The greatest prog band for me, they have so many great songs so I hope you get to hear them a lot more. You should also check out Peter Hammill's solo work which often includes his VDDG comrades.
I'm so glad that I finaly find someone that feels that piece like we where at the time -in 1975- (I was twenty) SSSSo fuckted up on mescaline during a snow storm. It was sssso weird but so good. I love you man.
Hammill's lyrics are my favorites amongst all rock writers. He helped me through my life, thanks to his words and approach of life. For me too one of my top trio bands (the others being Gentle Giant and Yes).
Same here. "Take away the threat of death and all you're left with is a round of make-believe; marshal every sullen breath and though you're ultimately bored by endless ecstasy that's still the ring by which you hope to be engaged to marry the girl who will give you forever - that's crazy, and plainly it simply is not enough."
APoLK is one of the peaks of human imaginary, creativity, expression of the emotions, painting with the music, simply human genius... One can dislike this track, but noone can say it's not creative... Sadness. insanity, madness and hope all of this is visualized with music.
Great reaction! The whole album blew my mind on first listen back in the day, it really took my prog exploring to a whole new level. Finish the album then head for 'H to He, Who am the Only One' and 'Godbluff' next, amazing stuff! I also agree on Jeanine and Friederike's recommendation of Magma's 'Theusz Hamtaahk' in the comments here for some more intense stuff, Magma are absolutely on another level. And if you want it all black, go for Univers Zero's 'Heresie', another incredible dark band!
Jackson fed his electric sax through effects pedals to get the sounds he wanted, often playing Alto and Tenor at the same time. All things are A Part, All things are Apart...
Well done for a freshman! 😊 I'd suggest "The Sleepwalkers" next if you want to check out some more VdGG. (And yes: the apart/a part thing is very intentional. That's where your personal interpretation of the song has to enter the stage: transcendence or suicide or both or neither.)
A huge shame that Spotify screwed the last few seconds for you but great to watch you experience this impressive track (side in old fashioned terms). What has happened recently to cause this up swell of interest in VDG?
Still waiting for my saviour, storms tear me limb from limb; my fingers feel like seaweed...I'm so far out I'm too far in. I am a lonely man, my solitude is true, my eyes have borne stark witness and now my nights are numbered, too.
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 witnessand 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...
No time now for contrition, the time for that's long past, the walls are thin as tissue and if I talk I'll crack the glass. So I only think on how it might have been, locked in silent monologue, in silent scream.
I am much too tired to speak and as the waves crash on the bleak stones of the towerI start to freak and find that I am overcome....
(S.H.M.)
"Unreal, unreal" ghost helmsmen scream and fall in through the sky, not breaking through my seagull shrieks -no breaks until I die. The spectres scratch on window-slits, the hollowed faces and mindless grins are only intent on destroying what they've lost.
I crawl the wall till steepness ends in the vertical fall; my pail has sailed into the sea -no joking hopes at dawn. White bone shine in the iron-jaw mask, lost mastheads pierce the freezing dark and parallel my isolated tower... no paraffin for the flame, no harbour left to gain.
(Presence of the night / Kosmos tours)
'Alone, alone' the ghosts all call, pinpoint me in the light. The only life I feel at all is the presence of the night.
Would you cry if I died? Would you catch the final words of mine? Would you catch my words? I know that there's no time, I know that there's no rhyme, false signs find me. I don't want to hate, I just want to grow; why can't I let me live and be free? ...but I die very slowly alone.
I know no more ways, I am so afraid, myself won't let me just be myself and so I am completely alone.
The maelstrom of my memory is a vampire and it feeds on me; now, staggering madly, over the brink I fall.
((Custard's) Last stand)
Lighthouses might house the key but can I reach the door?
I want to walk on the sea so that I may better find a shore; but how can I ever keep my feet dry? I scan the horizon, I must keep my eyes on all parts of me.
Looking back on the years it seems that I have lost my way: lLike a dog in the night I have run to a manger, now I am the stranger I stay in. Ah, well.
All of the grief I have seen leaves me chasing solitary peace; But I hold experience in my head. I'm too close to the light,. I don't think I see right, for I blind me.
(The clot thickens)
Where is the God that guides my hand? How can the hands of others reach me? When will I find what I grope for? Who is going to teach me? I am me / me are we / we can't see any way out of here. Crashing sea, a trophied history: chance has lost my Guinevere...
I don't want to be one wave in the water but sea will drag me deep: one more haggard drowned man.
I can see the lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man. Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may?
(Land's end (Sineline) / We go now)
Oceans drifting sideways, I am pulled into the spell, I feel you around me, I know you well. Stars slice horizons where the lines stand much too stark; I feel I am drowning - hands stretch in the dark.
Camps of panoply and majesty, what is Freedom of Choice? Where do I stand in the pageantry, whose is my voice? It doesn't feel so very bad now, I think the end is the start, begin to feel very glad now: ^All things are a part All things are apart All things are a part.* You need to read the lyrics with the music...Hammill is far too complex to just drink in...But; you're decades too late...
I think the apart/a part might have something to do with the artistic ideas surrounding the sublime. Nature is something you might consider to fulfill this particular duality.
Nope...It has to do with how REALITY exist...All things are "A Part" ( meaning that, all which we know, is intrinsically linked) and All things are "Apart" ( meaning; that while all of "this" is intrinsically linked; it's still totally unique and separate)
We suggest you listen to "Theusz Hamtaahk" by Magma. Magma are considered to be progressive rock; however, they actually created a completely new style of music called "Zeuhl". The French/German TV-channel ARTE that broadcasted a feature about them last year described "Zeuhl" as a mixture of jazz, rock, classical, modern avant-garde, rhythm'n'blues, metal and world music. But that's not all; Magma also invented the language they sing in which is called "Kobaïan". They claim they come from the future and from the planet Kobaïa, a planet mankind will exile to in the future because they destroyed planet earth ecologically. "Theusz Hamtaahk" means "Time of Hatred" in Kobaïan. There is no studio version of "Theusz Hamtaahk", but Magma are best experienced live anyway. Being at a Magma concert is a spiritual experience. It's not only we who say this; many people who were at a Magma concert say this. Here a link to a live performance of "Theusz Hamtaahk" from their 30th anniversary concert. The video is over 36 minutes long. You can skip the first 90 seconds though; they just show the band backstage and the audience entering. The video is an excerpt from the whole concert, in which they played 3 songs only; "Theusz Hamtaahk" is the shortest one, the other two ("Ẁurdah Ïtah" meaning "Dead Earth" and "Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kommandöh", which needs no translation) are above the 40 minutes mark. The three songs form a trilogy. Here the link to "Theusz Hamtaahk": ua-cam.com/video/rbX771i7WN5n/v-deo.html-c Trust us, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" is a simple song compared to "Theusz Hamtaahk".
I was surprised that you liked this but not ‘Suppers ready’ by Genesis as it is much more fragmented even for VDGG and does not flow as well as the Genesis song. Maybe it is the darker presentation and subject matter? . If you like Peter Hammill’s voice then you will probably like the earlier Marillion as their singer in the early years, Fish, sounds very similar both in tone and in the way he phrases the lyrics.
The greatest prog band for me, they have so many great songs so I hope you get to hear them a lot more. You should also check out Peter Hammill's solo work which often includes his VDDG comrades.
I'll have to check more of them out! This song was a trip for sure. Crazy that they aren't as known as other prog bands
Great vinil..for the great..britain Rock Band. Wonderfull 👍
I'm so glad that I finaly find someone that feels that piece like we where at the time -in 1975- (I was twenty) SSSSo fuckted up on mescaline during a snow storm. It was sssso weird but so good. I love you man.
Hammill's lyrics are my favorites amongst all rock writers. He helped me through my life, thanks to his words and approach of life. For me too one of my top trio bands (the others being Gentle Giant and Yes).
Same here. "Take away the threat of death
and all you're left with is a round of make-believe;
marshal every sullen breath
and though you're ultimately bored by endless ecstasy
that's still the ring by which you hope to be engaged
to marry the girl who will give you forever -
that's crazy, and plainly
it simply is not enough."
@@ErnestAbikis And it is Still Life, and we are here too…
APoLK is one of the peaks of human imaginary, creativity, expression of the emotions, painting with the music, simply human genius... One can dislike this track, but noone can say it's not creative... Sadness. insanity, madness and hope all of this is visualized with music.
Great reaction! The whole album blew my mind on first listen back in the day, it really took my prog exploring to a whole new level. Finish the album then head for 'H to He, Who am the Only One' and 'Godbluff' next, amazing stuff! I also agree on Jeanine and Friederike's recommendation of Magma's 'Theusz Hamtaahk' in the comments here for some more intense stuff, Magma are absolutely on another level. And if you want it all black, go for Univers Zero's 'Heresie', another incredible dark band!
Jackson fed his electric sax through effects pedals to get the sounds he wanted, often playing Alto and Tenor at the same time. All things are A Part, All things are Apart...
Well done for a freshman! 😊 I'd suggest "The Sleepwalkers" next if you want to check out some more VdGG. (And yes: the apart/a part thing is very intentional. That's where your personal interpretation of the song has to enter the stage: transcendence or suicide or both or neither.)
I could listen to more of your thought of vdgg plague of lighthouse keepers
So few people delve in so deeply
It’s epic
A huge shame that Spotify screwed the last few seconds for you but great to watch you experience this impressive track (side in old fashioned terms). What has happened recently to cause this up swell of interest in VDG?
There is a live version of this on UA-cam.
Still waiting for my saviour, storms tear me limb from limb;
my fingers feel like seaweed...I'm so far out I'm too far in.
I am a lonely man, my solitude is true,
my eyes have borne stark witness
and now my nights are numbered, too.
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 witnessand 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...
No time now for contrition, the time for that's long past,
the walls are thin as tissue and if I talk I'll crack the glass.
So I only think on how it might have been,
locked in silent monologue, in silent scream.
I am much too tired to speak
and as the waves crash on the bleak
stones of the towerI start to freak
and find that I am overcome....
(S.H.M.)
"Unreal, unreal" ghost helmsmen scream and fall in through the sky,
not breaking through my seagull shrieks -no breaks until I die.
The spectres scratch on window-slits,
the hollowed faces and mindless grins
are only intent on destroying what they've lost.
I crawl the wall till steepness ends in the vertical fall;
my pail has sailed into the sea -no joking hopes at dawn.
White bone shine in the iron-jaw mask,
lost mastheads pierce the freezing dark
and parallel my isolated tower...
no paraffin for the flame,
no harbour left to gain.
(Presence of the night / Kosmos tours)
'Alone, alone' the ghosts all call,
pinpoint me in the light.
The only life I feel at all
is the presence of the night.
Would you cry if I died?
Would you catch the final words of mine?
Would you catch my words?
I know that there's no time,
I know that there's no rhyme,
false signs find me.
I don't want to hate, I just want to grow;
why can't I let me live and be free?
...but I die very slowly alone.
I know no more ways, I am so afraid,
myself won't let me just be myself
and so I am completely alone.
The maelstrom of my memory
is a vampire and it feeds on me;
now, staggering madly, over the brink I fall.
((Custard's) Last stand)
Lighthouses might house the key but can I reach the door?
I want to walk on the sea so that I may better find a shore;
but how can I ever keep my feet dry?
I scan the horizon,
I must keep my eyes on all parts of me.
Looking back on the years it seems that I have lost my way:
lLike a dog in the night I have run to a manger,
now I am the stranger I stay in.
Ah, well.
All of the grief I have seen leaves me chasing solitary peace;
But I hold experience in my head.
I'm too close to the light,.
I don't think I see right, for I blind me.
(The clot thickens)
Where is the God that guides my hand?
How can the hands of others reach me?
When will I find what I grope for?
Who is going to teach me?
I am me / me are we / we can't see
any way out of here.
Crashing sea, a trophied history:
chance has lost my Guinevere...
I don't want to be one wave in the water
but sea will drag me deep:
one more haggard drowned man.
I can see the lemmings coming, but I know I'm just a man.
Do I join or do I founder? Which can is the best I may?
(Land's end (Sineline) / We go now)
Oceans drifting sideways, I am pulled into the spell,
I feel you around me, I know you well.
Stars slice horizons where the lines stand much too stark;
I feel I am drowning - hands stretch in the dark.
Camps of panoply and majesty, what is Freedom of Choice?
Where do I stand in the pageantry, whose is my voice?
It doesn't feel so very bad now, I think the end is the start,
begin to feel very glad now:
^All things are a part
All things are apart
All things are a part.*
You need to read the lyrics with the music...Hammill is far too complex to just drink in...But; you're decades too late...
PS. If you get the chance to watch the movie The lighthouse with Wilhem Defoe. It pictures the caracter well.
Musica per intenditori. Anche king crimson. Gentle giant ecc ecc
I think the apart/a part might have something to do with the artistic ideas surrounding the sublime. Nature is something you might consider to fulfill this particular duality.
Nope...It has to do with how REALITY exist...All things are "A Part" ( meaning that, all which we know, is intrinsically linked) and All things are "Apart" ( meaning; that while all of "this" is intrinsically linked; it's still totally unique and separate)
We suggest you listen to "Theusz Hamtaahk" by Magma. Magma are considered to be progressive rock; however, they actually created a completely new style of music called "Zeuhl". The French/German TV-channel ARTE that broadcasted a feature about them last year described "Zeuhl" as a mixture of jazz, rock, classical, modern avant-garde, rhythm'n'blues, metal and world music. But that's not all; Magma also invented the language they sing in which is called "Kobaïan". They claim they come from the future and from the planet Kobaïa, a planet mankind will exile to in the future because they destroyed planet earth ecologically. "Theusz Hamtaahk" means "Time of Hatred" in Kobaïan. There is no studio version of "Theusz Hamtaahk", but Magma are best experienced live anyway. Being at a Magma concert is a spiritual experience. It's not only we who say this; many people who were at a Magma concert say this.
Here a link to a live performance of "Theusz Hamtaahk" from their 30th anniversary concert. The video is over 36 minutes long. You can skip the first 90 seconds though; they just show the band backstage and the audience entering. The video is an excerpt from the whole concert, in which they played 3 songs only; "Theusz Hamtaahk" is the shortest one, the other two ("Ẁurdah Ïtah" meaning "Dead Earth" and "Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kommandöh", which needs no translation) are above the 40 minutes mark. The three songs form a trilogy.
Here the link to "Theusz Hamtaahk": ua-cam.com/video/rbX771i7WN5n/v-deo.html-c
Trust us, "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" is a simple song compared to "Theusz Hamtaahk".
I also believe Theusz Hamtaahk is the best introduction to Magma. ua-cam.com/video/xjYnuhIlnIU/v-deo.html
I was surprised that you liked this but not ‘Suppers ready’ by Genesis as it is much more fragmented even for VDGG and does not flow as well as the Genesis song. Maybe it is the darker presentation and subject matter? . If you like Peter Hammill’s voice then you will probably like the earlier Marillion as their singer in the early years, Fish, sounds very similar both in tone and in the way he phrases the lyrics.