Prog Rock Reissues

Matt Till · #1 07-19-2005, 10:01 PM

Tis' the season for prog rock reissues, I guess. King Crimson aside, both Genesis and Gentle Giant seem to be releasing there old albums, remastered. I picked up Gentle Giant's free hand... it's some crazy mess of crazy. Very poppy, while being musically complex, a feat I once thought impossible.

I very strongly considered picking up some early Genesis, but alas, Mr. Herbie Hancock decided I would be buying Headhunters instead. I don't know if Genesis just released their remasters, but the Gentle Giant remasters just started popping up.

Side note: I never knew how good Barnes and Nobels CD section was! Awesome jazz section aside, the rock section appeals more to the arty rock crowds, instead of the pop rock crowd. Very cool.

Jay Terrien · #2 07-19-2005, 10:03 PM

Matty,

Did Ray Shulman (Producer: The Sundays, Trash Can Sinatras, etc.) used to play with GG? I think he was the bassist. I tried to track him down a few years ago online but I think he is buried in the gaming composition world. God, I really loved his production values.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

I picked up Gentle Giant's free hand... it's some crazy mess of crazy. Very poppy, while being musically complex, a feat I once thought impossible.

**Adam Barkley** · #3 07-19-2005, 10:31 PM

Every Crimson disc I own is a remaster.

Matt Till · #4 07-20-2005, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jay Terrien

Matty,

Did Ray Shulman (Producer: The Sundays, Trash Can Sinatras, etc.) used to play with GG? I think he was the bassist. I tried to track him down a few years ago online but I think he is buried in the gaming composition world. God, I really loved his production values.....

Didn't have the liner notes with me, so:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allmusic.com

Gentle Giant was born out of the ruins of Simon Dupree & the Big Sound, an R&B-based outfit led by brothers Derek, Ray, and Phil Shulman. After switching to psychedelia in 1967 and scoring their only major hit that year with "Kites," as Gentle Giant the group abandoned both the R&B and psychedelic orientations of the previous band; Derek sang and played guitar and bass, Ray sang and played bass and violin, and Phil handled the saxophone, augmented by Kerry Minnear on keyboards, and Gary Green on guitar. Their original lineup also featured Martin Smith on drums, but they went through several percussionists in the first three years of their existence.

Yeppers, cool. I'm fairly new to Gentle Giant. I got Three Friends on Vinyl from my dad.

Matt Till · #5 07-20-2005, 07:50 AM

Hey, what do you know? I went on to read this:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allmusic.awesome

Ray Shulman later became a producer and had considerable success in England working with bands like the Sundays and the Sugarcubes

I'm so not English... Sundays? Sugarcubes? Me confused?! Make pants in toilet?!

fulcrum · #6 07-20-2005, 08:40 AM

Nick Davis is remastering all the Genesis recordings one by one. I think he's just finished up Selling England By The Pound (or maybe it was Nursery Cryme) and may still be tweaking The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway-- the only real holdup being Peter Gabriel and his, um, deliberating.

You should check out the Genesis fora; Davis moderates his own forum there and when he's not on vacation answers questions about the recording process as it relates to Genesis and The Farm.

That is also where I learned that Anthony Phillips (genesis' original guitarist) will shortly be releasing remastered versions of several of his better-known quasi-prog records: The Geese and the Ghost, Wise After The Event, and 1984. Required listening.

Gentle Giant is, or was, unreal. Their live album, Playing The Fool, should be next on your To Buy list. You won't believe that all that stuff went down live.

While Ray Shulman went on to produce The Sundays, his brother Derek went on to a career in A & R mookdom and eventually the presidency of Atco Records. Just thought I'd throw that out there.

Matt Till · #7 07-20-2005, 11:08 AM

On "Free Hand" Gentle Giant put a live track of "Just the Same" at the end for the remaster. It's amazing how they can create such a huge sounds live. I mean, you listen to the album and wonder if they could pull that off live. And the most certainly could!

Strange, I saw "The Lamb Lies Down..." at Barnes and Nobel. I could have swore it was the remaster. Regardless... they wanted 28 bucks for it! I have it on vinyl, so that might have to wait.

Matt Till · #8 07-20-2005, 11:14 AM

Was the Genesis/Gabriel split on bad terms? I know they re-did carpet crawlers and put it on the best of, so it can't be that bad. My dad told me Petey just wanted to do something different and was sick of wearing big costumes on stage to fit the stories.

Jay Terrien · #9 07-20-2005, 01:56 PM

Shulman produced the Trash Can Sinatras genius album "I've Seen Everything" which easily makes it into my Top Ten Album's List. Goddamn brilliant textures and orchestrations on that one.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Hey, what do you know? I went on to read this

I'm so not English... Sundays? Sugarcubes? Me confused?! Make pants in toilet?!

Matt Till · #10 07-20-2005, 07:03 PM

Goddamn brilliant eh? Me thinks me shall keep this in mind... but soon forget because... damn, I'm seriously broke as hell.

page · #11 07-21-2005, 12:12 PM

I have the record and cd of King Crimsons Earthbound..........and if you listen to the record, youd be damn glad they remastered it on cd.

Farley · #12 07-21-2005, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

Was the Genesis/Gabriel split on bad terms? I know they re-did carpet crawlers and put it on the best of, so it can't be that bad. My dad told me Petey just wanted to do something different and was sick of wearing big costumes on stage to fit the stories.

The split happened because Gabriel had his first child and was at a different place in his life. He was the one who actually came up with the idea of wearing costumes on stage - the fox's head, the slipperman outfit, etc.

As far as the split. . . I understand that it was amicable, he went into the band best friends with Tony Banks (most underrated keyboard player in prog music IMO) and left on good terms.

lucas vigor · #13 07-21-2005, 01:30 PM

I have to second the barnes and nobles thing, especially for mail order...you can get darn near anything..

I just ordered some classic yes albums, and each one is remastered, and with many addional songs!

Pruitt · #14 07-21-2005, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Till

On "Free Hand" Gentle Giant put a live track of "Just the Same" at the end for the remaster. It's amazing how they can create such a huge sounds live. I mean, you listen to the album and wonder if they could pull that off live. And the most certainly could!

GG is one of my all-time favorite bands and Ray Shulman a direct reason why I began playing the bass 25 years ago. Free Hand is an excellent album! I always have at least one GG CD in my cars CD changer. I believe "Power and the Glory" is in there now. Heh heh...

If you want to hear some great live stuff, pick up "Playing the Fool Live". You won't regret it. I wore out 2 copies of that album back in the 70's and 80's and have a couple of copies now on CD. It's probably my all-time favorite "Live" album I own.

While I have most of their CD's already, I plan on buying the newly remastered ones also.

There's also a DVD available called, "Giant on the Box". The quality is not the greatest, but it's amazing to watch those guys trade off instruments with each other mid song sometimes and just keep on going. lol

page · #15 07-21-2005, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucas vigor

I have to second the barnes and nobles thing, especially for mail order...you can get darn near anything..

I just ordered some classic yes albums, and each one is remastered, and with many addional songs!

A lot of those bonus tracks are studio run-thrus of the main songs on the albums. Its kinda funny to hear anderson without all of the backing harmonies.

Matt Till · #16 07-21-2005, 02:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Farley

The split happened because Gabriel had his first child and was at a different place in his life. He was the one who actually came up with the idea of wearing costumes on stage - the fox's head, the slipperman outfit, etc.

As far as the split. . . I understand that it was amicable, he went into the band best friends with Tony Banks (most underrated keyboard player in prog music IMO) and left on good terms.

I figured, I mean I figured he didn't really have a problem with Phil or anything, I know he played on some of Gabriel's solo stuff. Agreed on Tony Banks, he doesn't jump right out at you like most keyboard players, but what he does is brilliant. In that same vein, same goes for Richard Wright of Pink Floyd. I remember when I was younger (and stupider

) I was shocked when I found out Pink Floyd had a Keyboard player.

page · #17 07-21-2005, 10:54 PM

I was just had "dancing with the moonlight knight" on.........brilliant song.

KeithPas · #18 07-21-2005, 11:07 PM

I have been a Gentle Giant fan for a long time and it is good to see these guys getting their due respect. I currently have "Playing The Fool" and Octopus" in my CD player, incredible stuff. The thing that floors me the most about this band besides the quality and complexity of their compositions and their incredible vocal harmonies is the fact that when the bass player puts down his bass and starts tearing it up on guitar, the lead singer straps on the bass and absolutely kills it!!