R e l e a s e N o t e s

These are not studio-quality recordings: they are derived from the time vaults of original rehearsal tapes and rough mixes, ranging in format from 3 3/4 ips 1/4- track to 15 ips master. The sound itself is often bizarre, but always evidences something of the VdGG spirit. In order to make as much of the original material as possible, the cassette duplication is in real time; but it should be said that this 'anti-compilation' is intended for those who are already VdGG aficionados!
The period of VdGG history represented here is the 'lost' one, post-'Pawn Hearts' and pre-'Godbluff', and the line-up - though instrumentation varies - is the 'classic' one: David Jackson, Guy Evans, Hugh Banton and myself. Some of the tunes are VdGG ones which never reached the full recording stage; others are band versions of 'solo' songs; and the set is completed with a number of other types of playing, from the free to the random. The only dubs have been those implicitly intended in the original recordings - sax in 'Coil Night' and vox on three songs. All dubbing was completed in nine hours, in order to stay true to the spirit of the venture.

Peter Hammill