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Van Der Graaf Generator


"The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome" is the eighth studio album by British progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator, released in 1977. It marked the band's last studio release before their reunion in 2005. This album features a more energetic, new wave sound compared to its three immediate predecessors and anticipates the style of singer and songwriter Peter Hammill's solo work from the late 1970s. For this album, bassist Nic Potter returned to the band after leaving in 1970, and violinist Graham Smith (from String Driven Thing) joined the line-up, replacing organist Hugh Banton and saxophonist/flutist David Jackson, who had departed after the previous album, World Record (October 1976). This change in the lineup significantly altered the band's sound. Officially, the band was known as "Van der Graaf" for this album and the subsequent live album Vital (July 1978), although promotional materials from Charisma Records at the time used both the full and shortened names.