Van Der Graaf Generator live
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=6686
Printed Date: June 14 2024 at 16:51
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Topic: Van Der Graaf Generator live
Posted By: penguindf12
Subject: Van Der Graaf Generator live
Date 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? |
Replies:
Posted By: paulindigo
Date 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 |
Posted By: Mategra
Date 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". |
Posted By: JrKASperov
Date Posted: May 27 2005 at 07:42
I'm going to be seeing some live vdGG stuff 23th of june. 
------------- Epic. |
Posted By: penguindf12
Date 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"? |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date 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. |
Posted By: samuel.jeronimo
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 03:25
|
i'm gonna see them in Lisbon next july ------------- http://www.jeronimosamuel.no.sapo.pt - SAMUEL JERONIMO |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date 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. |
Posted By: samuel.jeronimo
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 06:34
|
A new live album would be great ------------- http://www.jeronimosamuel.no.sapo.pt - SAMUEL JERONIMO |
BaldJean wrote:
Posted By: Duncan
Date 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). |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 06:47
| The "Godbluff" live DVD is NOT officially sanctioned by PH and therefore a rip-off. |
Posted By: penguindf12
Date 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.... |
Posted By: NetsNJFan
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 14:19
yea, I am a big VdGG fan, but don't like Vital much. ------------- 
|
Posted By: BaldJean
Date 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. |
Posted By: NetsNJFan
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 15:36
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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. -------------
|
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 15:53
Not true, Jackson enters on track 4, "Mirror Images", and stays until the end. And the violin and cello add some interesting musical colors. |
Posted By: penguindf12
Date 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... |
Posted By: salmacis
Date 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'. |
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:23
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 |
Posted By: NetsNJFan
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:25
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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. -------------
|
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:35
|
Not an official one. It was also not on the track list on the reunion concert (of which there are rumors it will be published as double CD). The track list of the reunion concert was: Undercover Man Killer and Wondering were the encores. ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: NetsNJFan
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 17:50
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I love Refugees. Thanks for the response BaldJean. -------------
|
Posted By: The Owl
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 22:33
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VDGG only played 1 American show (in NYC 1976 I think), and a couple in Canada that year. They actually NEVER played "Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" live, but they did do it for a Belgian TV show (available on the "Godbluff Live" DVD), they actually had to film it in sections and piece it together. ------------- People are puzzled why I don't dig the Stones, well, I listened to the Stones, I tried, and I tried, and I tried, and--I Can't Get No Satisfaction! www.myspace.com/theowlsmusic |
Posted By: penguindf12
Date Posted: May 29 2005 at 23:01
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....why'd they do that? Not play their grand masterpiece live...ever?! They ought to revive it sometime, maybe for the next tour... |
Posted By: penguindf12
Date Posted: May 30 2005 at 20:18
|
So how is the sound quality of the "Vital" and "Maida Vale" albums? I'm listening to two mp3 downloads from the Van Der Graaf Generator website, and the quality is pitiful. How is the sound quality in relation to these tracks? (Killer, live 1976, and Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever, live 1978) I want to know so I can decide whether it's worth it to buy these live albums or not. Here's the link to the mp3 page: http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/mp3.htm - http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/mp3.htm And here's the individual downloads: http://www.wollaston-northants.co.uk/vdgg/killer.mp3 - http://www.wollaston-northants.co.uk/vdgg/killer.mp3 http://www.wollaston-northants.org.uk/vdgg/catseye.mp3 - http://www.wollaston-northants.org.uk/vdgg/catseye.mp3 |
Posted By: gdub411
Date Posted: May 30 2005 at 20:23
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I own the DVD...the special efects are these lamo candles lit all over the room to give it a proggy atmosphere. Peter Hammill never gets up from his piano and they do no antics on stage. |
Posted By: threefates
Date Posted: May 30 2005 at 20:38
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I'd really like to see the show they are doing in Athens, Greece at the Lycabettus Theatre on 21st July. Because Steven Wilson's Blackfield and Porcupine Tree will be playing with them. ------------- THIS IS ELP 
|
Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: May 30 2005 at 20:45
No wonder, both of the tracks you downloaded are bootlegs. "Vital" doesn't have the best sound quality, but the music is fantastic. "Maida Vale" is not that good (though I don't mean to say it is bad, but "Vital" is so fantastic that it pales in comparison), but it has a very good sound quality. I recommend to wait until Virgin reissues the re-mastered version at the end of this year (hopefully as a double CD; "Vital" had only been available as double CD in a Japanese version so far; the European version was one CD only and lacked two tracks). Track list of "Maida Vale" is: The album is about 72 minutes long. ------------- A shot of me as High Priestess of Gaia during our fall festival. Ceterum censeo principiis obsta |
Posted By: Thommy Rock
Date Posted: May 30 2005 at 21:02
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Guys, if they don't play the US of A, spend less time on this site, work overtime, save money and holidays and come over to Europe and see them while and where you can. I was at the Royal Festival Hall Gig and it's the closest you can get to weeping like a spoilt brat, who, after years of begging finally gets what he/she wants. Yes, it was that good, as a matter of fact, it was truelly fantastic. Don't miss out!!! ------------- "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible" FZ |
Posted By: simonm
Date Posted: March 05 2006 at 08:03
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Re sax check here and look for the sax players comment: http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/vital.htm |