William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Still Life ; Year: 1976; Genre: Progressive Rock Probably the last time I will be posting a track from Still Life , which is one of favourites from VdGG. It's not surprising with both how much I like it and the fact that they're one of the bands that released full records with five or six very long songs on it; with this one originally with only five. At around eight minutes in length, My Room is kind of the median length wise with two longer and two shorter songs on it. Anyway, the vocals are somewhat unique sounding with Peter Hammill singing quiet, low, and airy vocals with David Jackson's saxophone essentially playing a duet/counter line to the vocals, essentially treating the woodwind as a vocal in and of itself.   Hear My Room (Waiting for Wonderland) on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Moon Crazy     My song pick 2 years ago today: Chad Allan & The Expressions (The Guess Who) - Theme from a Music Box...

From: World Record ; Year: 1976; Genre: Progressive Rock This one really thumps, mostly due to the heavy organ playing of Hugh Banton and the drumming from Guy Evans.     Hear A Place to Survive on YouTube.         My song pick 1 year ago today: Jethro Tull - A Single Man     My song pick 2 years ago today: Funkadelic - Some More   My song pick 3 years ago today: Journey - Destiny   My song pick 4 years ago today: Queensrÿche - Electric Requiem   My song pick 5 years ago today: HammerFall - Never Forgive, Never Forget   My song pick 6 years ago today: Hall & Oates - Perkiomen My song pick 7 years ago today: Jethro Tull - North Sea Oil My song pick 8 years ago today: Lakeside - Taboo My song pick 9 years ago today: The Flying Burrito Brothers - Sweet Desert Childhood My song pick 10 years ago today: Cream - Sunshine of Your Love My song pick 11 years ago today: Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit My song pic...

From: Godbluff ; Year: 1975; Genre: Progressive Rock For over two weeks I've had Van Der Graaf Generator's music on my mind; thought it'd be apt to pick another one. I do not believe that I have chosen a song from the album Godbluff as of yet; this was the first track I "dropped the needle on," and I really like it. At 9:44 in length it is the second shortest song on the original disc, so, as you probably surmised, this one might be a bit off-putting to the casual listener, but if you like technical music, "eh... forgetaboutit."   Hear Scorched Earth on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Earth, Wind & Fire - I Can Feel It In My Bones   My song pick 2 years ago today: Return to Forever - Interplay   My song pick 3 years ago today: Hawkwind - Arioch My song pick 4 years ago today: Elvis Presley - All Shook Up My song pick 5 years ago today: Deep Purple - Never Before My song pick 6 years ago today: Ex Deo - Cruor Nostri Abbas My s...

From: Still Life ; Year: 1976; Genre: Progressive Rock Was thinking about Van der Graaf Generator for a while now and am finally getting around to picking one from the band. I vacillated between songs on a couple of records, but settled on this heavy progressive rock tune. There's a lot to listen to throughout this 9+ minute long track; definitely a treat for the ears.   Hear La Rossa on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Binky Griptite - Stone Soul Christmas   My song pick 2 years ago today: Bachman & Turner - Find Some Love My song pick 3 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Another Harry's Bar My song pick 4 years ago today: Ronnie James Dio/Tony Iommi/Rudy Sarzo/Simon Wright - God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen My song pick 5 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Holly Herald My song pick 6 years ago today: Sting - Gabriel's Message My song pick 7 years ago today: Sly and the Family Stone - Bad Risk My song pick 8 years ago today: Bob Dylan - See Th...

From: The Aerosol Grey Machine ; Year: 1969; Genre: Progressive Rock Been meaning to pick one from Van der Graaf Generator for a little while now; this one comes off their first album and is a fairly interesting song with quite a bit of dynamic sounds.   Hear Orthenthian St (Parts I & II) on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: Steve Vai - The Crying Machine   My song pick 2 years ago today: Rush - Territories My song pick 3 years ago today: Charley Pride - Kiss an Angel Good Mornin' My song pick 4 years ago today: Matthews' Southern Comfort - Woodstock My song pick 5 years ago today: King Crimson - Lament My song pick 6 years ago today: Steve Vai - The Boy From Seattle My song pick 7 years ago today: Jethro Tull - Bourée My song pick 8 years ago today: Richard Strauss - Also Sprach Zarathustra My song pick 9 years ago today: 30 Seconds to Mars - Year Zero My song pick 10 years ago today: Don Williams - If Hollywood Don't Need You ...

From: Do Not Disturb ; Year: 2016; Genre: Progressive Rock I love how they use odd beats and rhythms through this song as well as the very different sections and how they seamlessly transition from one to another. Hear Forever Falling on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Genesis - Behind the Lines My song pick 2 years ago today: Rush - Emotion Detector My song pick 3 years ago today: Al Di Meola - The Wizard My song pick 4 years ago today: Rhapsody of Fire - Dark Wings of Steel My song pick 5 years ago today: Parliament - Flash Light My song pick 6 years ago today: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Breakdown My song pick 7 years ago today: Marillion - Garden Party My song pick 8 years ago today: Alestorm - Heavy Metal Pirates My song pick 9 years ago today: Guns N' Roses - Sympathy for the Devil My song pick 10 years ago today: Bon Jovi - Bounce My song pick 11 years ago today: The Platters - Smoke Gets In Your Eyes My song pick 12 years...

From: The Aerosol Grey Machine ; Year: 1969; Genre: Psychedelic Rock/Progressive Rock This is a rather pretty one from the early period of Van der Graaf Generator, I just had to pick it today. Hear Afterwards on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Huey Lewis & The News - Workin' for a Livin' My song pick 2 years ago today: Melvins - Eye Flys My song pick 3 years ago today: Pallas - Shadow of the Sun My song pick 4 years ago today: Electric Light Orchestra - Mr. Radio My song pick 5 years ago today: Genesis - Harlequin My song pick 6 years ago today: Porcupine Tree - Deadwing My song pick 7 years ago today: "Weird Al" Yankovic - Fat My song pick 8 years ago today: Kreeps - Bad Voodoo My song pick 9 years ago today: David Bowie - Up the Hill Backwards My song pick 10 years ago today: Fairport Convention - Who Knows Where The Time Goes My song pick 11 years ago today: Savatage - Sleep My song pick 12 years ago today: The Beatles ...

From: The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome ; Year: 1977; Genre: Progressive Rock Ahhh, some late '70s prog rock; about as good as it gets, eh? I believe that I have yet to pick one from this album in particular, it's got most everything a progressive rocker would like across the board. Hear Chemical World on YouTube. My song pick 1 year ago today: Don Henley - Heart of the Matter My song pick 2 years ago today: Bruce Hornsby and the Range - On The Western Sky My song pick 3 years ago today: Parliament - Children of Production My song pick 4 years ago today: Huey Lewis and the News - Power of Love My song pick 5 years ago today: Black Sabbath - Paranoid My song pick 6 years ago today: The Cult - Painted on My Heart My song pick 7 years ago today: Scott Joplin - The Entertainer My song pick 8 years ago today: Maktub - So Tired My song pick 9 years ago today: Dizzy Gillespie - Manteca My song pick 10 years ago today: Iron Maiden - Sun and Steel My son...

From: H to He, Who Am the Only One ; Year: 1970; Genre: Progressive Rock It's been a busy weekend, using some extreme prog/rock to decompress a little. Van der Graaf Generator seemed like an excellent band to go to, and I was right. Hear The Emperor In His War Room on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Blue Öyster Cult - Feel the Thunder My song pick two years ago today: The Temptations - War My song pick three years ago today: Eric Stuart Band - Lipstick & Barbed Wire My song pick four years ago today: Band of Horses - A Little Biblical My song pick five years ago today: Kansas - Portrait (He Knew) My song pick six years ago today: Nightwish - Passion and the Opera My song pick seven years ago today: Seven Mary Three - Cumbersome My song pick eight years ago today: Bachman-Turner Overdrive (BTO) - Let It Ride My song pick nine years ago today: Queen - Flash My song pick ten years ago today: Joe Cocker - When The Night Comes

From: Still Life ; Year: 1976; Genre: Progressive Rock I've picked songs from Still Life before and I've probably said it then as well: I really like this album; it is probably my favourite from Van der Graaf Generator. If you like music and technicality therein then this one would be right up your alley. Heck, even if you were a pop music fan you might like it given a real chance. Hear Pilgrims on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Pink Floyd - Is There Anybody Out There? My song pick two years ago today: .38 Special - Caught Up In You My song pick three years ago today: Funkadelic - I Bet You My song pick four years ago today: The Jimi Hendrix Experience - ...And the gods Made Love My song pick five years ago today: Boz Scaggs - Can I Make It Last (Or Will It Just Be Over) My song pick six years ago today: Supertramp - It's Raining Again My song pick seven years ago today: King Crimson - Sleepless My song pick eight years ago today: Joh...

From: The Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other ; Year: 1970; Genre: Hard Rock/Progressive Rock/Progressive Metal Heard some of their music come on my player whilst out and about; it got me thinking about picking another one of their songs. White Hammer is a rather heavy piece of progressive rock, both musically and lyrically, bordering on and even venturing into heavy metal at times throughout the song. Hear White Hammer on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Bernard Wright - Master Rocker My song pick two years ago today: Max Roach - Mr. X My song pick three years ago today: Styx - Queen of Spades My song pick four years ago today: Rush - Nobody's Hero My song pick five years ago today: Waylander - Echoes of the Sidhe My song pick six years ago today: The Steve Miller Band - Macho City My song pick seven years ago today: Bad English - When I See You Smile My song pick eight years ago today: The Beatles - Love Me Do My song pick nine years ago...

From: Still Life ; Year: 1976; Genre: Progressive Rock For really no reason whatsoever I felt like listening to something from this heavier prog-rock band. This song, the title track from their '76 Still Life album, has for almost the first three minutes essentially light singing of heavier lyrics accompanied by a Hammond Organ. The entire band then really kicks in hard in grand fashion; and I love the way they arranged it; how it ebbs and swells. Hear Still Life on YouTube. My song pick one year ago today: Stryper - To Hell with the Devil My song pick two years ago today: The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up My song pick three years ago today: Alestorm - Leviathan My song pick four years ago today: Rush - What You're Doing My song pick five years ago today: Rahsaan Roland Kirk - Bright Moments My song pick six years ago today: Maddy Prior - The Fabled Hare My song pick seven years ago today: Chuck Berry - Almost Grown My song pick eight years ago today: ...

From: At Least We Can Do is Wave to Each Other ; Year: 1970; Genre: Progressive Rock I've been meaning to pick another track from Van der Graaf Generator for a while now and I finally got around to it. It's a very interesting piece of music, but definitely not for the pop aficionado. Hear Darkness 11/11 on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: The Police - Walking on the Moon My song pick two years ago today: Led Zeppelin - Misty Mountain Hop My song pick three years ago today: Émile Waldteufel - Op. 232 - Rococo-Polka My song pick four years ago today: Sky - Sarabande My song pick five years ago today: Lynyrd Skynyrd - On The Hunt My song pick six years ago today: Ian Anderson - A Better Moon

From: Pawn Heats ; Year: 1971; Genre: Progressive Rock After listening to a bunch of progressive rock last night I thought I would pick one today. I'd have to say this is prog rock in the extreme, with all the meter and tempo changes throughout as well as being filled all the experimental sounds drifting in and out with incredible virtuosity. Hear Lemmings (Including Cog) on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Nightwish - Feel for You My song pick two years ago today: Genesis - Keep It Dark My song pick three years ago today: Rush - Lessons My song pick four years ago today: Badfinger - Come and Get It My song pick five years ago today: Green Day - Wake Me Up When September Ends My song pick six years ago today: Rush - Far Cry

From: The Aerosol Grey Machine ; Year: 1969; Genre: Progressive Rock The other day Woordenaar picked a song from Peter Hammill , which was part of his solo work. It definitely got me into the mood for some Van der Graaf Generator, (Peter Hammill's band). This is one off of the band's first album, which from what I understand was supposed to be a solo record, but due to contractual problems it became Van der Graaf Generator's debut. Hear Aquarian on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Elvenking - Your Heroes are Dead My song pick two years ago today: Mr. Big - Still Ain't Enough for Me My song pick three years ago today: Steve Vai - Celluloid Heroes My song pick four years ago today: Toto - Africa My song pick five years ago today: Santana - Stone Flower

From: Pawn Hearts ; Year: 1971; Genre: Progressive Rock Today marks my one-thousand-nine-hundredth song picked. I probably should've picked a song that was a little more appropriate, but there was no song I could think of and none I really wanted to pick that somehow was related to the number or year 1900. So, as I sometimes do, I am instead picking a huge, epic piece of music to mark the occasion. It's amazing to think that my next "odometer rollover pick" will be my 2000th. This epic piece of progressive rock was one of three or four tracks contained on the album, depending on the version you bought. A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers is a concept piece that is a bit of a mini opera and is broken up into ten sections: I. Eye Witness , II. Pictures/Lighthouse , III. Eye Witness , IV. S.H.M. , V. Presence of the Night , VI. Kosmos Tours , VII. (Custard's) Last Stand , VIII. The Clot Thickens, IX. Land's End (Sineline) , X. We Go Now . Hear the full 23...

From: H to He, Who Am the Only One ; Year: 1970; Genre: Progressive Rock I felt like listening to some VdGG today; this one was among the first songs I put on. Musically, this song and entire album for that matter, I would say is progressive in the extreme; complete with large, complex sounds and arrangements, odd rhythmic devices and signature changes, and of course amazing musicianship. Lyrically it is just as strange, it chronicles a voyage through space, which eventually ends with the crew being stuck in a void of time, space, and even reality/existence. I absolutely love how they wrote this song's title: "c." is, of course, the symbol that denotes the Speed of Light, so the title of the song would actually be: " Pioneers Over The Speed of Light ." Hear the first 8+ minutes of Pioneers Over c . on YouTube. Hear the final 4+ minutes of Pioneers Over c. on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Al Di Meola - Race With Devil on Spanish Highway ...

1603 Van der Graaf Generator - Whatever Would Robert Have Said? From: The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other , Year: 1970 Genre: Progressive Rock I've been really digging this album for the last little bit ever since I first got a chance to hear it; this is one of my favourite tracks off of the album. This song really fits the definition of Progressive Rock to a tee; it actually reminds me a lot of earlier David Bowie, especially the vocals. From what I understand the Robert they are referring to is supposedly Robert J. Van de Graaff, who was the inventor of the Van De Graaff Generator from which the band got its name. Hear Whatever Would Robert Have Said on YouTube. Here is a live performance/video on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Steve Vai - Kill the Guy with the Ball/The God Eaters My song pick two years ago today: Banchee - John Doe My song pick three years ago today: Bob Dylan - Like A Rolling Stone My song pick four years ago today: Queen - Don't Stop Me No...

1431 Van der Graaf Generator - Childlike Faith In Childhood's End From: Still Life , Year: 1976 Genre: Progressive Rock I've been meaning to pick a track from Van der Graaf Generator for a few years now, but for some reason I never got around to it; most of the time it was because I couldn't find the song I had in mind on YouTube. VdGG is one of the prog/rock bands that most have probably not heard of unless he/she is a fan of progressive rock. Anyway, this 12-minute "magnum opus" off of their '76 Still Life album was inspired by the Arthur C. Clarke novel Childhood's End , which is another one of my favourite Science Fiction books. Hear Childlike Faith In Childhood's End on YouTube. My song pick a year ago today: Billie Holiday - Gloomy Sunday My song pick two years ago today: Electric Light Orchestra - Ticket To The Moon My song pick three years ago today: ABBA - So Long +