Album title: Pawn Hearts
Artist: Van der Graaf Generator
Nationality: English
Label: Charisma
Chronology: Fourth
Grade: A
Factsheet: Not only one containing one of the longest-ever prog tracks, this album also has close to the fewest (three) and seems to have been something of a major influence too on the later RPI (Rock Progresivo Italiano).
Tracklisting: Lemmings (including Cog)/ Man-erg/ A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers (a) Eyewitness (b) Pictures/Lighthouse © Eyewitness (d) S.H.M. (e) Presence of the Night (f) Kosmo’s Tours (g) (Custard’s) Last Stand (h)The Clot Thickens (i) Land’s End (Sineline) (j) We Go Now
Comments: If you didn’t know Peter Hammill you would swear when the vocal begins that it was female, though it quickly changes as he turns to his more dark, manic side and it’s a fast, punchy opening with “Lemmings” - which apparently includes “Cog” - plenty of deep organ and squealing sax. Some strange experimental stuff as it goes along, with odd little passages of almost gentle vocal dropped in among the madness just to skew it even further. This is an album with three - count ‘em: three - tracks, two of which exceed the ten-minute mark, and then there’s that epic at the end. In terms of tracks then it’s poor value, but the whole thing adds up to about three quarters of an hour, so that’s not bad.
“Man-erg” opens on a beautiful soft piano piece with the rather incongruous lyric “A killer lives inside me” and Hammill in his best angelic voice, sliding momentarily into the darker, more angry side. One of my favourite VDGG songs, I love the way it changes and transforms throughout its ten-minute length. The organ accompaniment is lovely too, then it really explodes into life as Hammill goes completely manic and the hard guitars burst in, attended by frenetic horns. A nice jaunty instrumental section in the sixth minute carries it through to a reprise of the opening section. And that then leaves the epic.
Before Genesis had written “Supper’s Ready” or Rush’s “2112” had seen the light, “A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers” stood as one of the longest prog suites, running as it does for just over twenty-three minutes. It beat Caravan’s “Nine Feet Underground” by a minute and kicked the arse, lengthwise, of ELP’s “Tarkus.” It gets going on a similar kind of theme to “Man-erg” but is more driven by organ and Hammill uses some sort of effect on his voice; I feel the use of brass as sort of foghorns, given that this is about a lighthouse keeper (in case you hadn’t figured that out) is quite clever and indicative of the innovation VDGG would practice throughout their frequently-interrupted career.
There’s a nice buildup section in the eleventh minute which leads into a pretty frantic, climbing vocal with Hammill followed by the instruments until it all comes to a crescendo and comes to a juddering halt in the thirteenth, picked up then by solo piano and vocal, everything slowing down again as organ and guitar joins the tune, then without any warning in the seventeenth it all explodes again until in the twentieth everything settles down on acoustic piano as the piece moves towards its conclusion.
Favourite track(s): Man-Erg/ A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers
Least favourite track(s):
Musings: The cover for this was created by Paul Whitehead, who links VDGG and Genesis, as he also did the cover for the latter’s
Trespass and, as we will see, this year’s
Nursery Cryme as well as the following year’s
Foxtrot. Whether this implies any personal relationship between Hammill and his acolyte is unclear, but given that Gabriel was a lot younger than the VDGG singer I doubt it, but it is intriguing.
Also of note: though this album did poorly in the UK, it found favour with the Italians, as did Genesis’s albums, making it clear that prog rock was at least as appreciated in Italy as in the UK, and in the case of some bands, much more so.
Personal Rating: 4.50
Legacy Rating: 4.0
Final Rating: 4.25