Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Van Der Graaf Generator
Label: Sofa Sounds
Released: 1982
Running time: 45:18
Rating: 2.5/5
During their long hibernation between 1978 and 2005, English prog-rock titans Van Der Graaf Generator only a few times decided to put out previously unreleased rarities, the kind of stuff fans could only guess about back in the days before the internet. »Time Vaults« is the best-known collection of this sort, a batch of demos that first came out on cassette in 1982 and then on CD ten years later. It features pieces recorded between 1972 and 1974. That was the period when the band was ‘frozen’ and its ‘head’, meaning singer, guitarist, composer and poet Peter Hammill, threw himself into his solo career, while the rest of the classic VDGG lineup kept busy with the side project The Long Hello.
Plenty of VDGG fans still agree today that the stretch between »Pawn Hearts« (1971) and »Godbluff« (1975) is missing at least one ‘transitional’ studio album. Well, the classic lineup didn’t exactly sit idle during the breakup either, and they recorded quite a bit of new material together, most of which never got a proper sonic or arrangement upgrade. A few of these pieces were heavily rearranged and came out under different titles on later VDGG and Hammill solo albums. Sadly, most of the »Time Vaults« recordings are of pretty poor sound quality, which is the main reason VDGG never put them out as bonus tracks on reissues of the old albums, with the exception of »Black Room«, which came out in a rearranged form on Hammill’s second solo album »Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night« (1973). Some other unfinished compositions, like »Faint And Forsaken«, showed up in upgraded versions on Hammill’s albums »The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage« and »In Camera« (both from 1974).
The best thing on this collection of unfinished obscurities, and also the only finished one, is without a doubt the opening burst of energy »The Liquidator«, an achievement that’s unusually melodic by VDGG standards, with a totally atypical, upbeat mood and a direct message. In his barbed lyrics, Hammill takes aim at the media of the day, which feasted like vultures on the band’s (temporary) second breakup. All the other tracks, apart from the aforementioned »Black Room« and »Ronceveaux«, which has good potential, don’t leave much of an impression, since amid the poor sound quality it’s mostly unfinished improvisations and group jams, plus a few half-formed ideas, like the short, playful instrumental »Tarzan« and »Coil Night«, which is an interesting experiment mainly because it has Hammill on bass and reed man David Jackson on piano, which was highly unusual. The instrumentals, without Hammill’s lyrics, never shake the feeling of being unfinished, while the biggest muddled ‘mess’, with neither head nor tail, is the title track, a rather grotesque collage of various unfinished ideas.
»Time Vaults« is a collection of unfinished rarities and obscurities, meant first and foremost for the most devoted VDGG fans, who won’t be bothered by the poor sound quality of the collected demos or the odd half-baked songwriting idea. The band surely wasn’t thrilled with how this compilation came out, but these demos would have seen the light of day sooner or later anyway, if only with the dawn of the ‘internet era’. With better sound treatment, a few touch-ups and some beefed-up arrangements, »Time Vaults« could have been a pretty interesting album, but as it stands, »The Liquidator« is the only track that’s in its ‘final form’ and truly worthy of the band’s name. Listeners will find far more answers about how the ‘missing’ record between »Pawn Hearts« and »Godbluff« might have sounded by listening to the first album by The Long Hello and to Hammill’s solo work from this period.
Line-up
Peter Hammill – vocals, guitar, piano, bass guitar
David Jackson – saxophone, piano
Hugh Banton – organ, bass
Guy Evans – drums
Production
Van Der Graaf Generator
Track list
1. The Liquidator (5:24)
2. Rift Valley (4:40)
3. Tarzan (2:09)
4. Coil Night (4:12)
5. Time Vaults (3:33)
6. Drift (I Hope It Won’t) (2:40)
7. Roncevaux (6:55)
8. It All Went Up (4:07)
9. Faint and Forsaken (2:45)
10. Black Room (8:52)
