Best Van Der Graaf Generator Song On That Unimpeachable Triptych

Man-Erg, boringly.

For me, being brutal, it's between Man-Erg, APOLK, Scorched Earth, The Sleepwalkers, La Rossa and Childlike Faith, and that's still a choice of six

btw if you're voting Arrow can you please state that this is the case on this thread; there's a certain sockpuppet army I'm wary of

No sign of the package L?

Not yet!

I completely disagree with the basic premise of this poll. Pawn Hearts was the last album the group recorded before they split up in 1972. They reformed in 1975 with a much leaner and less baroque sound. There is no "triptych" consisting of Pawn Hearts, Godbluff and Still Life. If you wanna think in terms of groups of three, it only makes sense to have Least We Can Do, H to He and Pawn Hearts as one group and Godbluff, Still Life and World Record as the other. So even though I'm probably the biggest PH/VdGG fan on this board, I can't vote in this poll or the other one.

I don't care if you poll this but I would agree that those earlier albums are just as good. Seems weird to discount them.

guys its louis, you dont expect him to have a clue

And mares nest i got mine, thanks!

Good News! Ta PFB.

btw if you're voting Arrow can you please state that this is the case on this thread; there's a certain sockpuppet army I'm wary of

No idea what you're talking about, but I voted for Arrow.

voted "The Sleepwalkers".

curiously, although my next 4 Van der Bangers are "Still Life", "La Rossa", "My Room (...)" and "Childlike Faith In Childhood's End" (not neccessarily in that order), I nevertheless give Godbluff the edge (just barely) over Still Life as an album, probably because I slightly prefer the flow/production/performance of the former, despite the amazing songwriting on the latter.

hey anagram - i know they were different incarnations of the band! it's a subjective poll and you don't have to vote, but it's not based around the 'accepted' trilogies, it's based around what i perceive as a band finding their apex, splitting, reforming, instantly recapturing and even amplifying what made them great, then tailing off a bit. a sort of two-part eye of the storm, if you will. that's how their career arc reads to me.

full disclosure: i actually thought of the other poll FIRST, then realised if i did that one i'd have to do this one too

happy christmas louis

it's been a vdgg christmas! been pretty much unable to listen to anything else. hope you took the sockpuppet jibe in good spirits *hic* god i've been drinkinggggg

i did, but mainly as i have none! anyway isnt this like your 3rd account... ;)

yeah but i don't use the others any more honest!

god i mostly started these polls so i could vote for 'masks' in the other one...what an underappreciated song that is

it's based around what i perceive as a band finding their apex, splitting, reforming, instantly recapturing and even amplifying what made them great, then tailing off a bit. a sort of two-part eye of the storm, if you will. that's how their career arc reads to me

Yeah but see that's not how it happened at all. You need to look at the pre- and post-split albums in the context of what happened during the split, i.e. Hammill reactivating his solo career. While VdGG were on hiatus Hammill threw himself into solo work and made four incredible albums which travelled from Pawn Hearts-like prog epics to musique concrete and then proto-punk. On all but one of those four the other members of VdGG were the musicians, so they were part of that journey as well. It's not like VdGG laid down their instruments for three years and then picked up where they left off. The post-split VdGG albums refer back to those solo records more than they do to the pre-split VdGG albums. The whole thing is a continuum.

I guess this is what happens when you find out about a band 30 years after the fact and decide that what's on paper is what you should go by. These are the three essential VdGG albums IMO, but as you say, there's more to VdGG than is listed under their name.

I should also listen to Hammill solo.

Now choose your favourite song of these songs, dude :P

well since you asked :) Voted "Childlike Faith...", cos it says pretty much everything about the universe that music can possibly say.

Oh man, if you like VdGG but haven't heard Hammill solo, then you're in for a treat. Start with The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage and In Camera, then double back to Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night. Then you're ready for Over, which is pretty much the most gut-wrenching thing he ever did...

Yar that closing 'naked to the galaxies' bit is like the epic-est shit ever, although the closing tracks of all 3 albums reach a point where shit is impossibly epic. Still no idea what to vote for. La Rossa was the traditional favourite but I've kinda hit it big with the others recently.

Well, Hammill's solo stuff is all out there on S*****y! It sounds like there's a helluva lot of great stuff to dig into. Will examine...

Also, MaresNest, I just this minute received both your delivery AND the complete Fall Peel Sessions!

Suddenly I've got an awful lot of things to listen to. THERE IS TIME

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I have no problem with the premise of this poll and I'm voting "Childlike Faith" but I wish I could vote for all of them.

Yeah, I plumped for La Rossa in the end, but this music, all of it, is wondrous. In fact, I put these three albums top of my alternative 70's poll ballot. Sincerely, not tactically. This band is in my head.

man-erg but i don't have/haven't heard still life so my vote is fraudulent

i don't need to say anything here, really

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Good job I voted, then, otherwise "Man-Erg" would have had it (which I love, except for the "How can I be free" section, which is horrible)

APOLK deserved a vote :(