Van Der Graaf Generator - The Charisma Years - Unboxing Video and Review 

Just received this boxset yesterday 😂 I paid $206 Australian dollars. It is unbelievable 😂 Such a beautiful set . The hardback book is gorgeous. , and 19 cds + one blu ray . What can I say . Thanks Phil for your recommendations 🎉😂

That is truly epic and beautifully packaged. Love the Blu ray content. I can really understand why this was your favourite release of 2021. :)

Greetings from Western Australia Phil . Watched your review of the box set . Very taken by the size if the sett . Over 20 cds & blu rays , beautifully presented in a big 12 inch box . Very , very impressive. Watched a few tracks on you tube then I went to Amazon. Luck plays a great deal when you search on Amazon. This stunning bix set is now being sent to me for the princely sum of $208 Australian dollars 😂 I mean WOW right ? All of that boots for around $2 a disc + the book all contained in that beautiful case . Colour me freaking thrilled. Thank you for another if your excellent recommendation Phil ❤😂 It's Autumn here in Western Australia so it is pleasantly cooler . Be well mate .

Excellent overview of the box set, Phil. Have been a Hammill fan since the late 70s but got into VDGG much later. I've got all the remastered CDs and thought this box probably isn't really an essential purchase. But having watched your video I've now changed my mind. Nice one!

Fantastic and extraordinary deluxe box! 🎹🎸🥁👏👏👏👏

I’ve heard of that band. Now with your ringing endorsement I will explore then finally ✌️🌈 cheers from Houston ✌️🇺🇸🎼🎸🎶

fabulous band ..very underrated

Thank you for another fine video Phil. That is a very handsome looking VDGG box set. I have some VDGG in my collection and have always admired them for their musical integrity. As you say, they plowed their own unique musical furrow, complex but rewarding. Peter Hammill is an amazing singer. Personally, this would be more than I would need regarding the band but for a fan it looks a must have. I would also say, buy it quickly because sets like these do not stick around and only get more expensive.

It was a good idea to merge them all together. Don't you know are there any plans for Peter Hammill solo albums box set (like this one)? It's really hard to get PH's early alums for a good conditions now.

Many thanks for a great review. Happy to have ordered that massive box.

Delighted that you love it so much Phil and thanks for the enthusiastic review. I must say that, similar to the John Martyn and Tangerine Dream boxes you mentioned, I would prefer if the albums were presented in their original covers, but at least these are featured in the book. Like you, this is a band I’ve rather glossed over down the years, for no special reason other than I guess you can’t concentrate on everything, as you alluded to. It’s most definitely on my radar and hopefully will stay available long enough to still be around when my existing fall shortlist is in the bag. Do you know if this is a very limited edition?

The greatest band of all time!

Just got my second delivery of VDGG box sets today. Charisma Years is a brilliant and cool piece of packaging. before I got it I felt a bit irked that the cd:s weren't in their original covers but no. Instead they are nicely reproduced in the book (ok, not the back covers), which in itself seems real good. Thanks for overview!

The Blu-Rays are in sleeves. So why not put the CDs in sleeves too? Call me a traditionalist, but you can't beat a new, clean, scratch-free jewel case ... Do you need photos of master tapes? ... The book looks stunning ... 'The Aerosol Grey Machine' is a good album. It's a pity it couldn't be included ... Overall I'm tempted, as it's reasonably priced on Amazon, compared to say the massive Caravan boxset. I just need to decide if I need so much Van Der Graaf Generator in my life. I already have a VDGG boxset which came out many years ago, which I very rarely dip into.

When the first version of VDGG was formed Hammill was there with a white Stratocaster, had songs and could play. On the first four albums, that includes The Aerosol Grey Machine, he is credited playing acoustic guitar added with slide guitar on Pawn Hearts. His 1973 solo album Chameleon In The Shadow Of The Night has him credited with all guitars. VDGG and Peter Hammill solo have been on my radar since "the latter half of the 1980's" and the notion that Peter Hammill was reluctant to play guitar because of the craftmanship of the musicians he was surrounded by is news to me. Also, on the next three albums the guitar is not significantly more present compared to the previous albums. The Quiet The Pleasure Dome is the way more guitar orientated album but the line up on that one is so different that it is hard to compare them, on that one the name is shortened to Van Der Graaf for a reason. If you want to hear Peter Hammill play (electric) guitar I'd recommend listening to his solo albums from the second half of the seventies and the fist half of the eighties.

Are the blu ray discs in this set and the DVDs in the 2cd/dvd sets of H to he Who Am the Only One, Pawn Hearts, Godbluff and Still Life USA format/compatible? Thanks!

Just got my set. Looks great.

What do you think of the remixes vs the remasters that are on the box set?

This looks similar to the Love From Planet Gong box set that Virgin put out a year or so ago. So, I don't know if I want to get this. I bought the Gong box set from Amazon, but had to send it back. One of the cds was scratched so bad that I couldn't get it to stop skipping on the last track

REALLY GREAT BOX. I'M WAITING FOR MINE TO ARRIVE. PLEASE, WOULD YOU DO AN UNBOXING OF CARAVAN "WHO DO YOU THINK WE ARE" MADFISH RECORDS BOXSET ??? I'D LOVE TO SEE IT ALSO !!!!

A very cool band indeed, but like a lot of great music, not very accessible...fine by me !! I've been a fan since the Godbluff album ('75) and recently purchased most of the others, all remastered with bonus tracks. They "demand" several listens and get better each time. Funny note: in Bruce Dickenson's book "what does this button do?" page 41, he mentions that putting on Pawn Hearts could "empty a room after a couple of minutes"...Thanks for the preview , stay well mate!

The whole band involved? Minus Jackson I guess?

Corrección: Charisma Records lanzó álbums icónicos con Van Der Graaf Generator y Genesis

I'll be receiving mine next week. Initial thoughts... We don't need a big photo spread of master Tapes, especially when the lyrics are omitted. Why not include lyrics? And why the hell didn't they put ALL the cds in sleeves like the Blu-ray discs? That is just a horrible idea and I'll be putting mine in white sleeves asap. If I would guess, this whole design is probably done by the same geniuses that do all the esoteric stuff...aka a lot of horrible ideas with packaging and content.

I've been waiting for someone to do this, so thank you. I'm stuck, I can't make my mind up. I've been a big VDGG fan since H to He was released. Got all the albums in several versions. I've got the book released a few years back. The only thing I really need is the 5.1,disappointing that only 4 of the albums are in 5.1. They say they didn't have the masters for all the albums and yet, you show a leaflet showing pictures of all the master boxes? So that's a little confusing. I know these are released separately so I don't need the box but I'm not particularly fond of the individual presentations in the cardboard sleeves that might/probably mark the disc's. Seen the band several times in the seventies and in more resent times, plus a big part of me really wants the box but it's a lot of money for music I already have several copies of. 🤔 So I'd like to know, is there a big difference in the remastering of all the albums? Is the surround sound done well? Just one thing though. You said that this box is all their carrier except Aerosol, that is not the case, it only covers the Charisma years. The last five, The Present, Trisector, Grounding in Numbers, Alt and Do Not Disturb are not included. They wouldn't need remasters anyway though. Having been a fan since I was a teenager, now in my sixties, my heart says get the box, my head says just get the four separate releases for the 5.1. I know everything about them, got the book so don't need to have the book included. So I suppose what I need to know is are the remasters really worth the cash it costs? Cheers.

one word :F A N T A S T I C !!!!!!!!!!!

I've just got this too. Just wish they'd dumped the 5.1 discs and replaced with ALL the BBC sessions. Really pisses me off that the sessions are spread out over four compilations and bonus tracks on the album re-issues.Also the video is unbelievably grainy/fuzzy. The Classic Rock Productions DVDs were far better.

It makes no sense to me why they didn't bother to put all the CD's in protective sleeves. There is a high risk for hairlines on the disc with this solution. My guess is that there are already hairlines since (from my experience) the people putting the disc there shows a lack of respect in their handling during the production stage. I bought the four albums (2 CD and DVD editions) since the boxset was not released in Norway. All the discs had hairlines and marks and the packing was absolutely disgraceful.. I am sending it back to the dealer. There is no way I am paying for that. I will buy the original CD's from the 80's instead. At least the discs are protected in the good old jewel cases.

jackson était le seul saxophoniste a savoir jouer correctement, dans le monde du rock (avec lol coxhill et elton dean),!

terrible packaging...