Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome

Van Der Graaf Generator created some of prog rock's most brilliant and unique music. Except for "Time Vaults" [which unfortunately sounds like it was recorded on an Edison disk}, all of their albums are a treat. If you like King Crimson, you will probably like Van Der Graaf Generator. Like many prog acts of the time, many of their recordings exceed 8 minutes."The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome" is their last studio album of the 1970's. With some line-up changes, they dropped the "Generator" from their name, and came up with an album of shorter, more commercial songs, a bit like the Yes album "Tormato". Peter Hammill's songwriting is terrific, as usual. His ideas condensed into shorter songs almost makes this sound like a Peter Hammill solo album. Almost like his album "Nadir's Big Chance".This Van Der Graaf rocks a bit. In fact, there are hints of punk here and there. It was a confusing time for music. Nobody was sure what would sell, and bands like Van Der Graaf, Yes and Gentle Giant explored shorter songs, perhaps thinking that the record buying public was developing a shorter attention span.I am pleased to have gotten the EMI/Virgin edition of this CD, as it has 3 bonus tracks I've not heard or possessed before. It has the studio versions of "Door" and "Ship Of Fools" (not the Grateful Dead song!). These two songs were B sides of singles. There are live versions of these two songs on "Vital" (recorded on the "Quiet Zone" tour), but I've never heard the studio versions until today. Very nice! It reminded me a little of Be Bop Deluxe in a more psychotic state! The third bonus track is an instrumental demo of "The Wave", which, honestly does nothing for me in this form.If you have all the old Van Der Graaf Generator albums, you may as well get this one and "Vital". Have fun.

This is a must have for Van der Graaf fans. Not the best of their albums, but a worthy part of the collection.

After "World Record", gone were Hugh Banton and Dave Jackson, in were Graham Smith (violin) and Nic Potter (bass).Hence the aptly named "Van Der Graaf." The result was a more stripped down approach.Dare I say it, but this may be their most accessable album.If you consider how prolific Peter Hammill was at this time (1975/1976),and how he maintained the high quality of songwriting/performance, it makes this release that much more incredible!! This remastered reissue is a delight.It's augmented with three bonus tracks.EMI/VIRGIN is to be commended on the whole Peter Hammill/VDGG reissue series to date..Being in the U.S.A. this title hasn't been released here yet(import only),but it is worth every cent.. Highly recommended!!!

Probably the most accessible VDGG album! I own all of them except for Aerosol and love them all. But, this one might be the best one to start with! Also, the violinist is absolutely incredible!

Van Der Graaf Generator was ahead of its time when it was first released & it still is. Peter Hammill is an incredibly inventive and talented song writer/poet & the musicians of this band in all of its various alignments are outstanding. Their songs unfold, grow, and develop as you are listening to them. Guy Evans is one of the best, most creative drummers alive.

Not a quiet zone, and not allways a pleasure, But a very good work.

No progressive rock library should find itself without Van Der Graaf Generator. And, although I remain smitten with "Pawn Hearts", this release clearly provides a high level of thrill in the majesty of it's complex arrangements while holding true to the consistency of their sonic fabric and signature sound style. Uncompromising and brilliant.

I liked the music from start to finish;it was differant from the early stuff but still really good.

Another highlight in an amazing series of albums...I didnt like the remix as much as the original to start...perhaps because I know the album so well. Every thing is a clearer...love both versions now...so it has not so much improved the original but given me another slightly different version to love.

One of the best VDGG albums very different , but very very good.

Whilst not their greatest work, still an excellent album and a must for any fan of the band

My first introduction to VDGG was via the 'Vital' live double LP soon after it's release. From that, I got a liking for their extended tracks and never bothered with this LP (I was at school, so couldn't buy much). I decided to buy this CD more to complete the set rather than out of any expectation, but I got a big surprise. Limiting each song in time seems to have kept the band more focussed and tracks like 'Door' and 'Ship of Fools' which I was familiar with from Vital are excellent.Sound quality is magnificent - so clear and listening on headphones, it's almost as if you are in the studio with them as it sounds so clean (reproduction on Amazon gives a sense of the tracks without necessarily capturing the sound quality). The booklet with notes from the time plus lyrics is excellent, as are all in this series. For the price, you would be silly not to buy this.

"The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome" is Van der Graaf Generator's seventh studio album and was originally released in 1977, nearly 30 years before they were to return with an eighth, 2005's "Present".Of all of the band's albums, it has a very unique soundscape: Hugh Banton (keyboards etc) and David Jackson (saxes, flutes etc) had left in 1976 due to family pressures and had been replaced by Nic Potter, who had previously played on a number of the band's albums, and Graham Smith, the ex-String Driven Thing violinist who had been helping Peter Hammill record his latest solo album. Graham's violin playing in particular gave this album a very distinctive sound. In addition to these sound changes forced by the alterations of the band`s members there were also significant compositional changes - perhaps as a result of the punk revolution, or for some other reason, the album contained 9 short (well, short for VDGG anyway!) songs, as opposed to their previous compositional style of fewer extended pieces. Perhaps because of these changes the band shortened their name to Van der Graaf for this album only (and its associated live tour, by which time Jackson had rejoined).The result, for me at least, is one of their most pleasing and most accessible albums. It is rockier and punchier and the musical textures brought by Graham Smith suit the style of the music to perfection. There is plenty of melody that shines through both in Graham's playing and in Hammill's singing. I think that they brought in these changes without losing the essence of the VDGG sound though and pieces such as "The Habit of the Broken Heart" and "The Siren Song" would have graced any VDGG album under the "normal" line-up. However, my favourite piece from the album is "Cat's Eye/ Yellow Fever" where Graham's violin playing raises the song to perfection.For me, it is a shame is that the band split up soon after this and we were to hear no more of Graham's brilliant playing integrated with the VDGG sound.Excellent album!