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Van Der Graaf Generator - The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other CD (album) cover

THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS WAVE TO EACH OTHER

Van Der Graaf Generator

 

Eclectic Prog

4.08 | 1235 ratings

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progrules
Prog Reviewer
4 stars This second release by VDGG was actually my first purchase of this band. I played it a couple of times a few years ago when I bought it, thought not too much of it and put it aside. When I got more and more involved with PA I found out this band is extremely popular with many proggers so I had to dig into their discography a bit more I figured. I bought Pawn Hearts, Godbluff and Still Life in a relatively short period and reviewed them all; the reviews weren't really positiv as VDGG will never be one of my favorite bands. I closed the VDGG book for a while until my progfriend Friso (kingfriso on PA) asked me about it since he happened to know this album was in my collection. Ashamedly I had to admit I didn't have a clue and I had to give it another go to be able to tell the outcome.

I played the disc a couple of times and because I by now could compare the music to three other VDGG albums I looked at it from a different perspective and I can tell you that helped big time. After these few spins I got more and more enthusiastic about this early effort I have to admit. I'll go through it song by song to give the respective opinions.

Darkness (11/11) is an energetic song with great and fierce sax by David Jackson and also impressive vocals by Hammill who appeared to sing much better on this album than on those later on. Superb climax at the end of the song as well. 3,75*.

Next up is my favorite track on this album and probably my most favorite VDGG song ever, Refugees. Not really fair by me because this is by no means a typical VDGG song because of it's beauty and great melody, features that are far from distinctive VDGG features. But I can't help it, I can only tell my truth, can't I ? I wish they played their music like this throughout their entire career but alas they decided differently and I will have to live with that i guess ... 4,5*.

White Hammer starts in a calm way but this lasts for a minute or so before Banton's organ accompanies and the song gets more powerful, I like the distant trumpet close to the three minute mark. This appears already the third song in a row that is a lot better than I could detect on any of their three so called masterpieces. Don't worry, it's just the opinion of a non fan so what do I know ? Raging ending of the song by the way. 3,5 stars for this.

Whatever would Robert have said ? is the intriguing title of the first song of the B-side (I reckon) but I fear it's the most intriguing aspect to me as I have a hard time to interpret this one. Second half of the track is ok with a great instrumental passage. 3,5*.

Out of the Book is the second gentle song on this album (along with Refugees) and also the shortest. Again I'm a bit mesmerized by it. The flute (Jackson) works nicely for me. 4*.

After the Flood is a short epic of over 11 minutes to close the album with a prominent Hammill once again proving he's a major factor on this album, to me his best vocal performance in the bands discography and then I'm talking about throughout the entire album. The second half of this song is the precursor of the next few albums by the band with distorted sax and organ going completely nuts just like they do on several occasions on Pawn Hearts. It would be inconsistent of me if I suddenly appreciated it here so I will have to subtract something in the score here: 2,5*.

But in the end it can't spoil the fun for me anymore for this album. I was harsh with my rating for Pawn Hearts but I still vindicate it. On the other hand I think it's only fair to compensate it slightly by rounding up the score here to four stars. I never thought this band could ever pull off something like this and also because of that I can justify the high score.

progrules | 4/5 |

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