstrom" part, where they go really wild. -------------  BaldJean and I; I am the one in blue. |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 11:51
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There never were any difficulties for me to apprehend them. It took about three or four listenings to the cassette compilation (done by someone) to understand that I like their music. It seems that Hammill's voice fits exactly my taste, and it did more than a half of a work (of apprehension) in the beginning.
After that I began to buy the albums, one by one, and there also never were any problems.
Just "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" has caught me from the first notes. "Lemmings" were more difficult.
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Posted By: bhikkhu
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 11:51
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I listened to "The Least We Can Do" again last night, and it was definitely growing on me. Then, with some help from a friend, I was able to find a copy of "H to the He." I have listened to it twice now, and ... click, click, click, click, click, click It's really good! I am actually listening to "Godbluff" right now, and that's working too. Strange how that happens. I was almost at the point where I thought VDGG would forever be on my "just don't get it" list." I will, however, take some time to absorb it all, before discussing the merits of the music. Thanks for the help everyone. ------------- a.k.a. H.T. http://riekels.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow - http://riekels.wordpress.com |
Posted By: Fassbinder
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 11:55
| You will not be disappointed with Still Life, too. And, hopefully, with World Record. |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 13:41
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Bhikku, if you can, try and follow the lyrics, as they are an important part of what VdGG are about. If you don't have the lyrics to hand, then visit Peter Hammill's website: http://www.sofasound.com - www.sofasound.com It does seem odd though that H to He clicks for you more than The least we can do... Keep it up and you'll be loving them as much as me! -------------
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Posted By: bhikkhu
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 15:07
Thanks. I actually just got back from the music store, where I found the remastered edition of "H to He." I at least now have the lyrics for that. The other albums I have were downloads, so the website will help. Although, I was picking up on them well enough to get a good idea. I was a bit surprised as well, becuase I do see how "The Least We Can Do" would be more accessible. For some reason, "Killer" just hit me. I was enjoying the rest, and then "Pioneers Over C" just blew me away. ------------- a.k.a. H.T. http://riekels.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow - http://riekels.wordpress.com |
Posted By: glass house
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 18:45
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As some people said H to He is more accessible then Pawn Hearts, imo that is.
Geck0, BaldFriede and Sean Trane, are you all talking about the same dvd ???? If that is so, i will have to get it, haven't I ?
About the rating, before I would have given it 4.5, now a full 5 !
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Posted By: pepo
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 18:50
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Pawn Hearts is the best album ever only if you are VDGG fan. Otherwise you might hate it because it tends to be very unstable yet is mellow enought to dig it in a few listens. |
Posted By: micky
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 19:21
look forward to hearing what you have to say...I have my own thoughts about them as well hahahah. Glad you found a copy and liked it *micky's hat size grows another notch hahah* I loved that album from the first listen. ------------- The Pedro and Micky Experience - When one no longer requires psychotropics to trip |
Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 19:32
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Glad to have been of assistance, bhikku. Tony: Yes, we are all talking about the same DVD. I think you can get it on Amazon, so have a check. But be careful, as there is a recent DVD that was released and it's not worth buying, so I just thought I'd warn you about that. If you need assistance, let me know! Happy hunting my friend. Having said that... you can view the performance of A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers in three parts on youtube. Here are the links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv9DouGSXW8&search=Van%20der%20Graaf - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv9DouGSXW8&search=Van%20der%20Graaf - part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duTwxgxndJQ&search=Van%20der%20Graaf - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duTwxgxndJQ&search=Van%20der%20Graaf - part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q1wfmTiA94&search=Van%20der%20Graaf - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q1wfmTiA94&search=Van%20der%20Graaf - part 3 Enjoy! -------------
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Posted By: Greg W
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 23:41
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If it wasn't for A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers, I may have not given these guys much chance. Once I had heard about these guys, I purchased Godbluff, H to He, and Pawn Hearts.
I 1st played H to He and thought it was okay, but nothing special. Hammill sounded a little like Bowie to me. After that I placed in GodBluff and couldn't make sense at the cacophony of noise I had just heard. Finally I played Pawn Hearts and I felt a tad bored with the 1st two songs and when A Plague...came on, I was totally blown away.
Now I think all 3 lps are great( as well as all of their other studio releases.), although I had to listen to Godbluff about 20 or so times before it really sunk in.
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Posted By: VanderGraafKommandöh
Date Posted: June 21 2006 at 23:51
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Actually, Godbluff is probably the least played of my collection (not because I dislike it), because it was one of the last albums I purchased. It's the album I am least familiar with, along with World Record and The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome. I still need to give Godbluff more spins for me to really take notice of the lyrics (always the last bit to click with me for most bands). -------------
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Posted By: Australian
Date Posted: June 22 2006 at 00:24
I used to feel the same way about Lemmings until a couple of weeks ago whenis finally clicked for me. ------------- 
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Posted By: Jmoog
Date Posted: June 22 2006 at 14:52
If you have bought the remastered version of "H To He" then listen to "Squid1/Squid2/Octopus" and let me know what you think of it. I think it is perhaps the best VDGG performance EVER! ------------- I Adore Mellotrons |