Godbluff

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Godbluff
Van der Graaf Generator's studio album

Publication
(s)

1975

Label (s) charisma

Format (s)

LP, MC, CD

Genre (s)

Progressive rock

Title (number)

4th

occupation

production

Van der Graaf generator

Studio (s)

Rockfield Studios, Monmouthshire

chronology
Pawn Hearts
(1971) 		Godbluff Still Life
(1976)

Godbluff (1975) is the fifth album by the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator , the first of the second generation and at the same time the most successful of all. The album contains four tracks: The Undercover Man and Scorched Earth on the A-side and Arrow and The Sleepwalkers on the B-side.

When they made their comeback, Peter Hammill's band was much calmer and less confused than they were with Pawn Hearts four years earlier . The Undercover Man begins with a whisper, accompanied by a very calm intro that slowly increases in a crescendo . The main instruments are flute , Hammond organ and drums with a calm beat . Saxophone and guitar are only used in the course of the piece. In terms of content, the piece is again about rejected love, fantasies and (false) hope.

Scorched Earth begins much more powerfully with organ, keyboard, saxophone and drums, which are also the main instruments of the piece. The content is about how you slowly lose your mind and fall into the trap of madness.

Arrow is again a piece that begins quite calmly; drums and bass play at the beginning, which are quickly joined by David Jackson's saxophone playing and Hammill's heavily modified keyboard, before the first vocal passage begins. Finally, the piece escalates into a musical cry for help, as we already know from Pawn Hearts . In terms of content, it is about the feelings and fears of a war in which one is.

The Sleepwalkers starts quite impulsively with drums and organ, after the beginning of the vocal passage the saxophone joins in, which later becomes the main instrument. An interesting element is a built-in “dance passage”. Here, too, the content is the dream of a past love that never existed.

Overall, Godbluff is a work that has kept little of the obscurity of Pawn Hearts . The four tracks are all very solid, which is why the album was described as a successful comeback by the critics. The album looks gloomy, but is nowhere near as strenuous as its predecessor, which should explain the great success. A live concert recording in Charleroi 1975 is available on DVD .

Track list

  1. The Undercover Man - 7:25
  2. Scorched Earth - 9:48
  3. Arrow - 9:45
  4. The Sleepwalkers - 10:31

Web links