1. Killer - 8:242. House With No Door - 6:37
3. The Emperor in His War Room - 8:15
A. The Emperor
B. The Room
4. Lost - 11:17
A. The Dance in Sand and Sea
B. The Dance in the Frost
5. Pioneers over C - 12:42
Van der Graaf Generator strike the perfect balance between inspiration and insanity on their third album, H to He Who Am the Only One. The album title references the fusion of hydrogen into helium, and the band's own fusion of styles is truly unique: traditional and avant-garde jazz, Baroque/Romantic classicism, straightforward rock, and aggressively experimental electronics combine to create a sound that turns on a dime from stately to psychotic.
The band's sound is grounded in the animalistic percussion of Guy Evans, the heaven and hell church organ/synthesizer of Hugh Banton, and the heavy jazz leanings of David Jackson's saxophone and flute. Of course, tying all the raw talent together into operatic songs about man's existential crisis is Peter Hammill, primary composer, lyricist, lead singer, and occasional rhythm guitarist. Bassist Nic Potter plays on only three tracks here: "Killer", "The Emperor in His War Room", and "Lost". He contributes some good work, but he doesn't seem to have the same skewed genius as the others...
Perhaps the quintessential VDGG song, "Killer" is a song to a predatory fish who lurks on the bottom of the ocean, with whose loneliness the singer identifies. It boasts such juicily gothic lines as:
On a black day in a black month
At the black bottom of the sea
Your mother gave birth to you
And died immediately.
It also boasts one of the most viciously atonal saxophone solos in any rock song, ever. David Jackson proves his mettle here, even though he would be the first to deny any comparisons to jazz greats. And of course, when he's not tearing it up on one sax, he's exercising his trademark double-sax attack... no, kids, it's not just a studio trick.
Though "Killer" gets a lot of attention, every song on the album is as good or better. "House With No Door" is a stately, restrained flute and piano ballad backing Hammill's reflections on the human condition through a fairly effective architectural metaphor. "The Emperor" juxtaposes haunting melodies against the last violent moments of a tyrant, with Robert Fripp providing sinewy lead guitar in his typical power-sustain clean tone. "Lost" starts with a jaunty 6/8 swing and traditional jazz sax, but as it describes the end of a relationship, it transitions to a truly frightening 7/8 vs 5/8 theme with brutal synthesizer from Banton.
"Pioneers over C" might be the best song here - a sci-fi extravanganza about the ill-fated voyagers to another galaxy. By turns bracing, thrilling, menacing, mysterious, jubilant, and mournful, this epic explores the dark corners of the cosmos and the soul, providing a cautionary tale of humanity's overzealous pursuit of the unknown. The band deliver an intense performance, adroitly balancing the ever-shifting dynamics and tempos, while hanging over it all is Hammill's desperate cry of a mind fraying in the vacuum of space.
This band has to be heard to be believed, and H to He showcases them at the height of their powers. Amazingly, they would reach greater altitudes with their next album...
Arbitrary rating - 5 out of 5 black bottoms of the sea
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