''The Aerosol Grey Machine'' is the debut studio album by English

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

Van der Graaf Generator Van der Graaf Generator are an English progressive rock band, formed in 1967 in Manchester by singer-songwriters Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, Chris Judge Smith and the first act signed by Charisma Records. They did not experience much commerc ...

. It was first released in the United States in 1969 by

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

Content

The album was originally intended as a solo album by the band's lead singer and main songwriter,

Peter Hammill Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill (born 5 November 1948) is an English musician and recording artist. He was a founder member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Best known as a singer/songwriter, he also plays guitar and piano and ...

. When the band signed with

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

, a deal was worked out whereby ''The Aerosol Grey Machine'' would be released under the Van der Graaf Generator name, in return for Mercury releasing Hammill from his earlier contract.

Release

''The Aerosol Grey Machine'' was released in September 1969 by Mercury, in the US only. An initial edition contained the song "Giant Squid" on the cover but that was a mis-print (on the record "Necromancer" was featured instead), later pressings corrected the mis-print. This version of the LP was later released in Europe by

Fontana Records Fontana Records is a record label that was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records. The independent label distributor Fontana Distribution takes its name from the label. History Fontana started in the 1950s as a subs ...

. The album was reissued on CD in 1997 by

Repertoire Records Repertoire Records is a German record label from Hamburg, Germany, specialising in reissues of classic pop and rock albums originally issued in the 1960s and 1970s. The chairman is Thomas Neelsen. See also * List of record labels File:Alvino ...

in Germany, using the original running order of the album as released on LP, and featuring the first single as bonus tracks. Another 1997 release, by Peter Hammill's own UK record label FIE! Records, uses a slightly different running order and adds "Giant Squid" along with a previously unreleased early version of "Ferret and Featherbird" as bonus tracks.

Reception

In his retrospective review, Steven McDonald of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called it "A raw, energetic effort that sometimes did little to show off the young Hammill's talents" that "nevertheless has some fine moments that hint at the possibilities for future releases". Paul Stump, in his 1997 ''History of Progressive Rock'', commented that the album "said little unsaid elsewhere at the time; it was poetically skewed pop, arcanely arranged and cautiously extended."

Track listing

Personnel

;Van der Graaf Generator *

– lead vocals, acoustic guitar *

Hugh Banton Hugh Robert Banton (born April 1949) is a British musician and electronic organ builder, most widely known for playing organ and keyboards with the group Van der Graaf Generator. Career Banton was born in April 1949 in Yeovil, Somerset, into a ...

–

Farfisa organ Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professiona ...

, piano, percussion, backing vocals, * Keith Ellis – bass guitar *

Guy Evans Guy Randolph Evans (born 17 June 1947) is an English drummer and a member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Career Whilst at the University of Warwick (1965–68), Evans played in the university band which was called The ...

– drums, percussion ; Additional personnel * Jeff Peach – flute on "Running Back" * Chris Judge Smith – slide-saxophone and harmony vocals on "People You Were Going To", chorus vocals on "Firebrand"

References

External links

*
The Aerosol Grey Machine
' at vandergraafgenerator.co.uk
Van der Graaf Generator - ''The Aerosol Grey Machine'' (1969) album review by Steven McDonald, credits & releases
at

AllMusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

Van der Graaf Generator - ''The Aerosol Grey Machine'' (1969) album releases & credits
at

Discogs.com Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the l ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aerosol Grey Machine, The Van der Graaf Generator albums 1969 debut albums Fontana Records albums Mercury Records albums Repertoire Records albums Vertigo Records albums Albums produced by John Anthony (record producer) Albums recorded at Trident Studios