H to He Who am the Only One by Van Der Graaf Generator (1970)

There was once a day when all the most interesting bands had to be searched for in obscure record shops frequented by smelly hippies and their marijuana smoke. Actually there was once a day when there were interesting bands. So I guess as a result you’d still find the best music in the same place

Van Der Graaf Generator were one of those obscure, but great, bands. Of course by listening to them you’ll soon realise why they were obscure. In fact there’s quite a high chance you won’t get into them at all, their music is quite thick. But if you do you’ll love them.

How thick exactly is their music? They sound a bit like Genesis done really heavy. Or maybe like Black Sabbath without any guitar. Or maybe King Crimson but at a human speed. Well really, it’s all of them. And then again it’s none, since this was back when originality was cherished.

Their sound was completely unique, combining drummer Guy Evans, organist Hugh Banton, sax-man David Jackson and crazy vocalist Peter Hammill who could rival both Ozzy Osbourne and Peter Gabriel. There were no strings at all. Actually this album does have strings in the form of two guest musicians, Robert Fripp (of King Crimson) and Nic Potter (of noone really), but neither has a pronounced effect on this album.

The impact of this group is ugly. Horribly ugly even. The keyboards are about as heavy as those instruments could get; the drums are hit randomly and without precision, and the saxophones are one of the most menacing things you’ll ever hear. As far as ugly music goes though, it’s very good.

In fact, I’ve just described every song on this album (if not every song they ever made). This isn’t a band renowned for its diversity (it isn’t really renowned for anything but we’ll ignore that). Each song is quite dynamic, although these dynamics can get tired pretty easily because of their repetition.

All of the songs alternate between Peter Hammill’s screaming vocals and David Jackson’s screaming saxophones. From a technical perspective these are terrible, but if you think that you’ve missed the point.

You see, the songs on this album are a lot like Bob Dylan’s Masters of War in feel (although not really in any other respects at all). Peter Hammill’s voice draws you in, and you can feel for him, trapped if you will, inside the heavy dystopian soundscape presented by his backing musicians. As such the “bad” musicianship is necessary.

Once again, the sound is almost unlistenable, but you do owe yourself to listen to it at least once (unless you can’t stand this kind of music at all). And the best way to do that, really, is to listen to H to He Who am the Only One. This album represents a certain peak, since the band had just found their sound, and they hadn’t completely run it into the ground like they would over the following eight years.

~ by Draco N. Slayer on 31 May, 2007.