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PAST. Van der Graaf Generator never fitted easily into the mould of progressive rock. Led by the genius of Peter Hammill the band finally blew itself out in 1978.
Present. Twenty-seven years later, the classic lineup of Hammill, Jackson, Evans and Banton reconvene.
CD one is an album of worked-out songs. Every Bloody Emperor, with his hand up history's skirt revisits Hammill's Emperor from the 1970 H to He album, in a brilliant full-blooded, caustic attack on imperialist leaders. The rest casts new light on Hammill themes of mortality, dark corners of the mind and the passage of time.
CD two comprises 10 instrumental jams of free improvisation - sketched-out/part-formed ideas, abstract & experimental.
With a reunion concert sold out before it was announced, expectations are high for the future.
ALAN WORSWICK