Trollheart

No. Both Moss and Xurtio have posted their reviews of VdGG before you and Ant, so they are most definitely kicking your ass. At posting reviews here.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

Album Title: Pawn hearts
Artist: Van der Graaf Generator
Nationality: British
Year: 1971
Subgenre: Classic Prog
Player(s): Peter Hammill (Guitars, Pianos and Vocals), Hugh Banton (Keyboards, Bass), Guy Evans (Drums), David Jackson (Sax and flute) --- with guest appearance from Robert Fripp on guitar
Familiarity: Surprisingly the album I knew least from their early work.
Favourite track(s): "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers"
Why? Well it's such a epic and it wouldn't be possible to not like this and still like the rest of the album. The song is truly innovative and its strength lies in each member doing their own musical virtuosos without actually getting too carried away with it like ELP would and these disciplined restraints are a key factor for the song.
Least favourite track(s): None
Why? N/A
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? The album I least know of the band's early work, so was kind of looking forward to listening to it again to see if it's as great as the reviews were saying.
Factoids you'd like to share? I once remember reading that this album was originally meant to be a double.
End impression: A prime example of classic era prog really and the sax of David Jackson is pretty amazing as is the drumming of Guy Evans, but then again so are the rest of the band. Like most of VDGG's work the album has stood the test of time and still sounds very fresh. VDGG I find are a band that should be listened to sparingly anyway.
Comments: I always slightly preferred the previous two albums over this The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other and H to He, Who Am The Only One, but on listening to this today it's much better than I remembered and reading various reviews on how highly this album is rated, I can certainly see the brilliance of the album. But at the end of the day with VDGG it's really like apples and oranges as most of their albums are pretty great and solid, something that not every prog band can always muster.

As already mentioned Peter Hammill was the vital ingredient of this band and had a pretty remarkable vocal range along (even if he sounds girly at times)with the band's instantly recognizable sound and soundwise they kind of sat somewhere between King Crimson and Genesis and were as equally as good as those two. But whereas I can easily be in the mood to listen to Gabriel era Genesis and virtually anything by Crimson, I really have to be in the mood for VDGG, but maybe that's just down to how intense they are.

Rating: 4.5

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Anteater

Album Title: Pawn Hearts
Artist: Van Der Graaf Generator
Nationality: British
Year: 1971
Subgenre: None.
Player(s): Peter Hammill (Guitars, Pianos and Vocals), Hugh Banton (Keyboards, Bass), Guy Evans (Drums), David Jackson (Sax and flute) --- with guest appearance from Robert Fripp on guitar
Familiarity: I've had this album a lonnnnng time.
Favourite track(s): "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers"
Why? Hammill is at his absolute best here: some people believe this to be the best "epic" prog song pre-Close To The Edge, and I suppose there's something to that. Jackson's sax work in particular is an absolute stand out.
Least favourite track(s): None
Why? N/A
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? Considering how much I like VDGG, I guess its hard to have preconceptions when you're already aware at how good the music is.
Factoids you'd like to share? Nothing that comes to mind.
End impression: A great listen as always, and distinctive even within their own catalog of output. It's not too long and not too short.
Comments: Probably the most underrated classic progressive rock album of the first half of the decade besides Gentle Giant's Acquiring The Taste, and like that record, there's a sense of vitality to the music that still resounds even decades later. I don't use the word "striking" very often, but that's what Hammill and co. were when they got in the zone, and in the zone they were all throughout Pawn Hearts. Their ace in the hole was definitely David Jackson though: did anybody outside of the fusion circuit even try to bring in sax to a pure prog rock context back then besides these guys? Nope, and that tells you a lot right there.

Rating: 5. It's not even my favorite record by VDGG, but its fantastic music when your in the right mood and its progressiveness is undeniable.

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Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

Moss

Hah! Great reviews though. looking forward to some Tull!

Trollheart

I've made an executive decision. After looking at the other list (the 1000 best prog albums) it seems it's more varied and of course there are a lot more choices on it, so unless anyone has a major objection (didn't he command the troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom?) I'll choose from that from next week on.

Here's the link, courtesy of our feline friend, and sometime contributor, Rostasi:

1000 Prog Albums Over 46 Years: 1966-2011 - Progressive Rock Music Forum - Page 1

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Bloody Hell! We've just gone from under 200 to 1000! Don't think we're ready for nearly 50,000!
The other problem of course is making sure all the albums are available, somewhere, to be listened to...

While you're there though: any similar lists for metal albums? I've started the Heavy Metal Album Club but have been unable to find a decent list.

Thanks!
TH

PS feel free to join our new club of course if you wish.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Moss

I heartily approve!

Trollheart

Yeah, I use that for my "Meat Grinder" section in my journal. Problem is, more often than not I come across bands that are a) unsigned b) dead c) never released anything other than demo tapes or d) so obscure and unknown that it's impossible to get any of their music anywhere.
That looks a little more like it... Thanks!
Cool. You interested in joining our other club?

Edit: I see you are. Good man!

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Unknown Soldier

Martin Popoff is one of my favourite metal critics.

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Metal Wars

Power Metal

Pounding Decibels- A Hard and Heavy History

Trollheart

Album Title: Heavy horses
Artist: Jethro Tull
Nationality: British
Year: 1978
Subgenre: Folk/Prog
Player(s): Ian Anderson (Vocals, flute etc), Martin Barre (Guitar) Barriemore Barlow (Drums), John Evan (Organ, Piano), David Palmer (Keyboards) John Glascock (Bass)
Familiarity: Very little if I'm honest, and what I have heard I have never liked. The flute again, y'see?
Favourite track(s): “Moths”
Why? I just love the melody, even if Anderson does insist on rushing the last line of every verse as if he's trying to keep up with the band.
Least favourite track(s): “Rover”
Why? It's just too meh for me. I don't really like anything about it.
Any preconceptions prior to listening, whether good or bad? I honestly expected this to be a hard slog, given my feelings about Tull.
Factoids you'd like to share?
End impression: Not half as bad as I had expected. More real prog rock than folk. I've caught myself humming the tunes more than I thought I would.
Comments: When this album came up I groaned. Oh god! Not Tull, spake I! Then I ran my usual research on Wiki and found that it was responsible for a change in the band's music from outright folk and medieval styles to a more modern rock approach rooted mostly in real-world issues: not so much of the trees and forests and more of the city skyscrapers perhaps? The first track had me nodding along I must admit, even with the flute so prominent. It's quite catchy, though what the hell it's about I can only guess at. No I can't.

I have to admit that much of my dislike for Tull stems from Anderson himself. I don't like him. I don't like his “crazy old wizard” image, I don't like his flute and I don't like his voice. Other than that he's ok. But I warmed to him a little on this album. Wasn't mad about “Acres wild” and “No lullaby” just bored the hell out of me. It wasn't until “Moths” hit that I actually sat up and took notice. It's almost an AOR style song in ways and easily my favourite, even if he does keep the kind of Olde English Rose lyrical theme. “Journeyman” reminded me of “Jive talking” (!) and then as I said I bloody hate “Rover”. Ugh.

The album recovers well with “One brown mouse”, which would have been another contender for standout along with the title track, even if the latter is a little too long. The closer is ok too. Overall, not as bad as I had expected but not enough to change my mind about Tull, or Anderson. Good effort though, another case of some good tracks but a lot of bad ones.

Rating: I'll give it a 3.5, but no more than that.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018