The Box (Van der Graaf Generator album)


The Box is a four CD box set by Van der Graaf Generator, containing recordings that had been released before, but also BBC-recordings and some live recordings that were never officially released before. It was released in 2000 by Virgin Records. Included in the sleeve notes are introductions by Guy Evans and Tony Banks from Genesis, a timeline of Van der Graaf Generator events from 1967 to 1978, an essay about the organs by Hugh Banton, an essay about Van der Graaf Generator compositions by Peter Hammill, an essay about saxophones by David Jackson and an essay about being a Van der Graaf Generator-aficionado by Ian Laycock.
Each of the CDs has its own title taken from a Hammill lyric for a song contemporaneous to the band period each particular disc represents. "Bless the Baby Born Today" is a line from "Darkness ", "The Tower Reels" is from " Black Room/The Tower", "One More Heaven Gained" is from "La Rossa", and "Like Something Out Of Edgar Allen Poe" is from "When She Comes".

Track listing

CD 1 – "Bless the Baby Born Today" (71:06)

  1. "People You Were Going To" – BBC Top Gear 18/11/68
  2. "Afterwards" – BBC Top Gear 18/11/68
  3. "Necromancer" – BBC Top Gear 18/11/68
  4. "Refugees" – BBC Peel Session 14/12/71
  5. "Darkness " – BBC Top Gear 27/01/70
  6. "After the Flood" – BBC Top Gear 27/01/70
  7. "White Hammer"
  8. "House with No Door"
  9. "Killer"
  10. "Lost"

    CD 2 – "The Tower Reels" (70:22)

  11. "Theme 1" – BBC Black Session
  12. "W" – B-side of "Theme One", 1973
  13. "A Plague of Lighthouse Keepers"
  14. " Black Room/The Tower" – Live Rimini 09/08/75
  15. "Lemmings" – Live Rimini 09/08/75
  16. "Man-Erg" – Live Rimini 09/08/75

    CD 3 – "One More Heaven Gained" (73:58)

  17. "La Rossa"
  18. "Arrow "
  19. "Still Life"
  20. "My Room "
  21. "Sleepwalkers"
  22. "Pilgrims"
  23. "Childlike Faith In..."
  24. "Scorched Earth" – Live Rimini 09/08/75

    CD 4 – "Like Something Out of Edgar Allen Poe" (68:11)

  25. "Masks"
  26. "Meurglys III "
  27. "When She Comes"
  28. "Wondering"
  29. "The Wave"
  30. "Cat's Eye/Yellow Fever" – BBC Peel Session 24/10/77
  31. "Chemical World"
  32. "Door" – Virgin Vault 25/07/77
  33. "Sci-Finance"
  34. "The Sphinx in the Face" – BBC Peel Session 24/10/77