Gentle Giant

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ianwhiteford, Jan 30, 2011.

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  1. ianwhiteford

    ianwhiteford Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Can anyone advise me on the best Gentle Giant issue / reissue on cd please? I have vinyl copies but want to buy them on CD and need to make sure I buy the best versions for sound quality.
     
  2. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
  3. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
  4. ianwhiteford

    ianwhiteford Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    I am looking to get the first 5 albums really
     
  5. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    For the first 5, the most readily available and best sounding are:

    Gentle Giant: 2003 Repertoire CD
    Acquiring the Taste: 2004 Repertoire CD
    Three Friends: 2009 Repertoire CD
    Octopus: 2006 Repertoire CD (also an expensive SHM-SACD, but you must be able to play SACDs)
    In a Glass House: 2000 Alucard remaster CD

    A lot of people here also like the old Line CDs made in West-Germany, but they may be much harder to find.
     
    albertop likes this.
  6. ianwhiteford

    ianwhiteford Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    thanks for your time and great advice. I will start ordering
     
  7. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    You're welcome. :)
     
  8. I think that Eroc did a great job on these but he didn't do what I would consider a flat transfer which is good because in this case some songs needed a bit of help. He may have done some stuff flat and other stuff not so much but whatever he did improved most of these albums in my opinion.

    There are other opinions of course. Avoid the Japanese repressing of "Three Friends" as it is compressed and distorted sounding on some tracks.

    be aware that the first pressing of "Acquiring the Taste" has a mastering flaw on it (which was supposed to be fixed)where some garbage sound intrudes on "Black Cat" IIRC--take a look at the thread and you'll find the info there. Rep sent me out a replacement disc but it had the same flaw so I'm not sure when and where it was replaced.

    "Octopus" sounds terrific the first pressing also had a minor flaw--a small gap between two tracks that made the gap a bit longer between two of them (can't remember which ones)but that was not a big deal to me.
     
  9. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    Does no-one have the latest Alucard ones yet? Comments? Yet another reissue or worth having (at least they're cheap)
     
  10. ianwhiteford

    ianwhiteford Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    How do the remasters listed compare to the original AAD copies released (i think ) around 1989?
     
  11. Plan9

    Plan9 Mastering Engineer

    Location:
    Toulouse, France
    If you're talking about the original Vertigo CDs, favourably, I'd say.

    I had the 80's Vertigo CDs first, and replaced them with the Repertoires, which were definitively an improvement IMO.
     
  12. ianwhiteford

    ianwhiteford Well-Known Member Thread Starter

    Thats good enough for me then. Thanks again
     
  13. stereoptic

    stereoptic Anaglyphic GORT Staff

    Location:
    NY
    I have the latest remasters of The Power and The Glory and Free Hand and are quite happy with them. I now longer have my vinyl or the prior remasters to which I can compare. They are not compressed to my ears. Other forum members more or less agreed here: Gentle Giant Remasters (Part 2)
     
  14. JohnG

    JohnG PROG now in Dolby ATMOS!

    Location:
    Long Island NY
  15. vinyl diehard

    vinyl diehard Two-Channel Forever

    :D:D:D
     
  16. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    I thought that was just a copy of the US Columbia cd mastering?
     
  17. There are comments (I think) in the previous Gentle Giant Remasters threads. I like the latest Alucards better than the previous masters...they aren't quite as harsh although they are somewhat similiar to the Beatles remasters in that there was a bit of noise reduction used (sparingly)and occasional use of transparent peak limiting (I'm still trying to figure out what THAT really means--I'm sure someone can explain to me so I can understand) IIRC. I'd have to go back and read the interview I did with Derek when they came out. He wasn't involved in the remaster directly but just approved the work.

    Some titles are better than others but none of them have bonus tracks.

    I also liked "Interview" as well. That one had a troubled history on CD including the first issue that the band issued themselves of the album. At first they accidently issued it using the mono master (and it sounded pretty crappy at that) but later corrected that. I don't think the album has sounded quite as good as the version on Alcuard myself.

    They were actually mastered by Ray Shulman but they credited the engineer who worked with him on the sessions and not Ray (according to an interview I did with Derek last year). I don't recall that I really got an answer to my follow up question as to WHY (we went off on a tagent--Derek indicated that they are working on an animated musical film version of "The Power and the Glory" but were still exploring backing for it at the time).
     
  18. Nope. If it is they compressed the hell out of it because it's really LOUD compared to the quieter U.S. copy (could be the same source tape though but it came from Universal) and there's signficant distortion during some of the louder passages that isn't on the original recording.
     
  19. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    This is the Mini-LP gatefold sleeve?
     
  20. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    IIRC Ray has numerous other production responsibilities and might be under contract.

    A bit of NR might help 'Power and the Glory', which hissed even on LP. I'll probably get up to Free Hand, my favorite. Love that stuff, and especially the fact that they pretty much rearranged the tunes drastically every time they played them live. I wish the Rock style stuff wasn't so repetitive and boring, when the rest was so fascinating..
     
  21. Yes, the mini-LP gatefold sleeve from Japan not to be confused with the one that Rep put out which sounds quite good and Eroc remastered.
     
  22. Jeff Carney

    Jeff Carney Fan Of Specifics (No Koolaid)

    Location:
    SF
    For the stuff to which Universal owns the rights (first four albums), the only really decent sounding CD I have heard is the recent SHM-SACD of Octopus. Line, Vertigo, Repertoire, Columbia, Japanese pressings ... pass. Better to hear this stuff on vinyl, IMO.
     
  23. Robobrewer

    Robobrewer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Thornton, Co.
    I have the first 4 GG CDs remastered by Eroc and I think they sound great. I highly recommend them.
     
  24. Robert Lan

    Robert Lan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Taipei
    The one I have here is Vertigo UICY-9689, remastered in 2005 by Hitoshi Takiguchi according to the liner notes. That's probably the one you're referring to. I haven't heard the Eroc remaster, but the Takiguchi is definitely bright and sounds nothing like the UK vinyl.

    Best,

    Robert
     
  25. Jeff Carney

    Jeff Carney Fan Of Specifics (No Koolaid)

    Location:
    SF
    The Japanese mini lp of Three Friends was determined to have probably been remastered from the Columbia CD because of an obvious indexing error that it shared and apparently only the Columbia CD ever had.

    But it was remastered. Brickwalled by Hitoshi Takiguchi ... I think those were basically the reports on it.
     
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