Released October 1975 Release date October 1975 | Length 37:29 | |
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Similar Van der Graaf Generator albums, Progressive rock albums | ||
godbluff uk charisma cas 1109 vinyl van der graaf generator
Godbluff is the fifth album released by English progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. It was the first disc after the band reformed in 1975 and was recorded after a European tour.
Contents
- godbluff uk charisma cas 1109 vinyl van der graaf generator
- V d g g godbluff 01 the undercover man
- Cover
- Track listing
- Bonus tracks on CD reissue
- Response
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
As the first self-produced album by the band, it featured a tighter, more pared-down sound than the band's earlier recordings with John Anthony. Hammill said "we did not want to make 'Son of Pawn Hearts' with a big long side two and lots of studio experiments". Van der Graaf Generator would never work with an outside producer from this point forward. Hammill made extensive use of the Hohner Clavinet D6 keyboard, which he had first using on his previous solo album, Nadir's Big Chance.
The first release of the record in the United States was on Mercury Records. The 2005 reissue added live performances by the band of two songs from Peter Hammill's album The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage (1974), recorded at a concert at L'Altro Mondo, Rimini, Italy.
V d g g godbluff 01 the undercover man
Cover
Godbluff's album cover was minimal, consisting of a band logo and "stamped" red album title on an otherwise black sleeve. The band logo that first appeared here was designed by John Pasche; it would also be used on the next two albums, Still Life and World Record. Godbluff's sleeve design was later parodied on the cover of Fall Heads Roll by The Fall.
Track listing
All tracks written by Peter Hammill, except where indicated.
Bonus tracks on CD reissue
- "Forsaken Gardens" – 7:58
- "A Louse Is Not a Home" – 12:47
- Both recorded live at L'altro Mondo, Rimini, Italy on 9 August 1975
Response
Initial reception was very positive. In Melody Maker, the reviewer said that "in a very real sense, [Godbluff] is the sound of the mid-seventies: uncomfortable, coherent, unremitting, courageous." Geoff Barton of Sounds deemed Godbluff "simply, an essential buy."
A negative review appeared in the Lancashire Evening Post, in which Bob Papworth wrote that "Godbluff is a lengthy exhibition of the type of studiously avant-garde rock which so many other groups play infinitely better." Papworth added that "Guy Evans couldn't drum his way out of a paper bag and David Jackson's saxes and flutes are a little too simplistic to be credible."
In his AllMusic review, Steve McDonald wrote: ".. the album opened with daring quietness, with David Jackson's flute echoing across the stereo space, joined by Hammill's voice as he whispered the opening lines. There was sturm und drang to come, but the music had been opened up and the lyrics had developed more focus, often abandoning metaphor in favor of statement. Godbluff was a bravura comeback - only four cuts, but all were classics."
Julian Cope has said Godbluff was "every inch a classic", and that Van der Graaf Generator "[had] the best reformation ever".
Personnel
Songs
1The Undercover Man7:25
2Scorched Earth9:49
3Arrow9:46