Customer Reviews

Quiet Zone / Pleasure Dome (Mlps)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Van Der Graaf reformed in '74 and cut two outstanding albums: 'Godbluff' and 'Still Life'. 'World Record', which followed, was a step down in quality, and precipitated a split; regrettably, Hugh Banton and David Jackson left. At a stroke, Peter Hammill had lost two lead instruments -- sax and organ -- together with the bass pedal and the provider of most of the effects that created such a dense sonic background for 'Pawn Hearts' several years earlier.

The result was a thin sound, which enabled Guy Evans, one of the most underrated free-jazz drummers of the 70s, to shine through. Hammill re-recruited old mate Nic Potter to provide a chunky bass sound -- and it gets very chunky indeed on parts of this album and most of the 'Vital' live album that followed. And most controversially of all, Hammill hired Graham Smith on violin. I never saw Smith play with VdGG, but I saw him perform with a previous band, String Driven Thing, and his on-stage persona was somewhat arrogant -- sort of what-am-I-doing-here-when-I-could-be-playing-classical?

Hammill's friend Robert Fripp had shown how a violin could enhance a guitar, bass and drums combo: King Crimson's RED is one of the greatest prog records of all time. But Graham Smith was no David Cross.

'Quiet Zone' was released in the midst of the punk era. It has a clean, stripped-down sound, but the songs just don't grab me. The only surprise was that it was released as a VdGG album, rather than a Hammill solo LP.

Who said the famous quote (I'm paraphrasing here) that the last thing progressive rock fans want is for their music to actually be progressive? I'm reminded of that as I skim the reviews of this CD. Basically, the negativity stems from one ridiculously obvious observation: this doesn't sound like the Van Der Graaf Generator of old. Well, surprise -- the best musicians move on to new sounds and challenges, and that's exactly what Peter Hammill does on this CD.

Hammill reinvents Van der Graaf Generator, shortening their name lest anyone think it's the same group (it's not at all) who recorded the sax and organ-drenched works of the late 60's and early 70's. The sound is lighter and more open, the compositions are tighter, shorter, but just as challenging as before. The airier production allows you to hear what marvelous musicians this new band (NOT Van der Graaf Generator) truly are. And since Hammill is no longer forced to rely on operatics and bellowing to make his point, we actually get to hear his singing in a more personable, human context. It's just as dramatic (alhtough not quite as loud) as before.

Most music fans are frightened of change. Thank the gods at least some musicians aren't. So enjoy Van der Graaf -- and also enjoy Van der Graaf Generator.

In the 2 years since I wrote this the album continues to grow on me, and I am upgrading it to 5 stars.

This album is very controversial. Some people love and some dislike it. AMG actually lists it as their pick among all the VDGG albums. Technically this is not VDGG but VDG. Hugh Banton and David Jackson had left after the previous album, taking with them the trademark organ/saxophone lead instrumentation. For this album Peter Hammill's piano and guitar move to the front, along with a violin player. Nick Potter, a previous VDGG member is brought back on bass. The result is a sound that is very different to any previous albums. Another difference is a focus on shorter songs with simpler structures. It can be argued that this really sounds more like a Peter Hammill solo album than VDGG, but it really is a one-off anomaly in his catalog. One could say that this album, along with "Nadir's Big Chance" and "Over" are transitional works between the progressive rock of VDGG and Hammill's early albums on one hand, and his work after the breakup of VDG(G) in 1978.

The album has two titles, one for each former LP side (released in 1977). The first half has shorter and simpler songs, while the latter half has somewhat more involved songs. The overall sound is more subdued, largely because of the instrumentation, but also because of Hammill's (relatively) more subdued singing. The streamlined sound does allow Hammill's lyrics to stand out more, and in most cases they are of the usual high quality.

The songs in the first half are all quite good, particularly "Last Frame" and "The Wave", which has become a concert staple. "Chemical World" is one that I like a lot, with a very striking vocal and acoustic guitar intro. "Sphinx in the Face" is pretty good, except for the falsetto chorus at the end, which irritates me (and which they unfortunately choose to bring back for a reprise at the end). Yellow Fever / Cat's Eye (Running) is a song which Hammill seems to like a lot (he named it 3 times!), since he has released several versions - I now own 4. I must say that I don't share his enthusiasm for it. A review I read commented that it sounds like Hammill was trying to do an ELO song. On this track I find the violin to be very grating, and I just don't like the song. On other tracks the violin works very well, usually playing a role roughly analogous to what David Jackson did previously.

I was initially not that impressed with this album, but I have gotten to like it a lot with repeated listenings. As with anything, it helps to approach it without preconcepttions of what it ought to be. If you listen to it as a VDGG album, or as a "prog-rock" album, you might not appreciate it. If you look at it as part of the continuum of work that Hammill has done with VDGG and solo, it fits in very well.

In a nutshell,it is not really representative of VDGG or Peter Hammill's solo work (it's probably closer to the latter). Nevertheless it's a very enjoyable album which fans will want to get.

You will not hear Van Der Graff into better form than on this gemm...OK , Godbluff and Still Life are great too, but somehow they do not sound as futuristic as on this one...When i play this to people who dont know this group the reaction is always the same...who the hell are those guys!?! and of course , they want a copy right away...do not listen to those that say this is not as "progressive" as their other stuff...What is progressive anyways? not a ton of mellotrons and old sounding instruments, i tell you that!

With the 1970's drawing to a rapid end and the onset of punk and synth pop beginning to take its toll on the more adventurous, Van Der Graaf (the "Generator" portion of the name had to be removed for legal reasons after Hugh Banton's departure) summoned up one last masterpiece of an album!

First off, the band's sound changed significantly, with the departure of organist Hugh Banton (currently enjoying a career building organs) and saxophonist David Jackson (first to truck driving, then teaching math in the British public school system and occasional solo concerts with "Tonewall"). No longer were the songs built on the heavy sax/organ riffing. Instead, piano and violin became the predominant colors in the palette, adding a more impressionistic sheen with more emphasis on melody and shifting colors, supported by the returning Nic Potter's thick fuzzy propulsive bass lines and Guy Evans just playing his heart out on his drum kit (in this writers opinion, some of his best playing is heard here).

The songs themselves are nothing less than top notch here, as Peter Hammill unleashes colorfully crafted tales of loneliness ("The Siren's Song"), longing for connection to others ("Lizard Play"), intrigue ("The Wave"), despair ("The Habit of a Broken Heart"), obsession ("Last Frame"), drugs ("Chemical World"), and shameless greed, ambition and arrogance ("The Sphynx In The Face") plus more. Not exactly happy-slappy stuff, but nonetheless very engaging.

It's hard to pick highlights, but my favorites are definitely the biting "The Sphynx In The Face" (with some particularly fierce Guy Evans drumming and more time shifts than one can count), the plaintive "Siren's Song" (could be a tearjerker) and the mysterious "The Wave". Sonically, I love the edgy and soaring violins plus the Evans/Potter rhythm section going full tilt with Hammill's assertive piano and his vocal colorings just drawing you in.

Some quibbles? Peter Hammill's real strengths are that of songwriter/vocal stylist, plus he is pretty strong on piano too. The weak part for me comes in the guitar department, he just is not a very strong or assertive 6-stringer at all. If the songs really needed guitar at all, he would've been better off to pull in a full blown guitarist to color in where needed. Have to admit too, I do miss the organ as well, but still, that in comparison to the brilliance shown here turns out to be a minor quibble.

It's not often you find a band's swan song as brilliant as this, dive in!

I certainly wouldn't slag this recording too hard -- it's a different sound that Van der Graaf fans had come to love and expect after several stunning recordings. The sax and flute of David Jackson are gone, as well as the churning organ of Hugh Banton -- but the album has its good points as well...

Peter Hammill's lyrics and vocals are more 'up-front' in this recording as a result of the sound change -- and that can't be a bad thing, with his creative talents and abilities. He's still the commander of this troup -- that's inevitable, and it's what makes Van der Graaf so unique. He could almost gather ANY imaginable group of musicians around him and produce an interesting, intelligent recording -- the varying 'sounds' of his 30-or-so solo recordings have made that clear. This album's arrangements center around his acoustic guitar and the bass of one-time VdG member and long-time pal Nic Potter, whose (well-described by another reviewer) 'chunky' style of playing adds a lot of rhythmic punch to these selections. Also as mentioned (and well-observed) by another review, the less-crowded arrangements allow the immense talents of percussionist Guy Evans to be heard and appreciated more -- he's one of the finest drummers ever to work in any area of rock.

My main problem with this recording is the presence of violinist Graham Smith. I enjoyed his work with the short-lived British prog band String Driven Thing -- but here, it seems like he's trying a little too hard to make himself the center of attention. A year or two after this album was released, I saw Peter Hammill perform in Dallas, with only Graham Smith as an accompanyist -- and Smith almost seemed to shove Hammill aside on the stage from time to time. It was rude and annoying to me and my friends -- I can only imagine how Peter felt about it.

This was Van der Graaf's penultimate recording effort -- the final one being the double-lp live album VITAL, release a year or so later, with Jackson once again appearing with his saxes and flutes, returning the ensemble to a fuller sound. QUIET ZONE is a creative, well-played outing -- but it doesn't quite rise to the level of their best work, at least for me. And that's the worst thing I can say about it, so I don't feel like I've slammed it, really.

Van Der Graaf reformed in '74 and cut two outstanding albums: 'Godbluff' and 'Still Life'. 'World Record', which followed, was a step down in quality, and precipitated a split; regrettably, Hugh Banton and David Jackson left. At a stroke, Peter Hammill had lost two lead instruments -- sax and organ -- together with the bass pedal and the provider of most of the effects that created such a dense sonic background for 'Pawn Hearts' several years earlier.

The result was a thin sound, which enabled Guy Evans, one of the most underrated free-jazz drummers of the 70s, to shine through. Hammill re-recruited old mate Nic Potter to provide a chunky bass sound -- and it gets very chunky indeed on parts of this album and most of the 'Vital' live album that followed. And most controversially of all, Hammill hired Graham Smith on violin. I never saw Smith play with VdGG, but I saw him perform with a previous band, String Driven Thing, and his on-stage persona was somewhat arrogant -- sort of what-am-I-doing-here-when-I-could-be-playing-classical?

Hammill's friend Robert Fripp had shown how a violin could enhance a guitar, bass and drums combo: King Crimson's RED is one of the greatest prog records of all time. But Graham Smith was no David Cross.

'Quiet Zone' was released in the midst of the punk era. It has a clean, stripped-down sound, but the songs just don't grab me. The only surprise was that it was released as a VdGG album, rather than a Hammill solo LP.

The creative Hammill gives us another beautiful progressive record, with an interesting lineup: drums, sax, violin, guitar. If you like progressive, go for it.

In this LP Van der Graaf takes distance from the dark visions of other greats LP (as Pawnhearts or Still Life), but the music and lirics are amazingly good. It's another side of the group, so exquisite and less sinfonic. Recommended for the lovers of rock and experimental music. If you like this, sure you'll like "The least we can do..." of VdGG.

Like all VDG, this art-prog has its flaws, but emphasis on a more restrained classical influence is appreciated, ending a noteworthy career in the genre on a distinguished, if subdued note.