Van Der Graaf Generator The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)

from progarchives.com

Review by Queen By-Tor

One thing I’ve always found interesting about Van Der Graaf Generator’s discography was this album. Before I even heard the record it was appealing to me for a couple reasons. It’s the black sheep – it’s not seen as anywhere near their best albums and it’s considered very strange and… It’s not even by Van Der Graaf Generator [VdGG] per se. This is an album by Van Der Graaf [VdG], as Peter Hammil decided to shorten the name since it did not feature the entire normal lineup (even if David Jackson would make guest appearances). While it’s very much considered a full-fledged VdGG album it’s very clear that they were trying to do something different here.

First and foremost the album is split in two. The two sides named respectively The Quite Zone and The Pleasure Dome are two very different entities – one focused on the lo-key and reflective, the other focused on a kind of inner madness that propels the songs. It’s also good to note that while Jackson still makes appearances they’re far and few compared to VdGG’s normal work. Brought much to the foreground of this album is the string sections and the percussions, likely to cover up for the lesser amount of Sax. This makes for a very different sounding album from the band – and it’s a nice change. This one sounds very clean and proper as opposed to their normal madness. The madness is still there, of course, but it’s smoothed over. Guitars also have a spot on here, but they’re very much in the back ground – not a lead instrument at all as we can expect from the band. The compositions are also shorter here. All of them ranging between 4 and 6 minutes, but that’s okay because they’re all very solid tunes. In terms of style this one follows close to their previous offering World Record but in a much improved from since this time around they don’t sound like a bunch of tired lackluster players but instead a band who wants to keep it lo-key for a while.

As mentioned before, the two sides are very different. The Quiet Zone features the more laid back songs, opening with the catchy Lizard Play with it’s infectious rhythm section. This is likely the biggest standout on the first side – it’s laid back pacing and sharp delivery makes for a very interesting contrast with the strings which are quite piercing. Other songs such as the melancholic The Habit Of The Broken Heart follow suite with the slow approach which works quite well – the bass becoming the driving force of the song. The Siren Song is a pretty and delicate song that starts to get heavy around the middle while Last Frame shows a bit more of that biting evil side of Hammil that we’re used to.

Moving onto the second side is where the album gets really good. But first – take everything you know about the band and throw it out the window. The band that used to make black clouds gather overhead when they played is still here – but they’ve started to pick up the pace. Cat’s Eye/Yellow Fever (Running) is a true blue VdGG masterpiece compressed into a five and a half minute song. Frantic strings make for a very fast song that will very likely catch you off guard the first time around. It’s also strange because this is almost a dancable song without becoming unlikeable. Almost a punk song turned prog this is one that has a lot of force and aggression behind it – very cool indeed. The Sphinx In The Face is another tune very much quick and unlike VdGG – catchy and almost pure rock but without the guitar. Chemical World is another very cool song – this one more to the madness of Hammil that we’re used to once again, his voice effects making for a very chilling tune.

All in all a very excellent and somewhat overlooked album. Nothing like the band in their classic era but a very worthy addition to any collection be you a fan of the band or not. Quite surprisingly accessible considering the band, in fact. A huge improvement over their previous record and unfortunately their last for a couple of decades. 4 cat’s eyes out of 5! Excellent.

Van Der Graaf Generator The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977)

From starling.rinet.ru

Aaaaaarrrggh! Bands don’t get more inconsistent than this. Just when you thought Hammill had finally managed to balance the weirdness of his lyrics with the weirdness of his music, making the former more comprehensible and meaningful and the latter more groovy and memorable, the hammer of the gods strike again. Maybe Peter thought that with World Record he started getting more commercial or something; whatever the circumstances, in between 1976 and 1977 the band went through a number of radical transformations. Banton quit, and old pal Nic Potter returned on bass; and one more member was added to the lineup in Graham Smith, whose violin is supposed to form some kind of ‘sonic opposition’ to Jackson’s saxophone. With all this, it was decided to change the band’s name, and it was shortened to Van der Graaf, with the ‘generator’ left off for good.

So far so good. This lineup’s one and only studio record was again ‘conceptual’ in character, and even if it was just one LP, it actually came out as if it were two separate albums, The Quiet Zone on one side and The Pleasure Dome on the other. It even featured two separate album covers – two “front sleeves” instead of a front one and a back one. I actually prefer the back one, but that’s not the problem with the album. The songs are also significantly shorter: so short, in fact, that it becomes possible to fit in four of them on each side (plus a mini-reprise of ‘Sphinx In The Face’ at the end). So, with all the lineup changes, the band name change, the new concept principle, and the shortened tracks, where do we head off?

In Pawn Hearts direction again, that’s where. I can’t stand this record and, like with Pawn Hearts, I only give it a six out of respect for the guy and some interesting bits and pieces that crop up occasionally. First of all, the lyrics are whacko once again – yeah, sure, it was pretty hard for Peter to keep contained, and apparently, after dropping ‘generator’, he felt free to leave the limited imagery circle of Godbluff, Still Life, and World Record and started once more revelling in an endless sea of useless graphomany.

At times I can still see the misanthropic, ‘claustrophobic’ imagery, but most of the time, he just rambles about nothing. Is this poetry? Could be, but I sense no magic in these words; Hammill can be a really clever guy when he wants to, but he’s not a crafted word-wielder like Dylan, and when he begins spouting nonsense, it only makes me puke. That said, it’s not exactly random nonsense, like the one found in ‘Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers’; nearly each of these songs seems to be telling a story, but goddammit if I can figure out the idea in any of them.

And the music? Broken and rambling. Over the last three records, we all had a fair chance to witness Hammill and company in action, as they slowly progressed in their jazzy sound, learning how to build up interesting, involving grooves, based on competent riffage and smooth, well-flowing vocal harmonies. Their songs even offended the diehard proghead so as to feature memorable melodies – something you could actually hum to yourself when the record was over. Well, thanks to the Great God of All Things Progressive, that obstacle has been safely overcome, and neither in the quiet zone nor within the pleasure dome you won’t find even a single memorable melody. The level of dissonance is dangerously high, the riffs make way for psychedelic violin solos and broken up, wimpy sax passages, and what’s even more disgusting, the guitar is out of question again (and this, after the wonderful solos on World Record).

It’s really hard for me to discuss the individual tunes, since I’m used to discussing what kind of melody and what kind of instrumentation produce what kind of emotional resonance within me – but since there are no discernible melodies, the instrumentation is bland and uniform, and the emotional resonance is universally at a zero level, I’m kinda stuck. Okay, I’m gonna make a try: ‘Lizard Play’ is pretty tolerable, due to a particularly angry, sardonic delivery from Peter, and, well, it’s the first tune on the album, after all: I admit that their sound here is rather unique, so it’s interesting to hear what they do with it for the first four minutes. But ‘The Habit Of The Broken Heart’ dissipates into rambling dust one minute after it starts, and after that it’s just disaster after disaster. The chorus harmonies in ‘The Sphinx In The Face’ (and its reprise, ‘The Sphinx Returns’) are an interesting, atmospheric idea, and ‘Chemical World’ is pretty energetic too (no it’s not eco-rock – do you think a guy as smart as Hammill would ever resort to eco-rock?). That’s about it.

For some reason, though, the record seems to be favoured by the fans and critics alike – even the All-Music Guide favoured it. Well, forget all the above – I’m probably a dumbhead who doesn’t recognize good avantgarde when he sees it. But hey, I’d say that if you wanna try out a weird record, why not concentrate on Trout Mask Replica instead? Captain Beefheart could really show this guy a trick or two (well, he probably did).