World Record ［2CD+Blu-ray Disc］

カリスマ、ピーター・ハミルを始めとし、超個性派メンバー達が破綻ギリギリのバランスで拮抗する強烈なサウンドで、英国プログレッシヴ・ロック界の闇の帝王的存在として現在まで活動を続ける彼等のVdGG名義としては最後の作品である本作が、オリジナル・ミックスのリマスター、新規リミックス、5.1サラウンドを収録したブルーレイの3枚組ボックス・セットで登場。より鮮明なリマスターと新たなる発見豊富な新規ミックスにてこの傑作の全てを体感できる決定版的リリース。シングルB面曲と当時のプロモ映像をボーナス収録!

Released in the latter half of 1976 as a half-hearted attempt at some sort of commercial focus in the U.K. and U.S., World Record suffers from several ailments: there was much tension in the band at this point, particularly between leader Peter Hammill and keyboardist Hugh Banton. In the end, the band would split apart, with Banton and wind player David Jackson leaving, while Hammill and drummer Guy Evans recruited replacements. World Record is very much a divided record, sounding beautifully clean, but lacking in both performance and focus. Evans plays as well as ever, but without the creative spark of earlier records; Hammill, meanwhile, was responsible for the rambling, scattered "Meurglys III (The Songwriter's Guild)," a lumbering piece named after one of his guitars. Of the cuts present, the best are the operatic "Masks," which mines one of Hammill's favorite themes, that of identity, and "Wondering," written in collaboration with Banton. "Wondering" is beautifully hymn-like until the very end, when it suddenly becomes querulous and uncertain, ending the album both with a note of hope and a desperate question. ~ Steven McDonald