Van Der Graaf Generator
Godbluff

THE REVIEW

Some things you either love or hate.

For example, white truffle is a very sought-after dish that few, however, can appreciate the taste of. Well, I know it might sound absurd, but this is also the case with Van Der Graaf Generator. Listening to one of their tracks for the first time, indeed, you can't remain indifferent; you either fall in love with it or you just find it appalling. Of course, one small thing should be noted: a person who has only ever drunk water will never be able to distinguish a Lambrusco from a Bordeaux... and likewise, if you don't want to push yourself beyond the confined boundaries where today's music often nests, you'll never grasp the true taste of any Van Der Graaf song.

But enough about cooking, let's talk about the album reviewed: 'Godbluff' dates back to 1975 and is the band's fifth album. Three years earlier, after the Pawn Hearts tour, the leader Peter Hammill (vocals, piano, guitar) had left the group to dedicate himself to his solo projects, yet remained on good terms with the other members, who helped him record his solo works. Eventually, the group returned to the studio, and the result of their work was 'Godbluff'.

Consisting of four rather long songs, all written by Hammill, the album is dominated by an atmosphere of anger and pessimism that emanates both from the lyrics and the musical parts themselves. It all opens with "The Undercover Man": a light flute accompaniment (David Jackson) to which Guy Evans' silent cymbal play and Hugh Banton's organ then add. Hammill whispers, his voice touches the lowest notes... it's all a crescendo, leading to the entry of the piano, which, together with the drums, breaks the tension and gives the track a resigned melancholy, underscored by Peter's melodramatic singing, which now reaches higher. And so, you are gently led to the end of the track, which presents no great outbursts but still offers great emotions.

Here, if you want the "big outbursts" instead, you'll be satisfied with the following track; "Scorched Earth" is recorded live and shows VDGG in their most classic lineup: Hammill vocals and guitar, Jackson on sax, and Banton on organ. 10 minutes full of rhythmic accelerations, absurd tempos, now aggressive, now anguishing riffs... in short, it shows you the wildest side of the band. Unfortunately, there is a flaw: the recording quality (after all, it's a live recording from 30 years ago!) results in being quite low. The same does not apply to the following "Arrow". And thank goodness! The song is full of many small details that in "Scorched Earth" you could never notice. The pace is less overwhelming, more fragmented. It seems like the instruments are trembling. The desperation emanated by the singing, echoed by the sax, is impressive. So harrowing the final cries of Peter: "How strange my body feels / Impaled upon the arrow "... And here we have "The Sleepwalkers", the last track, in my opinion, the best. The attack is formidable: organ and flute create hypnotic riffs over which Hammill dominates, venturing his voice through scales and very particular notes that an ordinary person could never imitate. The time of the track changes constantly, Evans shows off on the drums. There's also space for a cabaret interlude. And then a nice organ solo, and then again schizophrenic screams, and a new section that ends up in the reprise of the initial part... A breathtaking experience, we're no longer at the levels of "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers" but we're close.

In conclusion, I would like to spend a few lines on the lyrics: VDGG's songs don't talk about imaginary journeys, fantastic worlds, or other widely used subjects in the lyrics of the most famous progressive albums. Peter Hammill is a sort of poet of the unconscious, who since 1970 (well before Roger Waters conceived the concept of The Dark Side Of The Moon) had a clear idea of what he wanted to do: express through his music and lyrics the anxieties that reigned in his soul and could reflect in every man's life. Solitude, misunderstanding, fear, madness, death... these are, in most cases, the keywords of his compositions. Wordplays, rhymes, and metaphors bring to life these true and proper poems, whose meaning is not at all easy to understand if one is not well-versed in the English language. On this note, I want to point out to enthusiasts (though I fear there won't be many... !) that there is a book available on the market with all the VDGG lyrics translated into Italian: it could be a good opportunity to venture among the dark paths that this unique and inimitable band decided to walk for the first time.