EDGE OF TWILIGHT

This compilation is basically five Gentle Giant albums packed on 2 CDs! Edge of Twilight actually includes the complete version of The Power And The Glory album and almost every track from the first four Gentle Giant-releases. Most of the songs sound much better than their studio album counterparts. The sticker on my copy of the album says "includes many tracks previously unavailable on CD" which might have been true in 1996 but don't expect any new unreleased material outside the songs from the original albums.

There are a few downsides to the compilation. First off, it leaves out material from In A Glass House, probably due to legal issues, and every album after The Power And The Glory. If I have to be picky then it would also have been nice to have great songs like Giant and Prologue from the albums Gentle Giant and Three Friends. Although the albums tracks don't follow any logical pattern I've never had an issue with this since the material flows pretty well no matter the order of songs.

Basically Edge of Twilight is not really a compilation but the flaws that I mentioned don't stop me from proclaiming it as an excellent way of experiencing Gentle Giant which is highly recommended to all prog lovers!

***** star songs: Advent Of Panurge (4:43) Funny Ways (4:28) Peel The Paint (7:30) Cogs In Cogs (3:08) House, The Street, The Room (6:02) Wreck (4:37) Playing The Game (6:44) Three Friends (3:04) Proclaimation (6:48) Knots (4:10) Moon Is Down (4:48) Think Of Me With Kindness (3:32) Valedictory (3:19)

**** star songs: Acquiring The Taste (1:38) Boys In The Band (4:34) Schooldays (7:35) Raconteur Troubadour (4:03) Nothing At All (9:07) Why Not? (5:33) Mister Class And Quality? (5:51) Cry For Everyone (4:03) Isn't It Quiet And Cold (3:46) Plain Truth (7:36) Alucard (6:03) Aspirations (4:38) Pantagruel's Nativity (6:50) River (5:53) The Face (4:11) Edge Of Twilight (3:48) No God's A Man (4:26) So Sincere (3:49)

Total rating: 4,40