Van Der Graaf Generator - H To He, Who Am The Only One (1970) [Japanese Limited SHM-SACD 2015] PS3 ISO + DSD64 + Hi-Res FLAC

H to He, Who Am the Only One is the third album by the British progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. It was released in 1970 on Charisma Records. The band recorded the album in several stages throughout mid 1970 in Trident Studios with producer John Anthony. The songs mentioned a killer shark in "Killer", lost love in "Lost" and science fiction material in "Pioneers Over c". Bassist Nic Potter left the group in August partway through recording, with organist Hugh Banton covering on bass guitar in the studio and playing bass pedals in concert. King Crimson's Robert Fripp made a guest appearance on guitar, and the cover was the first of several by the band to feature the artwork of Paul Whitehead.

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.

Tracklist:

01 - Killer
02 - House With No Door
03 - The Emperor In His War-room: The Emperor / The Room
04 - Lost: The Dance In Sand And Sea / The Dance In The Frost
05 - Pioneers Over C
06 - Squid 1 / Squid 2 / Octopus
07 - The Emperor In His War-Room: The Emperor / The Room (First Version)

DSD flat transferred from U.K. original analogue master tapes.
Edited in DSD by Manabu Matsumura at Universal Music Studios, Tokyo, in 2015.


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Uncompressed SACD ISO size > 2,87 GB
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