VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR Vinyl & CDs

Review: Not every live album makes the impact Vital did. Recorded at London's Marquee Club on 16th January 1978, it hit shops six months later, by which time the group had split (for the second time), making this more of a capsule of the past than was probably intended. It also turned heads for the often radical re-design of older tracks in the set list. The troupe had been known for on-stage intensity, but this tour was particularly ferocious. Captured using a 24-track mobile unit, the second of two performances in the UK capital was committed to tape, and then mixed down into Vital at Foel Studio by Guy Evans. After some serious magic was worked to clean up a sax track that suffered a technical fault, the finished product encapsulated the huge energy and atmosphere that defined the original date.