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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
New-Found Obsession, September 29, 2005
I berate myself for waiting ten odd years after I heard of these guys for buying an album. After twenty years of being an on-again, off-again prog fan (to be "prog" is an ambivalent phenomenon in this world!), I broke down and checked these guys out. Know what? There has never been an album like this by any band. This captures a band at the height of their powers and emotions. Peter Hammill sounds like he's going to crawl into your skin. David Jackson is the Rahsaan Roland Kirk of rock. Millions upon millions of people who think they know rock (including myself) have been missing out on something without comparison for years and years now (with the exception of the Italians and the French who propelled this to number one in their countries in the day).
If you are a progressive rock fan, you will lose your mind over this one. As good as anything King Crimson ever did, if not better. A whole different experience than Yes (the lyrics are about obsession instead of transcendence, the music fit-inducing instead of euphoria-inducing). They share the prolonged keyboard excursions of ELP, but Hammill & Co. actually do free jazz whereas ELP were a little too "polished" for that. Jethro Tull, Genesis, Hawkwind . . . all the bigger prog names. _Pawn Hearts_ surpasses most anything any of them ever did.
I've bought three other of their albums on an impulsive week-long spree. None of them live up to the manic magic of this one, but still VDGG will stick in your head no matter what you hear of them. They are completely their own entity.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A remarkable album that is not for the faint of heart, July 27, 2006
Released in 1971, this album is regarded by many fans as the finest material VDGG ever recorded. I certainly share this enthusiasm and Pawn Hearts ranks right up there with my top ten prog albums of all time. Ever. This is difficult listening however, and themes of despair and paranoia abound, which are wonderfully brought to life in all of their twisted glory with Peter Hamill's anguished lyrics.
The members of the band at this point included the classic VDGG lineup: Hugh Banton (Hammond E&C organs, Farfisa professional organ, piano, mellotron, ARP synthesizer, bass pedals, bass guitar, and vocals); Peter Hammill (lead vocals, acoustic and slide guitar, electric piano, and acoustic piano); superb drummer Guy Evans; and David Jackson (flute, tenor/alto/soprano saxophones). All of the musicians are very good with Guy being an exceptional drummer - just like all of the other remastered VDGG albums, the subtle intricacies of his drumming really come across. The ensemble work is also pretty good too. Before I forget, Robert Fripp (of King Crimson) contributed a tiny bit of electric guitar here and there - it's barely noticeable though.
Now for my favorite part - the music. The album is comprised of two longer pieces (11'39" and 10'22") with the massive 23'05 multimovement suite A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers as the centerpiece. The music is, for the most part, harsh and unyielding with only the briefest moments of reprieve. Hugh's alternately twisted and churchy organ work really drives each piece along, with Dave's angular and jagged sax work slashing through each piece like so many shards of broken glass. OK, maybe that last bit is a little over the top, but it is not far from the truth. Although the music is very heavy, there are a few quieter and haunting moments. The introduction to Man Erg comes to mind as the best example, although those moments (albeit fleeting moments) are pretty much scattered across the album. Last but not least, is Peter Hammill's incredible and very distinctive vocal delivery. He had developed a vocal style over the course of three albums that ranged from a heavy metal rasp to a high pitched falsetto "choir boy" vocal style and it is brought to perfection on this album. He also screams/rants during certain frenzied passages on the feverish closing track, A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers. Although some people feel that his vocal style is overly theatrical I have to admit that I absolutely love it - In fact, I am of the opinion that VDGG would not be VDGG without Peter Hammill.
The EMI remastered album is incredible and features restored cover art and band publicity photos/live shots along with an extraordinary improvement in the sound quality. The improvement is so great that it is like listening to a completely different recording - every nuance is brought out and you can even hear subtle synthesizer effects and percussion parts that had previously gone unheard. The liner notes include all of the lyrics along with a ton of informative liner notes. The bonus tracks are also really good too (well, maybe the dinner time jazz of Ponker's Theme is not so great) and are outtakes from the 1971 Pawn Hearts sessions. I think that of all the bonus tracks, Diminutions is the most interesting because it is so unlike VDGG. It is very spacey and consists simply of long, drawn out passages on synthesizers and organ over a period of six minutes or so - in fact it sounds more like electronic artists such as Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze.
Well I have gushed over this incredible album long enough, although I could easily go on for another 20 pages. Suffice it to say that this is VDGG's finest recorded moment and is very highly recommended along with H to He, He who am the Only One (1970) and Still Life (1976).
One more thing - this was the last album VDGG released before regrouping and releasing Godbluff in 1975.
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Lighthouses Might House The Key", December 8, 2005
VDGG offered up a unique blend of "regular" symphonic prog, like labelmates Genesis, and a much harder, almost metallic-edged version of prog more akin to King Crimson. One minute the acoustic guitar, piano and Peter Hammill's dramatic vocals are lulling you into bliss and the next minute Hugh Banton's ferocious Hammond and Dave Jackson's skronking multi-tracked (and sometimes multi-played!) saxes are blasting you out of your seat.
Pawn Hearts was their first full album without a full-time bass player, which goes virtually unnoticed given Banton's fluency with the bass pedals of his Hammond, and the skill of drummer Guy Evans in filling in the rhythms. Often cited as VDGG's best record, Pawn Hearts does not in any way disappoint. Several years before Yes did Close to the Edge, VDGG set the template here with two long songs and one huge, glorious side-long epic, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers," one of the must-have prog epics. This re-issue has 20 minutes of bonus material, including alternate takes of the "Theme One"/"W" single. The wonderfully concise "Theme One", written by Beatles producer George Martin, is a real keeper. In an era when things like "Classical Gas" and "Hocus Pocus" could be hit singles, it's amazing to me that this tight, tuneful little prog instrumental wasn't a huge hit.
The rest of the bonus tracks are culled from an aborted second album that was supposed to make Pawn Hearts a 2-record set, as is "Squid/Squid/Octopus" on the H to He reissue. Mostly experimental tracks by the band members who didn't get much chance to write, they are interesting but prove just how invaluable Hammill's writing and vocals were to the band.
VDGG could be very harsh and aggressive and just plain loud, and some people find Hammill's vocals overly melodramatic (those people would be wrong) but to me, this band epitomized prog at it's best. Their musicianship, awesome sense of dynamics and headstrong experimentalism put them at the top of the prog heap. Then there was the band's "signature," when Hammill would phrase along directly with the band. They did this often and those are my favourite moments on their albums. Listen for it here, on "Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" during the "Presence of the Night" section! While this band's entire discography is recommended, this one may just live up to the hype as their very best (just don't ask me when I'm listening to H to He!)
This reissue series was personally supervised by the group, and all contain scrapbook-style booklets with liner notes, pictures and lyrics. My one complaint is that the vintage magazine articles are printed so small that you can't read them. The remastering is revelatory given the dodgy original production of these early-70's recordings. Pawn Hearts is outstanding and highly recommended.
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