Van Der Graaf Generator - A Grounding In Numbers

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It's taken me a while to pen this review because this is a very odd album.  But you could say that all the Van Der Graaf Generator albums are odd.  They are very British and very mad hatter Charisma, if you get my drift.  For more than 30 years the joys of Peter Hammill and VDGG escaped me, despite some familiarity through Peel shows and sessions.  I used to think it was music of madness and little charm.  Suddenly it has clicked for me and I am exploring the back catalogue at my leisure and at considerable expense!

The madness is still there, of course.  But now it has an avuncular twist to it courtesy of Hammill's slightly mellowed singing.  Coupled with Hugh Banton's organ fills occasionally gives this new album the feel of a trip into an old people's home.  Seriously.   Saxman Jackson is no longer in the band, so we have lost his abrasive edge as well.  This warm cosiness is typified by opening track "Your Time Starts Now".  However, there is some fantastic edgy guitar from Hammill here and there and I wish it were more prominent in the mix.

Some of the material here struck me as weak initially.  However, these tracks ("Embarrassing Kid", "Mathematics" and "5533") are real growers.  Current favourites for me are "Highly Strung" and "Snake Oil".  Hammill seems to be in a nostalgic mood looking back to his youth in several of the songs and the refrains of "teacher knows best" and "I went and let the old school down" are really quite priceless in context.


The band have cut themselves free from Virgin and now license their own product.  The lucky label is Esoteric Records who are doing a jolly good job of promoting the album.  In a bizarrely hip move a 45 of "Highly Strung" was issued on April 16th for "Record Store Day".  I was lucky enough to find a copy of this one day only release.  There was also a vinyl LP release with a die-cut sleeve.  Not many copies were pressed, and it also appears to have sold out in record time (sic).  Which is a pity, as it looks like it would have been a nice item for any collection.  For all things Van Der Graaf, check out official Hammill site http://www.sofasound.com/index.htm and also http://peterhammill.com/phx/

A plague of digipacks

Does anybody really like digipacks?  They always look cheap to me, and soon end up worn and tatty.  The real reason they are popular with record companies (and some artists) is because they are cheaper to produce than standard jewel cased editions!  Sometimes we are even asked to regard them as special or limited editions in some way!  I particularly dislike digipacks with transparent trays where you can see uneven and yellowing blobs of glue securing the tray to the cardboard.  How arty - NOT!

If cheap packaging is necessary, then I would prefer a cardboard sleeve like the freebies issued with newspapers have, or "vinyl replica sleeves" as the record companies like to call them.

Kansas - Original Album Classics (5 CDs)

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The "Original Album Classics" series has been a runaway success for CBS/Sony.  These neat little boxes each hold 5 CDs in cardboard replicas of the original LP sleeves.  Retailing for the price of one standard CD, these sets are quite a steal for collectors.  Warners have now started issuing a similar series - the "Original Album Series". CBS/Sony have also issued a few slimmer boxes in their series featuring 3 CDs at a cheaper price.

I had been looking for a copy of the "Leftoverture" album by Kansas for quite a while but was hesitating due to the high cost of imported copies.  So imagine my delight when I saw this box set of 5 quality albums for the price of one import CD!  In this box you get "Kansas", "Masque", "Song For America", "Leftoverture" and "Point Of Know Return".  All the Kansas a casual fan such as I could ask for, except perhaps the 7" version of the hit "Carry On Wayward Son" which is arguably better structured than the album version on "Leftoverture".  Chances are that you have that version on one of those ubiquitous "Drivin' Rock" type albums. You get not only 5 great albums but also bonus tracks because this set contains the expanded remasters of the albums.  So in addition you get 5 live tracks (half a live album in effect) plus single, demo and remix tracks.  An outstanding bargain all round and worthy of 5 stars I feel.

Kansas are still playing.  Rather like Blue Oyster Cult, their line-up seems pretty fluid with members coming and going and guesting as they please.  How I wish they would come and play the UK some time.  Anyway, here are some pictures of the 5 CD box.  Don't settle for mp3s, treat yourself to the CDs.  They sound so much better.

Loving Awareness - 30th Anniversary Edition

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Back to the '70s for this fantastic album by Norman Watt-Roy, Charlie Charles, Mickey Gallagher and John Turnbull.  Seasoned musicians from Bell and Arc, Skip Bifferty, The Greatest Show On Earth and Glencoe.

The band were named "Loving Awareness" after the concept their manager Ronan O'Rahilly promoted on his pirate station Radio Caroline.  The songwriting on display is truly exceptional, Beatles inspired but tinged with funk.  If you listened to Caroline in those days, you surely know "Love You To Know", "Free Your Soul", "Existence" and "Let Yourself Go".  The original LP was on More Love Records and came in a lavish gatefold sleeve complete with posters.

The music has hardly dated at all.  Perhaps this is because they were pioneers of blue-eyed funk.  The band were unbelievably tight.  They also toured and I was lucky enough to catch one of their shows.  They pulled a big crowd, although I believe sales of the LP were disappointing.  Maybe this was because it was only available mail order and at gigs.  Rumour at the time was that record shops were scared to stock the LP due to Caroline's illegal broadcasting status.  Vive la Revolution!

Now after years in collectorland obscurity the album is available again on CD.  Packaging is not top notch, although the 12-page booklet is an interesting read.  Even better are 4 bonus instrumentals, different arrangements to the vocal versions, linked by suitably oceanic sounds.  These are truly beautiful.  There is also a short audio clip of Ronan O'Rahilly and some nostalgic Radio Caroline jingles to round off the package.  Poor availability of the album proves that some things never change - it's only available mail order.  Get it now while it is still in print, from Radio Caroline's store at:http://rcsocietysales.co.uk/music.html
It's a purchase you will never regret.

The band split due to the limitations of the whole Loving Awareness concept, only to regroup as the Blockheads backing Ian Dury.  Partial to their Abracadabra?  Oh yes indeed, and the band are still touring to this day.

Perhaps more importantly, Radio Caroline is back and broadcasting legally on satellite and the web at: http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk/#home.html
It's usually well worth a listen and they are campaigning for a legal medium wave/AM slot here in England...

Iggy & The Stooges - Raw Power (Iggy Pop Mix)

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Just two stars for this disappointing remix of the classic "Raw Power" album.

I've owned a vinyl copy of "Raw Power" on the CBS Embassy label since the '70s.  It's a terrific album and is, of course, the original mix by David Bowie.  The CD reviewed here is a '90s remix by Iggy himself.  Iggy has deliberately pushed a lot of the mix and the guitar in particular into the red resulting in huge amounts of distortion.  The mix does sound more modern, but it is certainly not the "Raw Power" many of us have known and loved for decades.  On the back cover, Iggy declares that "Everything's still in the red, it's a very violent mix".  The effect is akin to listening to the vinyl while the stylus is clogged up with bumfluff.  Amusing once or twice, but ultimately very wearing. Sometimes I find it impossible to listen to.  I really must get my record deck (a Roksan Xerxes) serviced so that I can enjoy the vinyl again.

For many years this was the only version of the CD available.  It is a cheapie, so if you feel as disappointed with it as I do, at least you haven't blown lots of cash on it.  I would have given it one star but there are saving graces - the booklet is fantastic with a full story of the album and comments by the Ig.  The other good point is that not all the songs are ruined - slower numbers like "Gimme Danger" and "Penetration" come off well.

The really good news is that the Bowie mix (or something very close to it) has recently become available again coupled with a brilliant live CD as the "Legacy 2CD Edition".  This is the one to go for.  The bad news is that all this disappointment could have been avoided by putting the Bowie and Pop mixes on one CD - the album is really short so both versions would fit on one disc!

The Program Initiative

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The Program Initiative are a newish band, specialising in spacey rock instrumentals - likely to appeal to Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream Fans.  They don't have any CDs out yet, but you can listen to full pieces of their stunning music at: http://www.myspace.com/programinitiative

I think their appeal could be universal, and so I predict that they will be huge one day.  I found out about the band as they played near where I live twice - unfortunately I was not able to make either show, but I am hooked on the music.   They are from Southampton, England and the members are Oliver Barnett, Richard Bell, Edward Dowell and Matthew Huxted.  I don't have much information beyond this - has anyone caught one of their shows?

STOP PRESS - There is an album available entitled "Mercury (Phase 1)" available as an mp3 download from Amazon US and UK, and as a CD at gigs!  I will try to track down a copy of the latter as I don't like mp3s - I would pay for FLACs but not squashed audio.

// EUROPE / LAST LOOK AT EDEN //

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I love this album and was lucky enough to catch one of the shows promoting it.

The album starts off with just under a minute of the thrilling and moody orchestral "Prelude" before launching into the title track and single "Last Look At Eden".  Surely this has to be Europe's greatest track ever?  Yes, even greater than that song.  It dawned on me a while ago that perhaps the song "Last Look At Eden" is similar in some ways to Zeppelin's "Kashmir".  It has the same epic sweep and momentum.  Likewise "The Beast" is hard and heavy and would liven up the charts, given half a chance.  Other great tracks you will find here are "Gonna Get Ready", "Catch That Plane" (somehow reminiscent of Blue Horizon era Fleetwood Mac) and the spunky "U Devil U".  Second single "New Love In Town" is an AOR FM-friendly ballad.  The album ends on a bluesy note with "In My Time".  Except that my copy has a couple of bonus live tracks - not sure why - but why not? - "Yesterday's News" and "Wake Up Call".  All in all a monster album.

Live - well, outstanding.  Maybe even a bit over-rehearsed!  Even when there were equipment problems (bass head) the band were real troupers, with Singer Joey Tempest launching an acoustic interlude.  He is still a fantastic frontman and an accomplished guitarist in his own right.

Live in Oxford, England

The band are one of the few from the era who still play with all their original hit line-up members.  The ridiculous hair metal blonde looks have gone to be replaced by a harder image.  The playing on the album is really tight - a special mention here for drummer Ian Haugland and guitarist John Norum.  I note that singer Joey is now based in London, while the rest of the band still live in Sweden.

I like the album artwork.  My copy is a limited edition of sorts, a digipack with the two live tracks.  There is now a standard jewel case edition without the live tracks.  I haven't seen a vinyl edition anywhere, but the CD is just fine with a nice "live" and uncompressed sound.  It would be a crime to settle for a squashed mp3 version.

Digipack version with 2 live tracks

Mini album, 5 audio tracks, 3 of which live plus 1 promo video

Standard jewel case edition, no live tracks

There is also a mini-album of 5 tracks plus the promo video for the title track.  Buy that as a supplement to the main album, not as a substitute.

The tyranny of double disc editions

How many useless 2-disc sets have you got in your collection? The temptation is to always buy the "limited edition" 2CD or CD+DVD editions. But these carry a hefty premium. And often the second disc is inessential or total dross. I took a stand against the 2CD "Graffiti Soul" by  Simple Minds as I didn't want the second album which comprises lame covers of much loved songs by other artists.

 Simple Minds in their heyday

 Ronnie James Dio, R.I.P.

Sometimes there is no extra charge for the truly limited 2-disc sets like the Heaven & Hell one...now that's what I call cool.

It's A Beautiful Day double CD

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Back to '69 for the debut, eponymous album by It's A Beautiful Day coupled with their second "Marrying Maiden".  This one comes even more austerely packaged than the EMI Al Stewart double CD reviewed here.  To be fair, one cannot blame the record company for this - the packaging declares that: "Due to legal problems we are unable to reproduce the original artwork for either of the albums featured on this double CD.  However the music featured on both albums remains unchanged".  Allegedly there is a long running legal dispute with a former manager of the band.  It's a bit lazy for label Sony not to have come up some suitable artwork though.  How difficult would it have been to find a photo of the band or devise some suitable hippy art?  Surely Sony have an Art Dept?  You can find the fabulous real artwork on the net of course:

This is the iconic cover art of the first It's A Beautiful Day album.  Clearly inspired by Maxfield Parrish, rather like the Barclay James Harvest album reviewed here

 and this is the second album "Marrying Maiden"

and so is this!  I guess if you were really wicked you could print yourself some artwork to liven up the cheapo drab (almost punk) packaging that Sony have come up with.

 Current packaging is dull.

Musically, the first album is a total five-star classic.  Surely, everyone must know "White Bird", a classic San Francisco '60s groove led by David LaFlamme's violin and vocal.  Classics like "Girl With No Eyes", "Hot Summer Day" and "Wasted Union Blues" are here along with "Bombay Calling", later ripped off by Deep Purple for the song "Child In Time".

The second album is more varied and can come across as patchy.  Only four stars for this one then.  So for the double CD I reckon four and a half stars is fair.  One little secret the record company might not want you to realise is that both albums fit comfortably on one CD.  Indeed, research on the web shows that the albums have been issued in this format at least once before.  Anyway, two CDs is fine as the price is right.  I can't see this set remaining in print for long, so get it while you can.

Halo Blind - The Fabric / free downloads

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Metal Hammer gave this four and a half stars but I am going for the full five.  This band was known as Parade until recently, but too many bands with similar names have forced a change.  But I do think Halo Blind is pretty daft as names go.  This band is fronted by Chris Johnson, sometime Fish sideman.  Don't let that put you off, because he is a brilliant songwriter and frontman.  Chris is also a great guitarist.  The band boasts Anne-Marie and Gavin from Panic Room in its rather flexible line-up.  I think those two also play in Mostly Autumn, a band I am less keen on.

"The Fabric" is available from the band's website http://haloblind.com/fr_halo.cfm , where you will hear an automatic stream of the album.  There are also 3 free download tracks there - don't miss the chance to check out this great album.

The album is also available from usual retailers, although you might find copies still have the name Parade on.  But that makes them collectors items, right?

The artwork is by Adam Stanning and is impressive, except that as with the Devil's Blood album, the lyrics are not easy to read.

 This clock goes to XII...

Favourite songs for me are: "The Diamond", "All That I Wanted" and "Start Again".  The music is dreamy, timeless poppy rock, not at all what you would expect Metal Hammer to be reviewing!

Judas Priest - Nostradamus (2 CDs)

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Ah, the Folly of Judas!  A double disc concept album.  Stop laughing at the back!  But seriously, this is rather good.  I could see a dramatisation of this as a TV rock opera being a huge hit, maybe over Christmas one year.  However, this album has been a commercial flop, and talk of live performances of the album has been abandoned.  Indeed, the album seems to have sown the seeds of the band's disintegration with the announcement of KK Downing's departure.  You didn't have to be Nostradamus to see this thing coming.  Seems like it never quatrains but it pours.

Best tracks are "Prophecy" and "War" and the closing sequence of "Calm BeforeThe Storm/Nostradamus/Future Of Mankind".  It's a love it or hate it album.  It has been controversial with many fans disowning it.  With banks of synthesisers and lush orchestrations, this is not standard metal stuff.  The band were quick to follow it with a stop gap and make amends live album.  Anyway, here is the promo video:

There are two main versions of the double album: one in a standard jewel case and the other a "Limited Deluxe Edition" where the 2 CDs are contained in a beautifully illustrated 48-page hardback book.  Obviously the latter is the one to go for if you can find a copy at a reasonable price. There is also a box set with vinyl and CD versions but this is really expensive.

The Devil's Blood - The Time Of No Time Evermore

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They don't make them like this anymore.  Except they do!  A five-star album from Dutch occult metal rockers The Devil's Blood.  Probably the best live show I have ever seen.  Imagine the Blue Oyster Cult with a touch of Hawkwind, fronted by Stacia!   In a dive bar, the Underworld in London's Camden Town.  West End Girls this ain't.

The band boast 3 guitarists live.  A Strat, a Les Paul and a Flying V.  The playing here is metal, subtle and extreme, with Hendrixy/Elevators flashes.  Song titles such as "Rake Your Nails Across The Firmament", "Christ or Cocaine" and "The Anti-Kosmik Magick" indicate the nightmare ride ahead.  You can listen to songs at:
http://www.myspace.com/thedevilsblood although it must be said that the compressed versions there do no justice to the dark majesty of the CD.  Even better is their earlier release "Come, Reap" which is a 5-track EP/mini-album.  Review of that one to follow.

This clock goes to XIII...and runs backwards

True seekers can find the album in standard CD, standard and deluxe vinyl and book-bound CD editions.  I have the latter which is a beautiful item, although due to the design colours, the lyric texts are hard to decipher.  Even reading glasses don't help!  Probably best to scan the lyrics and manipulate them in a photo editor.  I'm sure they will be worth reading...

A sticker on the front of my copy quotes Classic Rock magazine: "One of the great albums of the 21st Century".  I couldn't agree more.  Indeed, I have that magazine's website to thank for my introduction to the band.  A free download of the "Come, Reap" track "The Heavens Cry Out For The Devil's Blood" had me hooked instantly.

For once, with this band, you can believe the hype.