Recorded at various venues during their 2013 European tour, Merlin Atmos features the now trio of Peter Hammill (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Hugh Banton (organ, bass pedals), and Guy Evans (drums), all three classic members of legendary progressive rock act Van Der Graaf Generator. This 2CD set takes you on a long journey through vintage VDGG staples from the '70s as well as some of their more recent material from albums such as Trisector and A Grounding In Numbers. Though legendary sax player David Jackson is sorely missed in this version of VDGG (I almost wish they would just get a replacement for him at this point), Hammill & Banton weave plenty of keyboard layers throughout which help make up for the spots where Jackson would drop in his trademark reeds on all those classic songs.
And classic songs there are plenty of here, such as a massive 24-minute "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" and the savage "Man-Erg", both from the seminal Pawn Hearts album, the staples "Childlike Faith in Childhood's End", "Scorched Earth", and "Meurglys III, the Songwriter's Guild", plus vintage Hammill solo cuts "Gog" and a soaring 21-minute "Flight" from his 1980 album A Black Box. The remainder of the material comes from the most recent releases, including an atmospheric, menacing take on "Lifetime", complete with haunting organ from Banton and Hammill's tortured vocals, and an upbeat, hard rocking version of "All That Before", complete with beefy guitar riffs and equally massive organ blasts. Peter has never really been known as much of a guitar player, but he adds in some tasty riffing, lead work, and textures to "Bunsho", and I have to say, even at the age of 66, his vocals have held up quite well over the years, his unique delivery still as powerful as it was 40 years ago. Kudos to Banton and Evans here as well, both contributing virtuoso performances throughout this live set, especially Banton, whose ominous organ flourishes are legendary in prog circles, and he's only gotten better with age.
As great as all this is, it's still missing that little something extra that David Jackson always was able to contribute to this band. I kept expecting that squonking sax to come screeching through the speakers, and it never does. The first three songs of the bonus second disc also drag on a tad and lack some of the fire of the other tracks, but they are far from terrible. Regardless, in a sea of recent VDGG live releases, this Esoteric set is a very good one and worth seeking out.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
CD1 (70:59):
1. Flight (21:30)
2. Lifetime (5:11)
3. All That Before (7:46)
4. Bunsho (5:48)
5. A Plague Of Lighthouse-Keepers (24:05)
6. Gog (6:39)
CD2 (71:13):
1. Interference Patterns (4:28)
2. Over The Hill (12:36)
3. Your Time Starts Now (4:14)
4. Scorched Earth (10:14)
5. Meurglys III (15:24)
6. Man-Erg (11:40)
7. Childlike Faith In Childhood's End (12:37)
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