THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS WAVE TO EACH OTHER

Not much better then the debut in terms of quality but a great leap ahead in style. Considering this album is from '69, it is a landmark album in the development of prog. But trying to defend its historical value is not what keeps me awake at nights. The simple truth is that this a far from accomplished album.

Things start off pretty cool though. With Darkness we get a groovy track that sets off cautiously but gradually builds into a heavy bass driven organ and sax inferno. Great! Refugees is the closest thing VDGG would come to a pop song. It would match nicely on an early Hammill solo album but it's too lightweight here. White Hammer returns to the heavy sound of Darkness but lacks both the coherence and melodies to make it listenable. Mind you, in the last two minutes something finally happens and we get treated to a slab of frenzied sax compelled by an ominous and threatening organ groove. Awesome! Next on to 'side 2'. First of all I'm sure Robert would have said it was a very weak song. The next one, Out of My Book is a little gem but would have fit better on Hammill's Fool's Mate. After The Flood is another cumbersome try at progressive song writing but the material it is made off is too ineffectual to make it interesting to anyone but a hardcore fan. If you have the remastered version you can end in beauty with the entirely pleasing Boat of Millions of Years, one of the strongest short VDGG songs. Well, they only have 3 of those anyway right?

So if you're a devoted fan or plan on becoming one, you might give it a shot. Otherwise I would advice to keep it as the last album to visit. 2.5 stars for the original album, the remaster adds another half.