Vital (album)

Vital
Live album by Van der Graaf Generator
Released	July 1978
Recorded	16 January 1978 at the Marquee Club, London
Genre	Progressive rock
Length	86:14
Label	Charisma Records PVC Records
Producer	Guy Evans
Van der Graaf Generator chronology
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977) Vital (1978) Time Vaults (1982)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Vital is Van der Graaf Generator's first live album. Except for one-off reunions, it marked the end of Van der Graaf Generator as a band until their 2005 reunion. The album (on vinyl and, later, on CD) was credited under the truncated name Van der Graaf. It had the same line-up as on the previous year's The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (also credited to Van der Graaf), plus newcomer cellist Charles Dickie. Original saxophonist David Jackson re-joined the band for this recording.

The European release was a double LP on Charisma Records, ref'ed CVL0D101; the US release on double vinyl LP was on PVC Records, PVC 9901. The album was originally issued twice in the UK (CVLCD101, 1989), first with the entire 2LP track listing on the cover and label, but only actually containing sides one and two, and then reissued restoring some of the songs from sides three and four (excluding "Sci-Finance" and "Nadir's Big Chance") and correcting the cover and label. The entire double CD version was only issued in Japan (VJD-25023~24, 1989). This version had a booklet with incorrect lyrics (for instance "Sit down with the greats / To a thousand voices / Now dumb"). In 2005 a remastered double CD version was released, CVLCDR101.

The album is noted for its sometimes radical reworking of the older Van der Graaf Generator material. Although Van der Graaf Generator were seldom less than intense on stage, the set recorded here is remarkable for its ferocity.

Contents 1 Track listing 1.1 Side One 1.2 Side Two 1.3 Side Three 1.4 Side Four 2 Personnel 3 References

Track listing

All tracks are written by Peter Hammill except where indicated.

Side One

1. "Ship of Fools" – 6:43
2. "Still Life" – 9:42
3. "Last Frame" – 9:02

Side Two

4. "Mirror Images" – 5:50
5. "Medley: A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers/Sleepwalkers" – 13:41

Side Three

6. "Pioneers over c" – 17:00 (Peter Hammill and David Jackson)
7. "Sci-Finance" – 6:16

Side Four

8. "Door" – 6:00
9. "Urban/Killer/Urban" – 8:20
10. "Nadir's Big Chance" – 7:00

Personnel

• Graham Smith – Violin
• Charles Dickie – Cello, electric piano, synthesizer
• David Jackson – Saxophones and flute
• Nic Potter – Bass guitar
• Peter Hammill – Voice, piano, and guitars
• Guy Evans – drums

References

Van der Graaf Generator Peter Hammill · Hugh Banton · Guy Evans Former members: David Jackson · Nic Potter · Keith Ellis · Chris Judge Smith · Graham Smith · Nick Pearne · Charles Dickie Studio albums The Aerosol Grey Machine (1969) · The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other (1970) · H to He, Who Am the Only One (1970) · Pawn Hearts (1971) · Godbluff (1975) · Still Life (1976) · World Record (1976) · The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome (1977) · Present (2005) · Trisector (2008) · A Grounding in Numbers (2011) Other albums Time Vaults (1982) Live albums Vital (1978) · Maida Vale (1994) · Real Time (2007)