68-71 – Van der Graaf Generator

A budget-priced compilation issued to mourn the band's recent split, 68-71 is most notable as the first available source for a clutch of rarities that were already causing collectors some grief. From the deleted debut album, Aerosol Grey Machine, "Afterwards" and "Necromancer" shimmer with all the vision and literacy that was the young Peter Hammill's stock in trade, while "The Boat of Millions of Years" gives an LP debut to a remarkable song that had, equally remarkably, hitherto been confined to a B-side only. "Refugees," surely one of Hammill's greatest-ever achievements, is included here in its own rare single-only mix and, while the remainder of the album is given over to regular cuts from two of the three albums VDGG released between 1970-1971, still the selection and programming are imaginative enough that anybody approaching the band from the direction of this collection was sure to be thrilled by what lay in store. Though it has since been rendered more or less redundant by the Repeat Performance and The Box compilations, 68-71 remains a gripping listen, and certainly rates among the finest of all VDGG albums. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide