Release type:What's this?
studio album
First released:
Apr 25 2005

Overview Edit

Present is an album by Van der Graaf Generator, released in 2005. It was the band's first studio album since The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome in 1977, and the first with the 'classic' line-up since World Record in 1976.

For many years the band's lead singer and principal songwriter Peter Hammill had rejected the idea of a VdGG reunion, but in 2004 (following two one-off, unannounced reunions at Hammill concerts), work began on an official reunion album. Present was the result. It consists of one disc of songs (plus an instrumental, "Boleas Panic"), and one disc of studio improvisations. The band had always improvised in the studio throughout their history, but never before (excepting the bootleg-quality Time Vaults), had these improvisations been officially released.

In 2005, the band embarked on a successful reunion tour. Only two songs from Present, however, were played on the tour: "Every Bloody Emperor" and "Nutter Alert".

The Overview appearing in this section is attributed to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Present_(album). Portions of this Overview may be available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, version 3.0 or any later version, available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/. Additional terms may apply. See Wikipedia Terms of Use for details.

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This particular version Edit

Record label:
Catalog number:
unknown
Release dates:
  • Apr 25 2005 in United Kingdom

Genres

Experimental. Vote on Genres

What do Amazon.com customers think?

5 stars Welcome back VDGG!!
Aah, life is good. The most unique-sounding band ever is back and better than ever. Having been a fan of Hammill and company since 1970, it's so refreshing to hear new material. The first disc alone is worth the price of admission. Like others have said here, the opener "Every Bloody Emperor" has to rank up there with the best stuff ever done by the guys. This track would have been great even if Hammill had done it accapella. The words alone carry it. Add in the great arrangement behind it and y…
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Written by Chris J. Previti
2 stars Love this band but not this record
i did not like this work for a number of reasons. The first thing i hated was the sound. Too much echo or reverb. Unlike past albums were the sound was up-close and warm. The other thing i noticed was the poor attention to structure of songs. Most of these songs sound like rock improvisations . Obviously some were taken and worked into more structured songs but they all have this 'jam' feeling to them.

Also the aproach is more in the late Hammill compositional style than what we've come to know…
Read the full review
Written by Speedy

Track listing Edit

  • CD 1 : Present

    format:
    number:
    title:
    number name artist hh:mm:ss
    1
    Every Bloody Emperor - Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill, Peter
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    2
    Boleas Panic - Van der Graaf Generator, Jackson, David
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    3
    Nutter Alert - Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill, Peter
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    4
    Abandon Ship! - Van der Graaf Generator, Evans, Guy
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    5
    In Babelsberg - Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill, Peter
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    6
    On the Beach - Van der Graaf Generator, Hammill, Peter
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track

  • unknown format 2 : Present

    format:
    number:
    title:
    number name artist hh:mm:ss
    1
    Vulcan Meld
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    2
    Double Bass
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    3
    Slo Moves
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    4
    Architectural Hair
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    5
    Spanner
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    6
    Crux
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    7
    Manuelle
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    8
    'Eavy Mate
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    9
    Homage to Teo
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track
    10
    The Price of Admission
    ?:??
    		Play Buy track

Credits Edit

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Other versions Edit

Present 16 tracks format: 2 x CD
record label: EMI/Virgin
release dates: Sep 18 2006
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