Gentle Giant

felona wrote: Manunkind wrote: felona wrote: I've heard that many people do not like GG on first, second or even third listen ... that it takes some time to really appreciate ... was this true for you guys? I've only got 'Octopus', but I got into it straight away. If you're buying that one, get ready for one exhilirating ride. I won't even bother trying to describe the music from that album. Someone once said that talking about music is like singing about architecture. I agree completely, even more so as when it comes to GG, 'architecture' is the second word that springs to mind after 'music'.   From what's been said so far  I'm preparing my ears for a real workout ...are there any other bands comparable to GG that I  could listen to which might help  ?

Nope - like Yes, Gentle Giant are a band to compare other bands to, not the other way round. There is no major group one can compare them to.

Get these remasters people, the sound quality on these, is stunning . Plus you get a few live bonus tracks as well.











Edited by Velvetclown

Sorry but they really are amazing !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just avoid the INTERVIEW remaster, there´s something wrong with that one:

From AMAZON.

The mistake is that what you are listening to is a remaster of the RIGHT CHANNEL ONLY, playing in mono panned to the center. I did A/B tests with the BGD issue of Interview and had a couple of friends who dig GG listen to it with me to confirm my suspicion. The way GG produced their albums was very unique, with interlocking layers often kind of corresponding with each other from speaker to speaker. This means that on this particular issue, you're only getting half of the layers, since the other half are on the missing left channel. For instance, the MAIN GUITAR RIFF that carries the last four minutes of "I Lost My Head" is COMPLETELY GONE. Half of the vocal layers on "Empty City" are COMPLETELY GONE. "Another Show" sounds the most confused due to this mistake--it sounds like you're listening to half a band.

Derek--PLEASE REMEDY THIS SITUATION!!! I have been wanting a definitive master of this album since getting into it a few years ago, and this ain't it! So far, the other three reissues sound AMAZING, LIGHT YEARS better than any other issue released beforehand. Please fix Interview !!

Trouserpress wrote: felona wrote: Manunkind wrote: felona wrote: I've heard that many people do not like GG on first, second or even third listen ... that it takes some time to really appreciate ... was this true for you guys? I've only got 'Octopus', but I got into it straight away. If you're buying that one, get ready for one exhilirating ride. I won't even bother trying to describe the music from that album. Someone once said that talking about music is like singing about architecture. I agree completely, even more so as when it comes to GG, 'architecture' is the second word that springs to mind after 'music'.   From what's been said so far  I'm preparing my ears for a real workout ...are there any other bands comparable to GG that I  could listen to which might help  ?   Nope - like Yes, Gentle Giant are a band to compare other bands to, not the other way round. There is no major group one can compare them to.

This isn't 100% true. There was an obscure American band called Yezda Urfa sporting a similar sound and according to the mp3 I heard  

http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_BAN D.asp?band_id=355

and the reviews I read the 2 albums they released are a match for GG's best.

Gentle Giant are also the main source of inspiration for the Polish band Gargantua

http://www.gargantua.abc.pl/

(mp3s available on the site) and while the pupil hasn't surpassed the teacher, neither definitely needs to be ashamed!

All should get this DVD + CD as well.

Trouserpress wrote: Oi Velv! Do you have to tease me?

 

hey TP ... I am getting the remasters (currently in transit from USA) if (god forbid) I  don't like them, maybe we can do a deal ...

Trouserpress wrote: Manunkind wrote: Trouserpress wrote: felona wrote: Manunkind wrote: felona wrote: I've heard that many people do not like GG on first, second or even third listen ... that it takes some time to really appreciate ... was this true for you guys? I've only got 'Octopus', but I got into it straight away. If you're buying that one, get ready for one exhilirating ride. I won't even bother trying to describe the music from that album. Someone once said that talking about music is like singing about architecture. I agree completely, even more so as when it comes to GG, 'architecture' is the second word that springs to mind after 'music'.   From what's been said so far  I'm preparing my ears for a real workout ...are there any other bands comparable to GG that I  could listen to which might help  ?   Nope - like Yes, Gentle Giant are a band to compare other bands to, not the other way round. There is no major group one can compare them to. This isn't 100% true. There was an obscure American band called Yezda Urfa sporting a similar sound and according to the mp3 I heard   http://www.progarchives.com/Progressive_rock_discography_BAN D.asp?band_id=355 and the reviews I read the 2 albums they released are a match for GG's best. Gentle Giant are also the main source of inspiration for the Polish band Gargantua http://www.gargantua.abc.pl/ (mp3s available on the site) and while the pupil hasn't surpassed the teacher, neither definitely needs to be ashamed! Oh I agree! I could name a dozen bands with strong GG influences. The point I was making is that GG did it first - there's no MAJOR band that made comparable music, only obscure groups who dig the sound and take it in their own directions.

You're right, GG was there first, but Felona was asking for a bands with a comparable sound to get herself prepared for GG, so I obliged.

 aw shucks...

Playing The Fool, The Missing Piece, Giant for a Day and Civilian are also due to be released. The other, alas, were released by Vertigo and it looks like they're not being cleared for remastering... Who knows, though?

I find this band painful: too much breaks, rythm changes, bad singing...overrated in my opinion.