01	Pilgrims						07:12
	02	Still Life						07:24
	03	La Rossa						09:52
	04	My Room (Waiting For Wonderland)						08:02
	05	Childlike Faith In Childhood's End						12:24

Van Der Graaf Generator
Still Life
Caroline (CAROL 1641-2)
UK 1976

Peter Hammill, guitar, keyboards, vocals;
Hugh Banton, bass, guitar, keyboards;
Guy Evans, drums;
David Jackson, keyboards, winds

Tracklist:
1. Pilgrims — 7:12
2. Still Life — 7:24
3. La Rossa — 9:52
4. My Room — 8:02
5. Childlike Faith in Childhood's End — 12:24

total time 44:38


heather

VDGG are not usually that concise. But the lack of sidelong tracks makes this one more accessible for me. This one consists of a few long-form songs. In a compositional sense, there are a lot of long twists and turns, ups and downs; the music seem to be more stream-of-consciousness in nature, rather than structured/ordered. The end result often makes it feel as if they are taking you for a ride and you are subjected to where it goes, rather than the sort of control and prediction you have when you have a more structured concept of the music. This coupled with a lot of mood swings makes it seem like a dramatic movie rather than say classical music where you listen for the structure and what interests you is what it does with the structure. The mood ranges, often in the same song, between aggressive riff-oriented passages, darkly theatrical moments, still pensive moments, and almost pastoral, folksy sounding melodies. I still haven't really absorbed the lyrics, but I never have paid much attention to lyrics in prog. They seem to be poetic lyrics about all the deep stuff, you know, sea creatures, time, the end of the world...
They diverge from the norm for "My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)" which is a very melodic and simple song, almost repetitive, with nice sax, piano and vocals. The melody is actually gentle but it is also very awkward, conjuring up images of the awkward sea creature described in the lyrics.

When I listen to the individual performances, the vocals of Peter Hammill stand out, and the rhythm section. Hammill is a very theatrical and dramatic singer, which pushes away some people, but for me, he is the highlight of listening to VDG. The rhythm section knows when to be restrained and when to apply force, which is always nice. As far as actual instrumental soloing goes, usually there is not much, but I really enjoy the saxophone solo in "My Room".

In general, the one thing that makes it sometimes hard for me to get into VDG is their choice of instrumentation. The main melody instruments consist of organ and saxophone. Sometimes the constant overwhelming presence of organ gets tiring for me, but I have to admit that it is not one of my favorite sounds. Still, it does really set the mood in certain sections of these songs.

review by Heather Mackenzie — 5-15-03 — post a comment (0)


© ground and sky


Member: (!rKь$ (Profile) (All Album Reviews by (!rKь$)
Date: 5/21/2002
Format: CD (Album)

Personnel:
Hugh Banton : Bass, Guitar, Keyboards
Guy Evans : Drums
Peter Hammill : Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals
David Jackson : Keyboards, Winds


..."Take away the threat of death and all you're left with is a round of make believe"...


Hot on the heels of their excellent comeback album, Godbluff, the swiftly completed Still Life followed in early 1976. It was the second release since the band's reformation in 1975 and since this reunion, the band seemed to have a new, more focused approach to their compositions. Despite this, there is no doubt in your mind about what band you are listening too. The Generator was definitely back in all their sonic glory and Hammill has
an even more biting quality to his voice this time around.

The album starts with the optimism tinged "Pilgrims". Communicating to the listener that no matter how alone you may feel, in your darkest hour, we are all in this together and to not become discouraged. David Jackson's distinct and gloriously ominous saxophone closes the piece wonderfully.

"Still Life" considers how awful immortality could be for those who may wish it so for themselves. It starts quietly with Hammill's vocals and Hugh Banton's low organ accompanying him. Soon, the organ transforms and comes tromping back into the piece like a lumbering, angry giant. Definitely one of those spine tingling passages for me.

"LaRossa" puts the spotlight on Banton's mastery of the Hammond organ. Following it is "My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)" which features Jackson out in front of the band with his distressed sax passages that sound like no one (or nothing) else. The 12 minute plus "Childlike Faith in Childhood's End" closes the album. The tempo of the piece haphazardly switches up and down throughout the track and their are some great sections of interplay between the instrumentalists in the band. Not one uninteresting second can be found here and very little is repeated. In the final line of the track, Hammill sums up the boundless possibilities of what the afterlife holds for us..."In the death of mere humans life shall start!" I guess it that remains to be seen folks.

Still Life is a glimmering artifact of some of the best music this era had to offer. The raw emotion and creativity is as powerful today as it was then. Uncommonly found trademarks of great musicianship and originality.

Happy listening,
(!rKu$
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