Also see: Peter Hammill ~ Robert Fripp
From: drj_saro <>
> Have you ever heard about Van Der Graaf Generator (c) 1996 "Time Vaults"? I
haven't before I found it and bought yesterday. When I saw it I suspected it was
a bootleg, but in fact it's an official European release, presenting songs
recorded by Banton, Evans, Hammill, Jackson after Pawn Hearts and before
Godbluff. There are some overdubs on two songs made in 1996 by PH & DJ. I don't
remember the track list now, but these songs weren't included in any albums in
those versions. And one of them was relesed as Forsaken Gardens later. I wonder
why this album wasn't included in any official discography.
i don't think there _is_ an "official" discography, but..."Time Vaults" was
released as cassette only in 1981 by Sofa Sound (in other words, by Peter
Hammill, personally) and is material from the "lost years" of VdGG, any other
release is of questionable authenticity . (it _has_ been released on vinyl and
CD by such unscrupulous sources as Demi-Monde and ThunderBolt). i'd be curious
about the track list, particularly the songs that allegedly feature overdubs
made in 1996. the original track-list on the tape was...
1. the Liquidator 1973
2. Rift Valley 1975
3. Tarzan 1974
4. Coil Night 1975
5. Time Vaults var.
6. Drift 1972
7. Roncevaux 1972
8. It All Went Red 1971
9. Faint & Forsaken 1975
10. Black Room 1972
all tracks are from original practice tapes, but tracks 1, 2, 7 have vox dubs
and track 4 has sax dub for this (1981) release.
From: Mark Fonda <>
The book "Rocking the Classics" has many good discographies in the Appendix,
including VDGG. It lists 'Time Vaults' as #11. Here's the whole list:
1. The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969)
2. The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other (1970)
3. H to He Who Am the Only One (1970) [Guest: Fripp, guitar]
4. Pawn Hearts (1971) [Guest: Fripp, guitar]
5. Godbluff (1975)
6. Still Life (1976)
7. World Record (1976)
8. The Quiet Zone (1977)
9. Vital: Van der Graaf Live (1978)
10. Repeat Performance (1980) [Contains music from albums 2-4 and singles]
11. Time Vaults (1982) [Previously unreleased material from post-Pawn Hearts,
pre-Godbluff era]
12. First Generation (1987) [Contains music from albums 2-4 and B-sides]
13. Second Generation (1987) [Contains music from albums 5-8]
14. I Prophecy Disaster (1993) [Contains music from albums 1-9, singles]
It shows the line-ups for each too. Unfortunately, it doesn't list the labels,
the track listings or if they are available now. OK, I've got only ONE of these
(Pawn Hearts)... who has them ALL??
From: "George Khouroshvili"
<>
It seems to me that I have now, except Second Generation (1987), which doesn't
contain any rare or unreleased material, and Repeat performance (1980). I wonder
if the last one contains some rare tracks, if not - my VDGG official collection
is complete. I think that our "Chameleon (In the shadow of the night)" has this
information, do you?
From: From: drj_saro <>
i have all of these, all of Hammill's solo albums, all of the Long Hello's, all
of Nic Potter's solo albums, all of David Jackson's solo albums, and everything
that i have been able to find with Guy Evans drumming. <>.
From: drj_saro <>
i no longer have my copy of Repeat Performance (traded it away), but if i
remember correctly it did have "w" and "The Boat of Millions of Years" which
were singles-only releases, but can now both be found on "I Prophesy Disaster"
CD-compilation. there was another Charisma Compilation called 68-71, that had a
slightly different track-list to RP, but as far as i can remember it had "w" and
"Theme One" as the *bonus* tracks (and no "Boat").
From: "Alejandro
=?iso-8859-1?Q?Gonz=E1lez?=" <>
I have acquired some weeks ago _Pawn Hearts_, by VDGG, and this is really fine
'dark prog'. The lyrics are splendid, and particulary poignant:
?I've seen the smiles on dead hands, the stars shine, but they're not for
me. I prophesy disaster and then I count the cost... I shine but, shining,
dying, I know that I am almost lost. On the table lies blank paper and my tower
is built on stone I only have blunt scissors, I only have the bluntest home...
I've been the witness, and the seal of death lingers in the molten wax that is
my head. When you see the skeletons of sailing-ship spars sinking low You'll
begin to wonder if the points of all the ancients myths are solemnly directed
straight at you...?
This is in the apocalyptic vein of _Epitaph_, isn't it?: ?But I fear
tomorrow I'll be crying?. Yet, even if denied, even if lost, it is innocence
that shines as the only desirable thing in these songs: they are not cynical at
all (I am more dubious about ?One of these days I am going to cut you into
little pieces? :-)).