The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage

Van Der Graaf Generator frontman/primary songwriter Peter Hammill released several solo albums during the group’s initial era; to make things even blurrier, most of the members of VDGG appeared on them, and sometimes they’d play his solo songs in concert. This, his third record under his own name, came out after the band had gone on hiatus post-Pawn Hearts. It includes “A Louse Is Not A Home,” a song VDGG performed live, and on “Red Shift,” Spirit’s Randy California plays guest guitar. These songs are generally shorter than VDGG material, with more acoustic guitar, but just as lyrically dark and tormented, with plenty of bizarre keyboard sounds from Hugh Banton.