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Music > Albums > Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts (1988) Retail CD
added on February 3, 2007, at 01:29 by allcdcovers

Named after a machine designed to produce electrical static, Van Der Graaf Generator were an extraordinary phenomenon in the British alternative music scene of the early 1970s. Bracketed together with progressive-rock bands of the time, in fact they had none of the comforting insularity and carefully structured instrumentation often associated with such music. Intense distorted organ and saxophone riffing combined with Peter Hammill's spectacularly chilling and tortured vocals (a critic referred to him as a male Nico) to produce a lacerating live sound that would have had most punk bands running out the door. In the studio they were marginally more restrained, producing music of icy beauty and twisted romanticism that combined effectively with Hammill's intricate and poetic lyrics. Pawn Hearts was the last of four albums from the first phase of their career, lasting from 1969-1971. Guitarist Robert Fripp featured on it, contributing to an even more varied sound palette and epic workouts such as the 20-minute "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers". Issued almost simultaneously with Hammill's excellent solo album Fool's Mate, within months of Pawn Hearts's release Van Der Graaf Generator had broken up, only reforming for a while in 1975 to produce another three uniquely oddball offerings. --James Swift

Back 1011 x 800 px

Front 809 x 800 px