Released in the latter half of 1976 as a half-hearted attempt at some sort of commercial focus in the U.K.
and U.S., World Record suffers from several ailments: there was much tension in the band at this point, particularly between leader Peter Hammill and keyboardist Hugh Banton.
In the end, the band would split apart, with Banton and wind player David Jackson leaving, while Hammill and drummer Guy Evans recruited replacements.
World Record is very much a divided record, sounding beautifully clean, but lacking in both performance and focus.
Evans plays as well as ever, but without the creative spark of earlier records; Hammill, meanwhile, was responsible for the rambling, scattered "Meurglys III (The Songwriter's Guild)," a lumbering piece named after one of his guitars.
Of the cuts present, the best are the operatic "Masks," which mines one of Hammill's favorite themes, that of identity, and "Wondering," written in collaboration with Banton.
"Wondering" is beautifully hymn-like until the very end, when it suddenly becomes querulous and uncertain, ending the album both with a note of hope and a desperate question.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Place to SurvivePeter Hammill | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 10:07 | 23 MB | 76 MB |
| 2 | MasksPeter Hammill | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 06:59 | 16 MB | 50 MB |
| 3 | Meurglys III (The Songwriter's Guild)Peter Hammill | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 20:50 | 47 MB | 147 MB |
| 4 | WonderingHugh Banton, Peter Hammill | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 06:39 | 15 MB | 47 MB |
| 5 | When Sun Comes | Van der Graaf Generator | Play | 07:58 | 18 MB | 60 MB |
| 52 mins | 120 MB | |||||
| 52 mins | 382 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hugh Banton | Bass, Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Pedal Steel |
| 2 | Guy Evans | Drums, Finger Snaps, Percussion |
| 3 | Peter Hammill | Composer, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals |
| 4 | David Jackson | Flute, Keyboards, Sax (Alto), Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor), Wind |
| 5 | Pat Moran | Engineer |
| 6 | Van der Graaf Generator | Primary Artist, Producer |
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). |