Gentle Giant remasters

I would've thought they were also used for the Terrapin Trucking/Road Goes On Forever remasters from several years back which were, from recollection, supervised by members of the band.

 

Thanks for letting me know! I was just wondering whether to "upgrade" my Vertigo copies of their debut album and Octopus as well. I'm quite happy with Octopus but their debut album sound really thin and there is lot's of hiss in the background.

 

I believe that Peter is right about the Terrapin Trucking/Road Goes ON Forever CDs being from the original master tapes.




Ed Hurdle
HeavyDistortion

 

Trust me, the Line issue of _Octopus_ beats the Vertigo. I suspect the Vertigo had the treble jacked or is from a different source tape. Find a Line issue, they are pretty cheap. Don't bother with the mini lp from Universal Japan unless you want the packaging, because it is essentially the same as the Line.

The Vertigo is very good, however, don't get me wrong. But that Line issue is one of warmest CDs I've ever heard.

 

I also have this CD and I'm not too pleased with the mastering,- (ear-bleed). I remember my old vinyl copy sounded SO much better, but I do not have a turntable ATM so I am not able to compare.
Hopefully the new version will be better. Think I'll have to dig out my old vinyl collection and buy a new turntable.

___________
SI

 

CDUniverse shipped my two CDs today. Hope to give a review in a few days!

 

Am I wrong, or is the One Way Records version of "Playing the Fool" a needle drop? Sure sounds like it to me.

 

Thanks for letting me know! I tried to find Line copies of their debut album,Octopus and Three Friends at gemm.com,amazon.com and couple of other sites but without any results.

Let me know if you know where I could find copies of those albums...

 

Plus their prices are very good (not always the best, but usually among the best).

 

I have that one as well. It sounds great.

 

I recieved my two remasters yesterday from CDUniverse.

I have "Free Hand" on right now and it sounds fine. Nice open sound.

I have to say that this album would be fantastic in 5.1, the song
"On Reflection" sounds like a surround song using my Denon recievers 5 channel selector. The voices ring out all over my room. Very neat!

Gentle Giant were an unusual rock group to say the least.

 

How do the remasters compare to previous cd versions?

 

Turns out that Gentle Giant were a well recorded group. To my ears these new remasters sound as good as the previous cds discussed above. A very pleasant listen.

The new remaster of Free Hand has a bonus cut, a live version of "Just The Same" from Hempstead NY's Calderone Center from 1976.

 

eBay is going to be your best bet and I don't see any up there right now. Three Friends on Line has been near impossible to find for me. I am still looking. I would also imagine the Repertoire issues of the s/t (the original issue not the mini lp done by Eroc - though I will say he did some amazing work on this, but it is loud and typical Eroc) and _Octopus_ to be good, but I haven't heard them.

 

So does that mean that Reportoire and Universal Japan (mini-lp) both released just the S/T and Octopus? That is very strange. What about the two in between? Acquiring the Taste and Three Friends are equally deserving. What makes it more strange is that Octopus is arguably the best of the first four, whereas S/T is definitely the worst by far! Strange.

 

Is Line the only release ever of Three Friends with the original cover art? I would love also to have a cd of that title without the duplicate S/T cover. That was lame!

 

It does mean this, yes. And I suspect that it is a licensing issue as to why these two were issued and not the mdidle two. But obviously, I don't really know the reasoning.

 

The Line is, yes.

Ttbomk, _Three Friends_ has only been issued by Line (long oop w/ original UK cover art) and Columbia. The reason _Three Friends_ was issued with the s/t cover in the US is (iirc) because that was Giant's first US release and it was felt that the "Giant" drawing better depicted a memorable image for the band. So, I believe the US Columbia CD actually just mirrors the original US Lp release.

 

Both were 11.99 at Best Buy! And several copies to boot!

 

I think these are worth picking up if you lack Gentle Giant in your rock collection.

This is certainly music you just don't hear anymore (on radio or in people's homes).

I get a kick out of their take on medieval english music combined with free-form jazz. Wild!!

 

This is what I was thinking too.

 

Took your advice and picked this one up yesterday.

It sounds good....didn't hurt my ears

The music is different, the way the vocals follow the changing time signatures (don't know how else to describe it, I'm not a musician) takes some getting used to, but I enjoyed it.

Will definitely buy "In a Glass House", though I can't figure out why it's more expensive than Free Hand.

 

Wow a GG thread!! Not too often you see one of these. I can offer my humble opinions on earlier comments and comparisons as I have done a lot of comparing with digital and analog on these guys. Firstly the Line CD issues of the first four albums do sound good, they were the first digital issues to hit the market as imports here in the states. The unusual quarks about them are only these: On Acquiring The Taste, the title instrumental track has a bad wow on the first note as if the tape machine was coming up to speed. This is apparently incorrect as the original vinyl is not like that. On Octopus, track three, For Everyone, contains two or three extra piano notes at the beginning of the song that were not on the original vinyl. As for sound these are great sounding digital versions but they do not sound as good as the vinyl. Even the domestic Columbia issue of 3 Friends has more bottom and thrust that the Line CD. The re-issue of Octopus on US Columbia does sounds better also in the same regard. This is all my opinion keep in mind. Now for the later issues. I have a pristine quiet copy of Glass House on UK vinyl and the CD issue that was packaged and distributed by the band (the second issue with the bonus tracks) comes real close to that!! I really had to strain to hear any differences. I don't remember any that stood out enough. Also the import Road Goes On Forever issue of Free Hand is real close to a USA Capitol pressing, in fact I remember being dissapointed in the vinyl because it did not sound any better and was noisy. Power And The Glory on the same label with bonus title track sounded better than the original USA Capitol Cd issue and close enough to a UK WWA pressing that it was not worth the noise to tolerate. For some reason it was really hard to get quiet copies from UK Chrysalis for the later albums so all of mine are on Capitol USA pressings but have not had the CD's to compare these to. The 35th anniversary issues should be killer if master tapes are used as planned and they run a super A/D converter!! PLay this music all you guys!!!!! It's fantastic!!!
Also worth checking out is the out of print Under Construction set. It's two CD's worth of early tracks, outtakes and rehearsals that give you a real good view into the creative process this unique band went through to put out those fantastic albums!!!

 

Glad you liked it. I've grown quite fond of Free Hand. I'm just amazed how well recorded this music was and how it avoided FM Radio in the 70's.