Customer Reviews

Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 1970 release saw the band moving closer to the "classic" Van der Graaf Generator sound that was established on the follow-up album H to He, He who am the only One (1970) and brought to perfection on the incredible Pawn Hearts (1971). Although in some ways the product of a band still finding their way, this album is very enjoyable.

The heavy, at times cacophonous sound on the album is dominated largely by Peter Hammill's remarkable vocals, which range from a "heavy metal" rasp to a high-pitched "choir boy" vocal style, along with Hugh Banton's twisted/heavily distorted/churchy Hammond organ work, superb drumming by Guy Evans, and David Jackson's saxophone playing, which gets fairly free-form at times. This album did feature a full time bassist position, which was filled by Nic Potter.

I think that it is worth noting that although a great deal of this album is bleak and harsh, the piece Refugees is quite possibly the most beautifully sad composition VDGG ever wrote. Although I do enjoy the abrasive and gothic qualities of the music, Refugees is just a very nice song and one I return to again and again. There are also lighter moments on the short (4'08") track Out of my Book, which features some nice flute playing by David.

The EMI remastered album is excellent with dramatically improved sound quality that brings out the subtle nuances of each piece. Perhaps the greatest sound improvement is with Guy's drums - I can finally hear his playing and he is justifiably regarded as one of prog rock's greatest drummers. The artwork is also excellent and the detailed liner notes feature a number of publicity shots. The bonus tracks include Boat of a Million Years, and an edit of Refugees. Both tracks were released as a single in April 1970.

This album is highly recommended along with H to He, Pawn Hearts, and Still Life (1976).

I just bought and listened to the remaster of this album so I thought I'd write down my observations while the music's still ringing in my ears.

This is as Tomas said a true prog classic, the first "real" VDGG album proper... it alternates between lush, melancholic ballads like "Refugees" and "Out of My Book" and ominous, historically-referenced epics like "White Hammer" (about the Spanish Inquisition, which nobody expects, right?) and "After the Flood," about nuclear Armageddon. The remaster even adds an alternate "Refugees" and one of my personal VDGG songs, another historically-based one (this time about Horus, Osiris and Ancient Egypt) called "The Boat of Millions of Years".

My personal favorite is "Whatever Would Robert Have Said," named after Robert Van de Graaf himself...this is a perfect distillation of what this seminal, one-of-a-kind group was/is all about. Great lyrics, fantastic start/stop arrangement, and a vocal from Peter Hammill that alternates between searing and plaintive. Highly recommended and certainly to be included on any "introduction to Progressive Rock" CD you might make to introduce the uninitiated into this wild and woolly genre.

You should get this and all the other VDGG remasters ASAP...this is a highly underrated group with a tremendous influence on musicians from John Lydon to Peter Gabriel.

If you like prog rock this is a must have its a fantastic album, all songs are great my favorits are: White hammer, Refugees and After the flood. But the other songs are all fantastic yust as the singer Peter Hammils voice, he have a great voice, it may sound strange at first becaus its quite uniq but you will get yused to it and love it. the rest of the band also playes fantastic. So if you like good music, this album is for you.

I just can't get enough of Van Der Graaf Generator. So, the Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other is one of the bands earliest albums I hear? I LOVE every moment of it.

Sure, this particular album sounds dated, extremely dark because of its lyrically-dominated nature, and quite depressing because of Peter Hammill's distinctly fantastic lyric-writing talents, not to mention all those unforgettable and emotional mood shifts taking place during his constantly changing vocal range.

Why I love Peter Hammill and Van Der Graaf Generator is simple-

The keyboards are always played in a depressing or mysterious kind of way, and you almost never hear TOO many keyboard jams. They won't ever wear you out, let me put it that way. They are always played quietly and fit the mood of Hammill's lyrics. The mood the keyboards present is similar to exploring somewhere you have never been before, and approaching it with a feeling of adventure and excitement.

The keyboards always remind me of somewhere dark, like inside a cave or basement or somewhere mysterious, and the keyboards alone fit perfectly with Halloween. Other times they remind me of being somewhere in outerspace, all alone, and unsure if going back to Earth will ever be a possibility again.

The saxophone jams are sort of the opposite. They put optimistic feelings in my mind, and give me a sensation that I have the potential to escape any kind of dangerous or confusing situation if I try hard enough. They are always melodic and played tastefully. They present emotional shifts similar to Hammill's vocals.

The fact that Van Der Graaf Generator writes epic progressive rock tracks and yet they NEVER sound like a typical prog rock band speaks volumes to me. I mean, they can write a 20 minute song and make it flow soothingly, beautifully, and creatively into the next vocal range, mood shift, or sax jam, all the while keeping my complete attention the entire time. What a special band Van Der Graaf Generator is.

The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other is a great album indeed, and the songs presented on the album are completely listenable from start to finish. Just take the time to accept Peter Hammill's unusually distinct vocal style, and his emotions and lyrics are guaranteed to win you over in the long run.

The masterpiece many Van Der Gaff Generator draftees start with is Pawn Hearts, a monolith of song and dissonance.

But The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other is my favorite Generator album: one of those deep examples of early progressive rock that will make you throw your ELP albums out the window.

Listen to "White Hammer," a narrative about witch burning in middle ages Europe. The lyrics sound literate as a history text. But listen to the chord changes, particularly on the chorus: melodic and unpredictable. But on top, Van Der Gaff layers parts that work against one another harmonically, and the deep brush of organs continues until a sax solo that could be Impulse! era Pharaoh Sanders nails you to the wall.

The ability of this band to juxtapose harmony and atonality is astounding: hear the start of "Whatever Robert Would Have Said" closely, and you'll notice the chords mirror the Beatles "Eight Days A Week," but soon, the track takes off into complicated timing seizures and Peter Hamill's alto growl.

The whole album works this way, and is some of the best writing in prog, writing that separates 1970s keyboard candy from the real deal.

Luis Mejia (son) - "Don't listen when you're hustling, depressed, or with preoccupations, and if you're always in these moods, don't even bother" that's the message Hammill left us in the liner notes of VDGG first truly concrete album. But Hammill's warnings result ironic (looking further), as VDGG music always provided the bitter sides of all this feelings of angst and more, in the good way of course, but they result difficult to resist. As of this album, The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other is a quality piece in their catalogue, resulting in an obscure, crazed but truly compelling progressive rock, with an special touch in prog which none other band provided with their characteristics; the bombastic touches of alternative instrumentation, the magestic tunes mixed with the unraveling awkward melodies, if they sometimes are present, and so on. The album sounds as one of the roots of prog, truly cerebral and quite interesting by the time, but the era's influence beats every artist, as the album sounds as totally sixties revolution expression, but instead of being psychedelic, or having any kind of pop tendencies, it is insane and experimental. This is precisely why the 4 stars; the album sounds still too much sixties, it isn't until H To He Who Am The Only One when they truly explode their talent in best terms.

But still, two of the songs, which also got to be some of their most requested, get to be really impressive at any time or era; these are the opening "Darkness (11/11)", which hits to have a quality and expression that burst you in dramatic feelings, prophetic-like tell-tales, and a quiet sense of feeling in the bordeline of your mind, and their most ballad-like ever "Refugees", Which prooves that the band has a caring heart, and Peter Hammill sings it with the heart, as this is a soft-like progressive song, but the piano touches, the forgiving horns, and still a great power gives the song the most unique touch. Far from these two are their other quiete common pieces; "White Hammer" surely got some critic attention, as I consider it their most freaky one, while "Whatever Would Robert Had Said?" and "After The Flood" both have a recognizable chorus. Overall, the album introduces the band, but this will be more appreciated for those searching for prog roots, and still will keep a question mark on their minds :).

David Jackson and Hugh Banton should be of VDGG. Peter Hammil was not enough. Listen to Quiet Zone and compare it with works from The least... to The World Record. The sound making with Saxophone and Banton's organ..

The Aerosol Grey Machine, as many of you know, originally only seen the light of day as an American release on Mercury (later issued in Europe on labels like Fontana and Vertigo), intended as a Peter Hammill solo album in mind, but with returning band members, it became a VdGG album after all. Really, I don't find the album that bad, and actually worth having. But of course, the band and manager Tony Stratton-Smith was not happy with how things came to be, and got them signed to Stratton-Smith's new label Charisma. The album also received an American release on ABC/Probe, which featured a completely different cover. By this point, the band acquired bassist Nic Potter and David Jackson, giving more or less the classic lineup, and beginnings of the classic sound we all come to know and love. The results is The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other, which is the second release on Charisma (the first being the self-entitled 1969 debut from Rare Bird that featured the European hit "Sympathy"). Right away, you noticed that David Jackson really helped benefit the band's sound, with his sax and flute playing, but on a musical view, it's an excellent album, but the reason for the four star ratings is I felt the album had room for improvement, and they certainly delivered that with their next two albums! The album has the contrasts of agressive and more mellow pieces, you can notice that between "Darkness (11/11)" (written November 11, hence the 11/11 tag to it) has an aggressive sound, with strange electronic sounds (probably an oscillator) plus David Jackson's sax playing. And of course Peter Hammill's singing which is very dynamic to say the least, and little wonder he's regarded as one of the finest vocalists in the world of prog! "Refugees" is a stark contrast, being a rather mellow piece, with some cello, and mellow flute. "White Hammer" is another aggressive piece. Hammill was addressing the era of witch burnings and how it went out of control. Even the Malleus Maleficarum is mentioned in the lyrics. "Out of My Book" is a short, mellow piece leaving up to the apocalyptic epic of "After the Flood" which is no doubt the highlight of the album. This is truly one of the greatest pieces VdGG ever did, right there with "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers".

This CD also includes "The Boat of Million of Years" (non album single) and the single version of "Refugees", which is nice to have, given VdGG did release some non-album singles (such as their cover of George Martin's BBC theme, "Theme One", and "W", the former did appear on the American LP of Pawn Hearts) and very few people collect 45s (and ever fewer in the prog rock world, as many felt prog rock was much more suited for the LP), so it's great to have the non-LP material the band released at the time on CD.

The British press actually thought The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other was their debut, when it wasn't. I can't be too surprised, as The Aerosol Grey Machine at the time only had a U.S. release, and I'm sure very few copies made it into the UK at the time.

Their next two albums (H to He Who Am the Only One, Pawn Hearts) are better albums in my opinion, but of course, you're still going to need this as it still has great material.