PAWN HEARTS

No doubt VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR at the top of their game. "Pawn Hearts" is the band at their most aggressive, at least up until that point. Bassist Nic Potter had now left for good (he was later briefly a member of RARE BIRD, before going on to other things). Robert FRIPP once again lends a hand in this album. The album opens up with the wonderful "Lemmings". I just love the aggressive nature of this song, with Hugh Banton's spacy organ and David Jackson's sax, and ad that on with Peter HAMMILL's doomy lyrics. I especially like the organ that ends the song. "Man-Erg" starts off rather mellow, but is also loaded with more great and aggressive passages. Then you get the side-length epic "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers". This song goes through so many different changes, I really like those twisted passages. What's interesting is the Mellotron (a Mark II) makes a rare appearence. If you own the American LP, you'll also get treated with the band doing a version of George Martin's "Theme One", a truly amazing instrumental piece dominated by David Jackson's sax. This song was available in Great Britain only as a single released in 1972, ("W" being the other side). Totally essential album to your collection.