Pawn Hearts

Infobox Album |
Name = Pawn Hearts
Type = Album
Artist = Van der Graaf Generator


Released = October 1971
Recorded = July - September 1971
Genre = Progressive rock
Length = 45:08
Label = Charisma Records
Producer = John Anthony
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:5lf4zfohehpk link] |
Last album = "H to He, Who Am the Only One"
(1970)
This album = "Pawn Hearts"
(1971)
Next album = "Godbluff"
(1975)

"Pawn Hearts" is an album by the British progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. It was released in 1971. It is hailed as one of the masterpieces of progressive rock by many fans of the genre. The album held number 1 in Italy for 12 weeks in 1972.

Differences between the European and North American releases

The original vinyl release in the U.S. and Canada (for example on Buddah Records) contained a fourth track, squeezed between "Lemmings" and "Man-Erg", which was the band's arrangement of an old BBC Radio 1 closing theme. This instrumental, called "Theme One", was originally composed by none other than George Martin. In Europe, where "Pawn Hearts" only contained the three tracks, "Theme One" was released as a single in February 1972, with the song "W" as its b-side.

Later North American reissues used the European version of the album, without "Theme One." Interestingly, the 2005 remastered CD contains versions of both "W" and "Theme One" that both are different from the North American album and the European single.

Two of the released versions of "Theme One" appear to have the same backing tracks, but feature completely different overdubs and mixes. These can be found on the compilation CD "First Generation - 1968-1971" and the remastered "Pawn Hearts." There is also a third version (entirely different studio take) of "Theme One" included on the 2003 various artists compilation CD "The Best Prog Rock Album In The World... Ever."

Progressive Rock Band Porcupine Tree sampled the "Pictures/Lighthouse" Section of A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers on their track Voyage 34

The abandoned double-album concept

As ambitious as it is, "Pawn Hearts" was originally conceived as a double album somewhat along the lines of Pink Floyd's album" Ummagumma". The first half of this concept was the album as it came to be released, but the second half was to be divided between personal projects and live-in-studio versions of older Van der Graaf Generator songs like "Killer" and "Octopus" (source: 'Van der Graaf Generator - The Book', by Jim Christopulos and Phil Smart, page 127).

When the Van der Graaf Generator catalog was remastered for reissue in 2005, several of tracks from the missing half of the album were found and added as bonus tracks. A live, in-studio version of "Squid / Octopus" was added to the "H to He, Who Am the Only One" reissue, while the "Pawn Hearts" reissue contains three of the band members' personal projects, "Angle of Incidents", "Ponker's Theme," and "Diminutions."

Track listing

All songs written by Peter Hammill, except where indicated
# "Lemmings (Including Cog)" – 11:37
# "Theme One" (George Martin) – 2:55
#* "Only the original US and Canadian releases contained "Theme One"
# "Man-Erg" – 10:20
# "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers" – 23:04, including:
#* "Eyewitness"
#* "Pictures/Lighthouse" (Hugh Banton/Jackson)
#* "Eyewitness"
#* "S.H.M."
#* "Presence of the Night"
#* "Kosmos Tours" (Guy Evans)
#* "(Custard's) Last Stand"
#* "The Clot Thickens" (Hammill/Banton/Evans/David Jackson)
#* "Land's End (Sineline)"
#* "We Go Now" (Jackson/Banton)
# "Theme One" (original mix) (George Martin) – 3:15
#* "A different mix from the version on the US and Canadian LPs or the UK single"
# "W" (first version) – 5:04
#* "The February 1972 single used the second version"
# "Angle of Incidents" (Evans) – 4:48
# "Ponker's Theme" (Jackson) – 1:28
# "Diminutions" (Banton) – 6:00
#* Tracks 5-9 are bonus tracks included in the 2005 reissue

Personnel

*Hugh Banton – Hammond and Farfisa organs, piano, mellotron, ARP synthesizer, bass pedals, bass guitar, vocals
*Guy Evans – drums, tympani, percussion, piano
*Peter Hammill – Lead vocals, acoustic and slide guitar, electric piano, piano
*David Jackson – Alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, flute, and vocals
*Robert Fripp – Electric guitar

External links

* [http://www.sofasound.com/vdgcds/phtlyrics.htm Lyrics]
* [http://www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk/pawnhts.htm Scans of Pawn Hearts releases]