The Aerosol Gray Machine
| The Aerosol Gray Machine | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van der Graaf Generator's studio album | ||||
|
Publication |
1969 |
|||
| Label (s) | Mercury | |||
|
Format (s) |
LP, CD |
|||
|
Progressive rock |
||||
|
Title (number) |
10 |
|||
| occupation |
|
|||
|
John Anthony |
||||
|
Studio (s) |
Trident and Marquee Studios, London |
|||
|
||||
The Aerosol Gray Machine (1969) is the first album by the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator . The original LP included five tracks per side, including Afterwards , which was released as a single , and Octopus , which remained in the live repertoire until the band split up in 1972.
The Aerosol Gray Machine was formed at a time when the band had formally split up. Peter Hammill , who was under contract with Mercury Records , brought the former band members into the studio to record a solo album; Mercury agreed to release him from the contract (apparently not very advantageous for Hammill) if in return the record was released under the name Van der Graaf Generator.
Most of the album was recorded within two days in mid-1969 with only a few overdubs ; Compared to the successor The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other , the instrumentation is accordingly rather sparse, with Hammill's guitar often in the foreground. Only Octopus is reminiscent of the “typical VdGG sound” with an extended instrumental passage , Hugh Banton's bombastic organ and Hammill's wild vocals.
The Aerosol Gray Machine was originally only released in the United States, where the band was completely unknown. It wasn't until 1975 that the album was officially released in England.
Track list
- Afterwards - 4'58 "
- Orthenthian St (Part I) - 2'23 "
- Orthenthian St (Part II) - 3'53 "
- Running Back - 6'32 "
- Into a Game - 6'56 "
- Aerosol Gray Machine - 0'56 "
- Black Smoke Yen - 1'18 "
- Aquarian - 8'27 "
- Necromancer - 3'30 "
- Octopus - 7'41 "
(An early edition of the LP was a mispressing, and contained Giant Squid instead of Necromancer , but only Necromancer was mentioned on the LP sleeve .)
In 1997 two CD versions were released: the first on the German label Repertoire (with the first VdGG single People You Were Going To / Firebrand as bonus tracks), the second on Hammill's label Fie! with Giant Squid and a previously unreleased version of Ferret & Featherbird (a song he re-recorded for his solo album In Camera in 1974. ) However, Hammill added both songs as part of the album, and changed the original order of the tracks for it. He also connected the two parts of Orthenthian St into one piece using a crossfade.