Gentle Giant Albums (23)
'Live in New York'
Release Date 7/26/2005
Tracks 6
Label Glass House [VCP]
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What The Critics Say
One more in the gloriously unstoppable series of historic live recordings unveiled by Gentle Giant's own Glasshouse label, Live in New York captures the band during its 1975 American tour, with epic performances of six songs -- "Cogs in Cogs" and "So Sincere" from the previous year's The Power and the Glory; "Free Hand" and "Just the Same" from the newly released Free Hand; and the old faves "Funny Ways," "Runaway," and "Experience" (melded together in a magnificent medley). As such, it echoes the basic shape of the band's first ever live album, 1977's Playing the Fool, but that is no reason to overlook it. Throughout this period, Gentle Giant were at their peak as a live band, with every performance bringing new, or at least unexpected, nuance to all that they did. Plus, the relative freshness of the newer songs sees the bandmembers still undecided precisely how to present them at their best (although they're getting very close), a mood that adds a genuine thrill to the proceedings. Only the slightly less than perfect sound quality could knock this set down in the listener's estimation, but in truth, if you care enough about Gentle Giant to be buying it, then a bit of hiss and boom will not hurt you in the slightest. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
'Live in Santa Monica 1975'
Release Date 5/17/2005
Tracks 7
Label Glass House [VCP]
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What The Critics Say
Considering how sonically intricate and perfect Gentle Giant were in their vinyl prime, it's a little surprising -- and very dismaying -- to discover how far their standards have fallen in recent years. Yes, there's a market for Gentle Giant live recordings, and one that happily devours every morsel it's offered. But with the sound quality firmly locked in the basement, and little regard for anything beyond bootlegging the bootleggers, this is the kind of album that could give barrel-scraping a bad name. The Santa Monica show mumbles through five of the seven tracks; the closing two part "For Nobody" was taken from a Dallas gig two years later, and doesn't really add anything beyond chronological confusion to the party. Neither should the liner notes be granted more than a cursory glance -- one side of the booklet reproduces a music paper interview from 1972 (so it, too, is irrelevant to the proceedings); the other half reproduces it again, in smaller print. So, shoddy packaging, lousy sound, and very little regard for any of the niceties that a serious CD archive campaign could allow them to exercise. Looks like the bootleggers weren't the only rip-off merchants around. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
One of a rapidly growing body of live Gentle Giant performances from the '70s that have begun surfacing on CD, Prologue is the next thing to a bootleg: the fact that the title is misspelled as "Prolouge" on the back cover and the spine is sort of a dead giveaway. The two-CD set encompasses two shows dating from the periods of In a Glass House and The Power and the Glory, respectively; the first disc and part of the second come from an April 5, 1974 concert in Munster, Germany, and the balance of the second disc is filled out with four numbers from an October 10, 1975 show at the Philadelphia Spectrum. The material is drawn from among the group's best work, from their prime creative years, though it is debatable if this is the best way of hearing it. That's especially true of the Munster material which, though it is a taut and bracing performance, is lacking in sound quality, it's sort of medium-fi, with the vocals somewhat weaker than the instruments. Much better is the material from the Spectrum, which comes close to the quality of an official live album, and shows off such pieces as "The Advent of Panurge," "So Sincere," and "Free Hand" to great advantage in a concert setting. Each of the members does get a showcase for his playing, and completists will have to own this set, but more casual fans will be disappointed by the amateurish packaging and uneven sound. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
'Artistically Cryme'
Release Date 2/25/2003
Tracks 13
Label Voiceprint
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What The Critics Say
First released illegally (bootleg) in the late '90s, Artistically Cryme was given a legit release by the label Glasshouse in early 2003. This concert by Gentle Giant was obviously recorded by an audience member on a cheap cassette recorder. The stereo image is narrow, low frequencies have been lost, and the whole thing sounds muddy. It is a good concert (from Lund, Sweden, September 19, 1976, in case you wondered), typical of the Interview tour. Other shows from that tour have been made available, starting with the official 1977 live album Playing the Fool, but also on Interview in Concert, another title from Glasshouse's series that is far superior in sound to Artistically Cryme but misses the encore medley of "Peel the Paint"/"I Lost My Head," included here. The softer numbers like "Funny Ways," "On Reflection," and "Knots" (part of the Octopus medley) have been better captured than loud prog rockers such as "Experience" and "So Sincere," both suffering from signal overload -- the guitar solo in the latter comes through as finely detailed as your morning oatmeal. Add to that frequent drops that will make you wonder if your CD player is skipping (nope, those tiny blanks must have been on the master tape) and you get an "official bootleg" of interest only for the die-hard fan and completist. On the other hand, those looking for the whole experience will find that the concert seems to be complete, from the opening walk-on pre-recorded music down to the cheering before and after the encore. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
'Playing the Cleveland'
Release Date 1/1/2003
Tracks 9
Label Glass House
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What The Critics Say
When it comes to live recordings, 1975-1977 is a period very well-documented in the life of Gentle Giant. Besides the "real" live album, Playing the Fool, recorded during the Interview tour, there are numerous "official bootlegs" in circulation. What gives Playing the Cleveland its special flavor is the fact that it was recorded very early in 1975 (January 27, in Cleveland) -- not the Free Hand tour, but the Power and the Glory tour. Sure, it begins like just another similar set list: "Cogs in Cogs," "Proclamation," "Funny Ways," the "Runaway/Experience" medley -- all songs performed at every show during the aforementioned period. "Excerpts from Octopus" is shorter than usual, including only "Knots" and "The Advent of Panurge." Then follows "So Sincere," augmented by the percussion jam that quickly became the visual highlight of the group's show. And there, tucked after the drum bash and unannounced on the sleeve, is a powerful rendition of "Mister Class & Quality" (a song rarely documented live, from the album Three Friends) abridged and segueing right into a show-stopping performance of "Valedictory." Hardcore fans will find that moment alone worth buying this album, despite the shaky sound quality (absolutely listenable, but the master tape has a few flaws) and repetitive set list. The CD is rounded out by two songs from a concert in New York in November of that year. They have little extra merit, although the sound quality is much better, and "The Runaway/Experience" includes a surprising synthesizer cadenza. For casual listeners who only want to own one or two of those official bootlegs, Playing the Cleveland gives you a good and ear-friendly run, all things considered. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Taken from what sounds like a soundboard recording, The Missing Face documents a concert at the Ballroom in Cleveland, OH, sometime in November 1977. First released as a bootleg in the late '90s and later given an official release by the Glasshouse imprint, it boasts reasonably good sound and excellent playing. 1977's The Missing Piece is the LP where Gentle Giant crossed the line from trying to give their complex progressive rock sound a simpler, more readily accessible rock form to running away from prog altogether to salvage their record contract. As listeners know, it didn't work and, although less miserable than the follow-up, Giant for a Day, The Missing Piece still has little to recommend it. That's why this live album is such a surprise. Five out of the ten songs it features come from the group's then-current LP, but they sound crispier and more lively; in short, they make more sense. "Two Weeks in Spain" turns out to be a very respectable show-opener. If "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It" still sounds like a one-line joke and "I'm Turning Around" is too drab to catch attention, "Memories of Old Days" makes for a brilliant, richly arranged acoustic number and "For Nobody" concludes the disc with a punch. Little survived from the group's previous tours, but the over-exposed "Funny Ways" is still there to content fans of the early days, while "Free Hand" and "On Reflection" remain show highlights. Instead of playing "Proclamation," "So Sincere," or "Cogs in Cogs" from The Power and the Glory, the group opted for "Playing the Game" and "The Face," two tracks that deserved some attention. The Missing Face duplicates the set list of the 1978 concert included on the album Out of the Fire, but it makes a nice addition fans will enjoy -- maybe more than they first thought possible. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
This 2-CD set pairs recordings from two American concerts in 1975 -- the tour promoting Free Hand. They probably circulated as bootlegs before being officially released by Glasshouse in late 2002. We begin in White Plains, NY on October 3. The set consists of a poorly rendered �Cogs in Cogs" (they never pulled that one right on stage), �Proclamation," �Funny Ways," the usual In a Glass House and Octopus medleys, �On Reflection," �So Sincere" and its drum bash, �Plain Truth" and a truncated violin solo, �Free Hand" and �Just the Same." Sound quality ranks from fair to poor; the show was obviously recorded by a fan in the audience, rather far from the stage. The performance is strong, especially in �On Reflection" and �Free Hand," but nothing here tops the vintage live album Playing the Fool or the excellent official bootleg Interview in Concert from a year later (also released by Glasshouse). Three weeks later (October 28) Gentle Giant performed in Berkley, CA. The set list is exactly the same, minus a few songs to fit both concerts on two discs, the performance equally good, but sound quality takes a dive, going from poor to very poor. Murky sound, crude edits, tape wear and an occasional faulty left channel turn this one into a test of endurance even for the die-hard fan. ~ Fran�ois Couture, All Music Guide
'In a Palesport House'
Release Date 1/1/2001
Tracks 9
Label Glass House
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What The Critics Say
In a Palesport House is the second release from Glass House, a label issuing official versions of the best Gentle Giant bootleg recordings. Most material on this one comes from a show in Torino, Italy, early in the In a Glass House tour of January 1973. The set includes material from all albums up to the band's 1973 opus. The beginning of "The Runaway" (the glass section and the first notes) is missing from the master tapes. "Way of Life" gets a nice treatment but the vocals are often offkey. "Funny Ways" is yet another version of that song, the most frequently performed by the band. "Knots" is as evil as can be. "The Advent of Panurge" starts off nicely, but the middle section is missing; an abrupt edit concludes a minute or so of serious imperfections in the master and skips to the middle of the recorder quartet. The most valuable part of the CD is "Nothing at All," downright sleazy when Derek Shulman hits the heavy part. It includes a drum solo. "Plain Truth" features a violin solo but a long section in the middle has been edited out; it fades out during the last verse and there are serious problems with the PA system when the violin enters. The version found on Live Rome 1974 is better. The last two tracks are taken from a television broadcast. Except where edits and defects in the master tape occur, the sound quality is pretty good with a decent mix (some of the instruments used by Gentle Giant were quite nightmarish to mike). This CD is interesting for the dedicated fan, since "Way of Life," "Nothing at All," and "Plain Truth" don't appear on Playing the Fool, the band's only "real" live album. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
No one will argue: The legendary progressive rock band Gentle Giant was at its best in 1974. Re-energized by the success of their latest LP The Power and the Glory, the band's live show took a new life. Recorded November 11, 1974, in Rome, Live Rome 1974 is an attempt at capturing this energy. This CD is an "official bootleg." Sound quality is average at best, very poor in the worst moments (the first track, "Introduction/Giant/Cogs in Cogs/Proclamation," is plagued with sound level variations, speed variations, and master tape alterations -- and doesn't contain "Giant"). Mixing is non-existent and some instruments come in tremendously loud while others are buried (getting to the acoustic guitar duet, you'll have the raise the volume). So it comes down to the performance, which is in the band's stronger-than-average range for that period. The set list shares similarities with Gentle Giant's "real" live album Playing the Fool: the In a Glass House and Octopus medleys are quite the same, "Funny Ways" is just another version of that tune. The most interesting part is the half-hour segment of "Nothing at All" and "Plain Truth," which includes a drum solo and a violin solo. But let it be clear that because of its flawed sound Live Rome 1974 should only be considered by devoted fans. Others should start with Playing the Fool. ~ François Couture , All Music Guide
