History Music / VanDerGraafGenerator

Van der Graaf Generator are an unusual ProgressiveRock band in that they focus on dark, dreary themes (such as the invasion by the Spanish Inquisition or isolation atop a lighthouse with CosmicHorrorStory undertones) and feature very little guitar/electric guitar in their music. Instead, the sound is dominated by ominous organ work, frenetic screeching saxophones, frenzied jazz drumming and dynamic singing ranging from crooning whispers to a death metal-esque scream.

For some reason this was the recipe for [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff massive success in Italy]].

Three albums; ''The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other'', ''H to He Who Am the Only One'' and ''Pawn Hearts''. In 1970 they began to forge their original sound and garner significant attention. Problematic European touring, especially in Italy, caused considerable stress (due to things like neo-fascist organisations turning up at their concerts) and eventually the band decided to temporarily split in order to prevent lasting damage.

* BSODSong: Oh boy... A fair portion of [=VdGG's=] material, especially the epic "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers", which fits this trope to a tee. The song "House With No Door" is about a mental patient who desperately wants to be cured, but just can't no matter how hard he tries.

* CosmicHorrorStory: "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers" can be interpreted as having elements of this.

* GoMadFromTheIsolation: More or less the subject of "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers".

* LargeHam: If you don't "get" them, they will most likely come off as this. Possibly even if you do...

* ListSong: "The House With No Door", aka "The House With No Door/Roof/Bell/Sound/Light".

* LarynxDissonance: A lot of songs have Hammill singing with a feminine tone at one point of another, including "Afterwards", "Refugees", "House With No Door", "Pioneers Over C", "Lemmings" and "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers".

* MindScrew: A given for a band like this, but some ambiguous moments certainly stand out as this. For example, in "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers", it is left deliberately unclear as to whether the protagonist is DrivenToSuicide after all the deaths he's experienced, or if he learns to live with it. And that's without all the undertones of a CosmicHorrorStory.

* UncommonTime

Van der Graaf Generator are an unusual ProgressiveRock band in that they focus on dark, dreary themes (such as the invasion by the Spanish Inquisition or isolation atop a lighthouse with CosmicHorrorStory undertones) and feature very little guitar/electric guitar in their music. Instead, the sound is dominated by ominous organ work, frenetic screeching saxophones, frenzied jazz drumming and dynamic singing ranging from a crooning whisper to a death metal-esque scream.

The classic lineup reunited on stage duing a Peter Hammill solo concert in 2003 for a one-off performance, in 2004 they began recording in studio and then released a new album of all-new material in 2005, ''Present''. Soon after Jackson quit, and [=VdGG=] continued on without him, releasing the live album ''Real Time'' in 2007 and the studio albums ''Trisector'' in 2008 , ''A Grounding In Numbers'' in 2011, ''Alt'' in 2012 and ''Do Not Distrub'' in 2016. They continue to tour.

The classic lineup reunited on stage duing a Peter Hammill solo concert in 2003 for a one-off performance, in 2004 they began recording in studio and then released a new album of all-new material in 2005, ''Present''. Soon after Jackson quit, and [=VdGG=] continued on without him, releasing the live album ''Real Time'' in 2007 and the studio albums ''Trisector'' in 2008 , ''A Grounding In Numbers'' in 2011 and ''Alt'' in 2012. They continue to tour.

* BritishAccents: Hammill has a distinctly English (pretty much Received Pronunciation English) vocal delivery, a holdover from his days as a Jesuit chorister.

* CutSong: The CD re-release of ''Pawn Hearts'' includes much of the material that was recorded in order to make ''Pawn Hearts'' a double LP, before they changed their minds. Another cut song from the ''Pawn Hearts'' sessions was included on the reissue of ''H to He'' (the live-in-the-studio medley of "Squid" and "Octopus").

Three albums; ''The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other'', ''H to He Who Am the Only One'' and ''Pawn Hearts'' (the latter is considered their MagnumOpus). In 1970 they began to forge their original sound and garner significant attention. Problematic European touring, especially in Italy, caused considerable stress (due to things like neo-fascist organisations turning up at their concerts) and eventually the band decided to temporarily split in order to prevent lasting damage.

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* LarynxDissonance: A lot of songs have Hammill singing with a feminine tone at one point of antoher, including "Afterwards", "Refugees", "House With No Door", "Pioneers Over C", "Lemmings" and "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers".

* LyrnaxDissonance: A lot of songs have Hammill singing with a feminine tone at one point of antoher, including "Afterwards", "Refugees", "House With No Door", "Pioneers Over C", "Lemmings" and "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers".

* LyrnaxDissonace: A lot of songs have Hammill singing with a feminine tone at one point of antoher, including "Afterwards", "Refugees", "House With No Door", "Pioneers Over C", "Lemmings" and "A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers".

* ChorusOnlySong, CommonMeter, CommonTime: As with most ProgressiveRock bands, these tropes are normally averted.

* CutSong: The CD re-release of ''Pawn Hearts'' includes much of the material that was recorded in order to make ''Pawn Hearts'' a double LP, before they changed their minds. Another cut song from the ''Pawn Hearts'' sessions was included on the reissue of ''H to He'' (it's the live-in-the-studio medley of "Squid" and "Octopus").
* DarkerAndEdgier

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Refugees", "House with No Door," "My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)", "Out of My Book".

* TheSpanishInquisition: The subject of "White Hammer".

* SurprisinglyGentleSong: "Refugees", "House with No Door," "My Room (Waiting for Wonderland)".

* AGoodNameForARockBand: Van der Graaf Generator is a misspelling (Only in a one-letter sense) of Van de Graaff Generator, the static electricity machine that is often used in schools to make people's hair stand on end.

* NonAppearingTitle: "Man-Erg". Also, the name of the album rarely crops up in any of their songs, and, except for "The Aerosol Grey Machine", there's never been a 'title track'.

* AGoodNameForARockBand: Van der Graaf Generator is a misspelling (but not by much) of Van de Graaff Generator, the static electricity machine that is often used in schools to make people's hair stand on end.

** Played with in the opening of "Man-Erg" - sad music set to disturbing lyrics? Unusual, in my experience.

* MindScrew

* NonAppearingTitle: "Man-Erg". Also, the name of the album rarely crops up in any of their songs, and there's never been a 'title track'.