Time Vaults

Time Vaults is an album by Van der Graaf Generator. It was originally released in 1982 on cassette only, almost four years after the break-up of Van der Graaf Generator in 1978. Later it was released as a vinyl LP, and in 1992 it was released on CD.

The album contains outtakes and rehearsals from the period 1972-1975, when the band was on hiatus. The recordings "are not studio-quality recordings", according to Peter Hammill. It contains previously unreleased songs taken from rehearsals by the reformed band in 1975, plus a few live numbers from mid-1972, originally intended for a projected album in late 1972.

"Coil Night" features Peter Hammill on bass guitar and David Jackson on piano. The title track "Time Vaults" is a collage consisting of several unreleased pieces mixed with studio chatter. A different version of "Black Room" appeared on Peter Hammill's solo album Chameleon in the Shadow of the Night. "Faint and Forsaken" is a combination of the instrumental middle passages of "Forsaken Gardens" and "Faint-Heart and the Sermon", different versions of which appeared on Peter Hammill's solo albums The Silent Corner and the Empty Stage and In Camera respectively.

Track listing

 * 1) "The Liquidator" (Hammill) – 5:24
 * 2) "Rift Valley" (Hammill, Jackson, Evans) – 4:40
 * 3) "Tarzan" (Hammill, Jackson, Evans, Banton) – 2:09
 * 4) "Coil Night" (Jackson) – 4:12
 * 5) "Time Vaults" (uncredited) – 3:33
 * 6) "Drift (I Hope It Won't)" (Banton) – 2:40
 * 7) "Roncevaux" (Hammill) – 6:55
 * 8) "It All Went Red" (on some pressings incorrectly called "It All Went Up") (Hammill) – 4:07
 * 9) "Faint and Forsaken" (Hammill) – 2:45
 * 10) "Black Room" (Hammill) – 8:52

Personnel

 * Van der Graaf Generator
 * Peter Hammill – vocals, guitar, piano, bass
 * David Jackson – saxophone, piano
 * Hugh Banton – organ, bass
 * Guy Evans – drums