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Are you fans of the legendary Van Der Graaf Generator? Are you unfamiliar with this debut album of theirs, even overlooked by the recent remastering effort that included all their other records? Well, let's preface by saying that it isn't as essential a work as those that would come later, but it is especially to the curiosity of the group's enthusiasts that I recommend listening to it.
Curiosity that might turn into wonder upon hearing the first, stunning track. It's "Afterwards": an organ intro with subsequent acoustic guitar, dreamy, that opens the atmosphere to open spaces… Then Hammil's voice, very sweet here compared to the gothic harshness of the later albums, which declaims a wonderful, broad, sunny melody before giving way to a delightful piano solo (Banton's work)… Then the finale, with the majestic crescendo of the voice… The impression is of a world of light unfolding before the eyes, with a flare of that warm and soft melancholy that engulfs the listener's deep emotions… So, not a song in the typical dark-jazz-prog Vandergraffian style, but more in the melancholic-melodic direction that songs like "House With No Door" would later assume. Nevertheless, an exceptional piece, among the group's best. A must-listen.
Unfortunately, however, the wonder induced by the splendid "Afterwards" is not matched by the subsequent tracks, decidedly not as transcendent, although many are noteworthy. Compared to the albums to come, one can feel the naivety of artists not yet fully aware, there's also the absence of that peculiar dark dramaticity, probably also due to the lack of such an important member, David Jackson's sax. Many tracks are mostly acoustic, often dreamy, like the excellent "Running back", which still favors Hammill's melancholic side, who here already begins to show off his exceptional timbre and chameleon nature. Moreover, with that long central flute solo, the progressive tendency (still in its infancy at the time) is already noticeable. An interesting piece is also "Ortenthian St.", another excellent example of proto-prog, consisting of alternating melodic and radiant parts and accelerations sustained by the piano's repeated notes, with the singer in great shape and already comfortable with changes in rhythm and "mood"; the subsequent "Into a game", very similar, is in the writer's opinion much less successful, despite a more convincing final instrumental section (especially noteworthy is the bass part). After two intermezzos, one, the title track, playful and cabaret-like, the other, "Black smoke yen", instrumental for piano, bass, and drums with jazz veins, comes "Aquarian", which reiterates almost all the features already developed by the other tracks but leaves no mark on the listener, heavy and not very melodically appealing.
The finale instead brings two excellent tracks, the mystical but catchy dance of "Necromancer" and perhaps the track that would have fit better on the subsequent albums, "Octopus", decidedly dark, which anticipates VDGG's tendency to use a motif (in this case a pounding organ and bass riff) and to resume it various times during the song, interspersed with slower intermissions: the result here is already optimal, with a slow and dark central part, full of suspense, surrounded by two impetuous and dramatic symmetrical sections, with Hammil's voice taking the lead with his passionate, desolate, and theatrical tone (the organ parts providing the backdrop throughout the song are also delightful).
An enjoyable album, therefore, which already presents some essential peculiarities of Hammil's group, some more developed, others less so, a record that, in my opinion, flows even better if its duration is reduced by "skipping" some of the heavier and less successful songs.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Afterwards (04:56)
You stare out in yellow eyes larger than my mind;
in viscous pools of joy, relaxing, we glide...
it's all too beautiful
for my mind to bear
and, as we shimmer into sleep, something's unshared.
But, seeing the flower that was there yesterday,
a tear forms just behind the soft peace of your shades....
The world's too lonely
for a message to slip
but between the dying rails of peace
you trip.
The petals that were blooming are just paper in your hand;
your eyes, which were clear in the night, are opaque as you stand.You were too beautiful
for it to last...
these visions shimmer and fade out of
the glass.
The petals that were blooming are just paper in your hand.
05 Aerosol Grey Machine (00:48)
Just one breath, and it's instant death,
it's the Aerosol Grey Machine!
Just one breath, and it's instant death,
it's the Aerosol Grey Machine!
You're walking along the road one day,
up comes a man dressed all in grey;
he blows a little aerosol in your face
and you find your mind's all over the place...
Just one breath, and it's instant death,
it's the Aerosol Grey Machine!
Buy an Aerosol Grey Machine for your own home, today!
07 Aquarian (08:21)
Now we sit here in our special place,
all wearing our happy faces gladly.
Sunlight appears in our world; our joy
has been turned from badness.
Now we've moved and left alone
and it's easier that way.
We are riding on rainbows
and happy today.
Now we move to the sun in every direction;
we are cloaked in veils of mystic protection...
joking a lot, smoking or not,
floating our yacht off to freedom,
voting to be Aquarian!
I hold silver flashing metal in the palm
of my petal hand, watching it quiver:
to breathe too close is death -
ah, but wat is breath but a way to deliverance?
Soon we will all be joined
in a great silver tube,
wanting every one to come along,
that means you too!
Now we move to the sun in every direction;
we are cloaked in veils of mystic protection...
mapping the way, clapping to say
we're happy today, and assured of
the fact that we're all Aquarian!
Hardly any money... who needs bread anyway?
Well, I mean to say, it's just the read to freedom!
Everything's too funny; we just ride along so high,
watch the bad scenes floating by, who needs them?
Soon we will all be joined
in a great silver tube,
wanting every one to come along,
that means you too!
Now we move to the sun in every direction;
we are cloaked in veils of mystic protection...
Lighting the path, righting the past,
fighting the dark like centurions,
writing our names as Aquarians!
As Aquarians, but as Aquarians!
Writing our names as we move to the sun,
we're Aquarian
08 Necromancer (03:37)
Yes, I live in the black woods, where you dare not
even speak my name.
If there is evil in your heart and you come near me
you will lose your sane.
My form is mystic, but my heart is pure,
you'd better believe what I say:
I am the Necromancer.
I cast deep spells and potent:
I am a Seer of the Real.
My forces work against evil,
for I love all I feel.
I know the secrets long forgotten,
you'd better believe in me:
I am the Necromancer.
Look into my eyes,
I tell you, occults power lies in love.
I fight against darkness,
the power of the Black.
Every day the power is greater,
and soon the world will come to rights.
Through the magic, through the power,
shaman shall die on the seventh night.
And now remember magic is here:
you'd better believe in the White.
I am the Necromancer,
and I come to carry your heart away to good.
09 Octopus (07:54)
I want to paint you poems full of fire,
you who I do not know.
Now my mind is tested with love which
twists and wavers from side to side and which
some day soon you may see...
I want you to cascade through ten thousand
rainbows with me and dredge mount
ains
from the sea:
you who I now begin to know.
But emotion is pent up inside,
too scared of dying again to live,
and meanwhile I must endure your
red-copper hair screaming like a
water-baby black eyes stare
from my ceiling:
you who I now truly know...
Now I cannot see too clearly
and already my trellis stands bare...
How can I break free of these overclinging
arms which entwine and enfold me?... And reach
to the clear blue sea?
I want you to know, but how can I
tell you? I want you to see
but my o
wn eyes are blind...
The Octopus now enfolds me,
I know you too well...
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