Van Der Graaf Generator - Merlin Atmos 
Esoteric Antenna
http://www.esotericrecordings.com/antenna.html

Rating: B

This band with the funny name has a worldwide cult following that worships the ground they walk on.  Their hardcore fans were treated to paradise by the band in June of 2013 when members Peter Hammill, Hugh Banton and Guy Evans trotted across Europe and performed their classic album A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers from start to finish.  Graaf fans saw this as a musical wet dream, but the band did more than the fans could ever hope for, as they also played for the first time in it’s entirety Peter Hammill's classic Flight as well.  

Now, many in the USA may not know much about this band... think ELP, Yes and Genesis at the heights of their proggy weirdness... now take it all ten steps further and you have Van Der Graff Generator!  This band could be the soundtrack to every Dr. Who episode... meaning that their music is futuristic, cool, quirky, bold and entertaining... and very British!

The album Merlin Atmos sees the shows recorded for posterity’s sake.  The album shows the musicality of the band, as well as their out of this world creativity. 

Peter Hammill is pleased with the effort, and in his own weird way expresses so, “I suppose the mere fact that the record is being released proves that we were pretty satisfied with our efforts in the end!”

Fans will want the limited edition 2-CD digipak edition which features over an hour of bonus tunes recorded on the tour.  For those just starting out, the regular CD is a great place to hear what you may have missed!

Disc One: Flight/Lifetime/All That Before/Bunsho/A Plague  of Lighthouse Keepers/GOG

Disc Two: Interference Patterns/Over the Hill/Your Time Starts Now/Scorched Earth/Meurglys III, The Songwriter's Guild/Man/Erg/Childlike Faith in Childhood End

By Jeb Wright