Gentle Giant Alucard CDs

Any information on the Gentle Giant Alucard CDs would be appreciated.

How do they stack up against the older Line CDs and the newer remasters?

Help appreciated.

 

The Alucard "Glass House" is the best I have heard, although it is still a bit too bright.

I don't think I have heard the others.

 

For everything up through Octopus, stick with the Lines. For everything else the Alucards are adequate.

 

I'm really curious about these because 4 or 5 of the Alucard GG's are in the used rack at a local shop. If they sound good I wouldn't mind picking them up.
I'll keep Glass House in mind.

 

I think the consensus was that EQ-wise they're OK and they're not (much?) compressed.

 

Up to Octopus, I find the Repertoires very good; mastering/restoration (generally from early digital copies unfortunately) courtesy of forum member Eroc.

 

I have the Alucard disks for Free Hand and The Missing Piece. All previous versions (both vinyl and CD) of these two titles I've owned were lackluster in some way. This was why I purchased the Alucards for these two titles only.

The good news is the EQing used in the mastering is all for the better. Free Hand no longer sounds dull as dirt, and The Missing Piece actually has some missing low end restored and is less shrill.

The bad news is there was some band-specific compression used in the mastering stage, but these CDs are NOT brick-walled. There is dynamics in the music--which still ebbs and flows. Now, could the dynamics have been better? Yes. Could the dynamics have been worse? Absolutely.

The prior versions of Free Hand I owned were the original vinyl, the One Way CD and (I believe) the Terrapin Trucking CD.

My prior versions of The Missing Piece were the vinyl and Road Goes On Forever CD.

Of course, this is based on my system in my room and my preferences/priorities. Your mileage may vary.

 

So, thumbs up on the Alucards for The Missing Piece, Free Hand and Glass House.

 

I must warn anyone thinking of searching for a Line copy of the debut: it has a fatal mastering error.

There's a pause between the tracks "Nothing at All" & "Why Not". But that's not all -- wait for this -- the pause comes AFTER the first note of "Why Not"!! Yep, you heard me right.

The sustained organ at the end of "Nothing at All" finishes, the first organ note of "Why Not" begins, then it pauses for a few seconds, finally resuming with "Why Not"'s second note. Completely unacceptable. For such a glaring mistake, I'm surprised that it hardly ever gets mentioned.

And then for good measure, the CD doesn't have the little keyboard "ditties" which are supposed to occur in between some of the tracks. Way to go, Line.

 

I bought them all and recently listened to them all in a row.....they sounded good. They arent sonic marvels but they sound about as good as I've heard them sound so definitely worth picking up.

 

Some folks can't stand the Eq on the Alucards and consider them harsh. I personally don't think they are that bad and are listenable.

I prefer Eroc's Rep remasters for the first four albums including "Octopus". He may have used many of the same tapes but he did a very nice job with them improving on the Line IMHO (except for the digital glitch on "Acquiring the Taste" first CD pressing that is).

 

Same here

 

I can only go with my 2 cents here with the Alucard "In A Glass House", which I like very much (NICE mini-album replica, including the original Giant head inner sleeve with lyrics, BTW). Anyone else noticed the channels are reversed (in ref. to the LP) in some parts, like prominently at the beginning of "Experience"? ...Or did I do something really stupid with my rig!??

The extra material is cool to have too, and gives a good picture of the Giant tearing it up on the title track live, in the summer/fall of '73.

 

I picked up the Alucard Free Hand today. It's the only GG title that I needed that I was missing. I hope to be able to give it a spin this weekend, when the wife is out and I can adjust the volume to properly appreciate the dynamics better.

 

Make sure the neighbours are away too: they'll likely get scared, or at least worried! :O)

 

The first Mini-LP version on the European Rock Legend Series does not have that pause and it is the recommended digital version of this album.

 

I like Alucard's quite a lot, but i must admit that while i can tolerate the compression, the use of NR in the quiet parts of the title track of Free Hand drives me nuts. The great ambience in the beginning of the song is totally lost in the new version. But i like the EQ.

 

It should be "British Rock Legend Series". I apologize for the mistake.

 

At the end of On Reflection (5:10) I hear a horrible phasing problem. ALU-GG-12.
It's also on the Freehand/Interview twofer CD I have.

My original ONE WAY copy is fine - BUT Skips due to overuse/travel etc...

Is there a better Alucard version now? Are they all messed up?

Thanks!
Mike

 

For "In A Glass House" and "The Power And The Glory", I prefer the earlier Road Goes On Forever or Terrapin Trucking CDs because of the better dynamics. Also, the Road Goes One Forever CD of "The Power And The Glory" has the "title track" included as a bonus track.

 

There are two Alucards of Glass House The 2000 mini and the 09 remaster by Kervorkian. Which one are you talking about.

 

I have them and yes they are good but hampered by huge amounts of tape hiss.

 

The Japanese mini of Octopus is exactly the same as the German line. In 2012 BGO did remasters of the first four by Gentle Giant as twofers and I think they give the Repertoire's a run for there money.

 

Overall, I'd say that the quality of the Alucard releases has been quite good. I was particularly happy with the latest releases of Three Friends and Octopus. I liked the Repertoire versions as well, but I prefer the Alucard's here.

 

Sorry, the original 2000 one.