| Date | Label | Catalog # | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Mar 2011 | Esoteric Recordings / Cherry Red Records. | CD |
It was sooo nice in 2005 when Van der Graaf Generator put out the excellent CD Present after almost 30 years since their previous one The Quiet Zone The Pleasure Dome. With luck we did not have to wait so long when Trisector came out three years later, a good (but not as good) album that featured the new Van der Graaf Generator in it's Trio form, without the great soloing of David Jackson on saxophones. The songs were shorter and more "song based" and the music simpler... but it was still Van der Graaf Generator.
Now, again three years later, the second CD (A Grounding in Numbers) from this Trio version of Van der Graaf Generator is out. It's very much in the continuity of it's predecessor, but in my humble opinion, the guys from the band seem to have gotten more used to being a Trio. I also feel there is a more common thread between the tracks (less of a collection of distinct and independent songs like on Trisector). Peter Hammill still sings his heart out and his voice has not weakened at all. Because the tracks are now less instrumentally based than in the seventies, his singing is more in evidence, so you gotta like his voice (something not always obvious to everyone) to enjoy A Grounding in Numbers.
My conclusion... A Grounding in Numbers is a very good CD that will surely please any Van der Graaf Generator fan and is much better than any Peter Hammill solo album of the last 20 years. A nice complement to the Van der Graaf Generator catalogue and hopefully there is more to come from this great band in a not to far future.
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