the strawberry bricks' album of the day

Album of the Day (237):
album cover

Van Der Graaf - Vital (July 1978)
Van Der Graaf ended their last tour with a few nights in early January at London's Marquee Theatre. The band was now a five piece, the same quartet that recorded the prior year's The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Zone, plus the addition of Charles Dickie on cello. Those recordings made the basis of this, the final installment from VDGG, offering more of the chaos and less of the control that marked their music. "Ship of Fools" sets the tone. Peter Hammill's playing electric guitar; nothing subtle here, he's got as much grace as a steamroller. "Still Life" follows and literally explodes, with Guy Evan's drumming mixed high up on the right channel and Nic Potter's overdriven bass in the left. Gone are the delicacies of Hugh Banton and David Jackson (though the latter makes a guest appearance) for a full frontal assault. If you get through Graham Smith's screeching intro, "Last Frame" is one of the more successful translations on the album. The same isn't always true for the older VDGG material, though "Pioneers Over C" holds together fairly well. The double-album even contains some new material; well suited for the quintet, it's about as raw as Hammill's music would ever get. "Door" spins out of control underneath Evan's ever-increasing tempo, while "Urban" reprises a bit of "Killer". Fittingly, the punk "Nadir's Big Chance" closes the show. The album was mixed the following month at Foel and given to Charisma in hope that it would balance their finances with the label. By the time of the release though, Hammill had already spent the majority of the year on tour with Graham Smith (including his first U.S. dates) and recorded his seventh solo album, ph7. Thus, Vital remains Van Der Graaf Generator's swan song, warts and all.