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Van Der Graaf Generator, The Book: A History of the Band Van Der Graaf Generator 1967 to 1978
A History of the Band Van Der Graaf Generator 1967 to 1978
- GenresMusicNonfictionBiography
316 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 16, 2024
Fantastic thorough biography of Peter Hammill and Van der Graaf Generator (a band along the lines of Genesis or King Crimson) including a lot of photos.
July 13, 2017
While I admit that it is unlikely to appeal to more than a specialist audience, this handsome, meticulously-researched, fascinatingly-illustrated and highly entertaining history of the greatest of all Progressive Rock bands is in its own way a masterpiece.
It's difficult to overestimate the importance of Van der Graaf Generator in the development of rock music. Formed in the late 1960s, they are still recording in the 20-teens, albeit having undergone various adjustments of line-up, and taken several breaks- including one of 27 years - in the time between. They are unique in many ways, not least in their eschewal for years of the electric guitar and, even when using it, its subordination to organ, saxophones, and strings. Hugh Banton's organ-playing, using instruments built and customised by himself, is probably the band's defining musical thread, giving it the multilayered gothic grandeur against which other instruments- including Peter Hammill's extraordinary soaring voice - can contrast, complement, augment, and argue.
All members of VdGG have always been consummate musicians, experimental and risk-taking, which means that every concert they've ever played has been a unique event - sometimes overreaching, at others a sensory and emotional experience like no other. I am fortunate to have attended several, between 1975 and 2005, which were the latter. Singer Peter Hammill, who also plays piano and occasional guitar, is not only the possessor of a unique, never-forgotten vocal gift, but also one of the most intelligent, demanding, literate, and prolific songwriters anywhere in the world.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I know its subject is in the nature of a specialist interest, but "The Book" is a fine introduction to the band its authors clearly love, digging out histories, anecdotes, photos and documents that serve as a comprehensive review of the career of a major artistic phenomenon, which everyone interested in rock should know about.
It's difficult to overestimate the importance of Van der Graaf Generator in the development of rock music. Formed in the late 1960s, they are still recording in the 20-teens, albeit having undergone various adjustments of line-up, and taken several breaks- including one of 27 years - in the time between. They are unique in many ways, not least in their eschewal for years of the electric guitar and, even when using it, its subordination to organ, saxophones, and strings. Hugh Banton's organ-playing, using instruments built and customised by himself, is probably the band's defining musical thread, giving it the multilayered gothic grandeur against which other instruments- including Peter Hammill's extraordinary soaring voice - can contrast, complement, augment, and argue.
All members of VdGG have always been consummate musicians, experimental and risk-taking, which means that every concert they've ever played has been a unique event - sometimes overreaching, at others a sensory and emotional experience like no other. I am fortunate to have attended several, between 1975 and 2005, which were the latter. Singer Peter Hammill, who also plays piano and occasional guitar, is not only the possessor of a unique, never-forgotten vocal gift, but also one of the most intelligent, demanding, literate, and prolific songwriters anywhere in the world.
As I said at the beginning of this review, I know its subject is in the nature of a specialist interest, but "The Book" is a fine introduction to the band its authors clearly love, digging out histories, anecdotes, photos and documents that serve as a comprehensive review of the career of a major artistic phenomenon, which everyone interested in rock should know about.
June 17, 2018
Very readable, and excellent research with input from band members
Very readable, and excellent research with very interesting input from band members, and fans from the world of music and the arts.
Very readable, and excellent research with very interesting input from band members, and fans from the world of music and the arts.
November 18, 2009
A very lucid biography of Rock music's greatest underdogs.
An immensely talented and interesting group of musicians.
An immensely talented and interesting group of musicians.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews