The foreboding crawl of the Hammond organ is what made Van Der Graaf Generator one of the darkest and most engrossing of all the early progressive bands.
On H to He Who Am the Only One, the brooding tones of synthesizer and oscillator along with Peter Hammil's distinct and overly ominous voice make it one of this British band's best efforts.
Kicking off with the prog classic "Killer," an eight minute synthesized feast of menacing tones and threatening lyrics, the album slowly becomes shadowed with Van Der Graaf's sinister instrumental moodiness.
With superb percussion work via Guy Evans, who utilizes the tympani drum to its full extent, tracks like "The Emperor in His War-Room" and "Lost" are embraced with a blackened texture that never fades.
The effective use of saxophone (both alto and tenor) and baritone from David Jackson gives the somberness some life without taking away any of the instrumental petulance.
H to He is carpeted with a science fiction theme, bolstered by the bleak but extremely compelling use of heavy tones and the absence of rhythms and flighty pulsations.
This album, which represents Van Der Graaf in their most illustrious stage, is a pristine example of how dark progressive rock should sound.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KillerHugh Banton, Peter Hammill, Graham Smith | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 08:20 | 19 MB | 63 MB |
| 2 | House With No DoorPeter Hammill, David Jackson | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 06:30 | 14 MB | 41 MB |
| 3 | Pioneers over C.Peter Hammill, David Jackson | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 12:43 | 29 MB | 72 MB |
| 4 | The Emperor in his war room | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 08:16 | 18 MB | 53 MB |
| 5 | Lost | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 11:13 | 25 MB | 78 MB |
| 6 | Squid 1 Squid 2 Octopus (bonus) | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 15:34 | 35 MB | 112 MB |
| 7 | The Emperor in his war room (1st version) | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 08:51 | 20 MB | 56 MB |
| 71 mins | 163 MB | |||||
| 71 mins | 478 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Martin | Transportation |
| 2 | John Anthony | Producer |
| 3 | Hugh Banton | Bass, Composer, Farfisa Organ, Guitar, Keyboards, Organ, Organ (Hammond), Oscillator, Piano, Vocals |
| 4 | Robin Geoffrey Cable | Engineer |
| 5 | Guy Evans | Drums, Percussion, Timpani |
| 6 | Robert Fripp | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 7 | Peter Hammill | Composer, Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Keyboards, Piano, Vocals |
| 8 | David Hentschel | Assistant Engineer |
| 9 | Hugh | Bass |
| 10 | David Jackson | Composer, Flute, Keyboards, Sax (Alto), Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor), Vocals, Wind |
| 11 | Peter | Piano |
| 12 | Nic Potter | Bass |
| 13 | Graham Smith | Composer |
| 14 | Van der Graaf Generator | Primary Artist |
| 15 | Paul Whitehead | Artwork |
Van der Graaf Generator
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |