| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
Time Vaults is an album by Van der Graaf Generator. It was originally released in 1982 on cassette only, almost four years after the break-up of Van der Graaf Generator in 1978. In May 1985 it was released as a vinyl LP,[2] and in 1997 it was released on CD.
The album contains outtakes and rehearsals from the period 1972-1975, when the band was on hiatus. The recordings “are not studio-quality recordings”, according to Peter Hammill.[3] It contains previously unreleased songs taken from rehearsals by the reformed band in 1975, plus a few live numbers from mid-1972, originally intended for a projected album in late 1972.
“Coil Night” features Peter Hammill on bass guitar and David Jackson on piano. The title track “Time Vaults” is a collage consisting of several unreleased pieces mixed with studio chatter. A different version of “Black Room” appeared on Peter Hammill’s solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night. “Faint and Forsaken” is a combination of the instrumental middle passages of “Forsaken Gardens” and “Faint-Heart and the Sermon”, different versions of which appeared on Peter Hammill’s solo albums The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage and In Camera respectively.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | “The Liquidator” | Peter Hammill | 5:24 |
| 2. | “Rift Valley” | Hammill, David Jackson, Guy Evans | 4:40 |
| 3. | “Tarzan” | Hammill, Jackson, Evans, Banton | 2:09 |
| 4. | “Coil Night” | Jackson | 4:12 |
| 5. | “Time Vaults” | 3:33 | |
| 6. | “Drift (I Hope It Won’t)” | Hugh Banton | 2:40 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7. | “Roncevaux” | Hammill | 6:55 |
| 8. | “It All Went Red” | Hammill | 4:07 |
| 9. | “Faint And Forsaken” | Hammill | 2:45 |
| 10. | “Black Room” | Hammill | 8:52 |
Personnel
- Van der Graaf Generator
- Peter Hammill – vocals, guitar, piano, bass
- David Jackson – saxophone, piano
- Hugh Banton – organ, bass
- Guy Evans – drums
References
- ^ Prato, Greg (2011). “Time Vaults – Van der Graaf Generator | AllMusic”. allmusic.com. Retrieved 3 July 2011.
- ^ “Great rock discography”.
- ^ Album notes by Peter Hammill for “Time Vaults”, CD (1992), Thunderbolt.
