Van Der Graaf Generator’s fourth album is their noisiest and nastiest, and their most epic to boot. There were only two tracks on the first side of the original UK pressing, and one — the 23-minute “A Plague Of Lighthouse Keepers” — on the flip. The core lineup of Peter Hammill on vocals and various instruments, David Jackson on saxes and flute, Hugh Banton on keyboards, and Guy Evans on percussion is augmented throughout by King Crimson leader Robert Fripp, delivering some of the nastiest, noisiest guitar of his life. The songs have the theatricality of early Genesis, with a surprisingly swinging jazz-blues rhythm at times thanks to Evans’ drumming. Still, Hammill’s haunted, desperate vocals and Banton’s churning electric organ give the music a horror-movie vibe that’s hard to shake. This is some of the least enjoyable prog rock ever made; Hammill and company want to leave marks on your psyche, and they’ll succeed, but you’ll likely find yourself coming back again and again anyway.