The Gentle Giant I don't own - is any of this essential?

[Progatron]

I have all the GG studio albums except Civilian (long out of print as a single disc edition). I've also got Playing The Fool, Out Of The Woods - BBC Sessions and the excellent Giant On The Box DVD/CD. I absolutely love these guys but I don't know if I really need more, or just want more.

Of the following notable omissions in my collection, are any what you would class as essential? (I know there are a few other live albums/compilations but I know they aren't necessary.)

Totally Out Of The Woods
GG At The GG DVD
Scraping The Barrel box
King Alfred's College Winchester
Live In Stockholm '75

Thanks for any and all help, Giantheads!

[rcarlberg]

Have not heard any of the ones you mention, but of the live albums and boots of GG I have heard, I'd say none of them are essential. When they played live, they were very, very faithful to the studio versions -- but less precise and in poorer sound. YMMV

I have GG On The Box, a DVD comp of live TV performances from 1974-5, and although it was interesting... I don't know if I'll ever play it again.

[florentine pogen]

Get Civilian and forget the other titles you mentioned. Civilian is great for what it is and much better than Giant for a Day. In fact, I like Civilian more than their self titled debut.

[ItalProgRules]

Get Civilian and forget the other titles you mentioned. Civilian is great for what it is and much better than Giant for a Day. In fact, I like Civilian more than their self titled debut.

Seconded. CIVILIAN is a great album, no matter what Ray Schulman says!

[VinylRulz]

The "GG at the GG" DVD is essential IMNSHO, despite the less than enthusiastic audience. There's nothing like watching the band in action! Though I have all the rest you mention, I would recommend them only to completists.

Dan

[Progatron]

Seconded. CIVILIAN is a great album, no matter what Ray Schulman says!

Oh, has he made negative remarks about it? I haven't really read a lot of interviews with the GG guys, at least not recent ones. I wonder what he thinks of GFaD? I mean, Civilian has some great tracks on it - just look at "Convenience (Clean And Easy)" - what an opener! Whereas GFaD has... what... "Spooky Boogie"? I actually would have been happy for them to continue in the Civilian vein, at least for a couple more albums. They could have done some really interesting stuff in the 80s.

Ray and Derek are very interesting guys, and are (or at least, were) immensely talented. From what I understand, it was the two of them with Kerry Minnear who wrote the vast majority of the material. I guess Gary Green was more of a player rather than a contributor to the writing/compositional process.

Anyway, it's settled - I'll be grabbing GG At The GG, I'd love to watch some more live Giant!

[No Pride]

Anyway, it's settled - I'll be grabbing GG At The GG, I'd love to watch some more live Giant!

They were touring behind "The Missing Piece" at the time, so the setlist isn't quite as "classic" as "Giant on the Box." But the sound and visual quality is far superior. I'd highly recommend it!

[ItalProgRules]

Oh, has he made negative remarks about it? I haven't really read a lot of interviews with the GG guys, at least not recent ones. I wonder what he thinks of GFaD? I mean, Civilian has some great tracks on it - just look at "Convenience (Clean And Easy)" - what an opener! Whereas GFaD has... what... "Spooky Boogie"? I actually would have been happy for them to continue in the Civilian vein, at least for a couple more albums. They could have done some really interesting stuff in the 80s.

Ray and Derek are very interesting guys, and are (or at least, were) immensely talented. From what I understand, it was the two of them with Kerry Minnear who wrote the vast majority of the material. I guess Gary Green was more of a player rather than a contributor to the writing/compositional process.

Anyway, it's settled - I'll be grabbing GG At The GG, I'd love to watch some more live Giant!

Yeah. PROG Magazine a couple issues ago had some quotes regarding CIVILIAN. Derek liked it, Ray did not.

[trurl]

When they played live, they were very, very faithful to the studio versions -- but less precise and in poorer sound. YMMV

Wow, you think so? I tend to think of GG as one of the bands that reworked their arrangements the most live- even more than King Crimson, discounting improvs. I've not heard any of the releases mentioned either but I find almost every note they ever played essential. BTW, I would say get Civilian somehow- it's not prog per se, maybe, but it's a good album. More worth owning than Giant For A Day imho.

[Polypet]

Wow, you think so? I tend to think of GG as one of the bands that reworked their arrangements the most live- even more than King Crimson, discounting improvs.

absolutely true. their re-arrangements of the material were brilliant and a hallmark of their live shows. i disagree that it was lacking in sound quality also. the shows weren't especially lacking, even if some of the live recordings were. Playing the Fool, for example, has a perfectly fine sound. most of the others less so but that's no fault of the band. they were looser live in all the best ways, most of the time. being live and pulling off the tunes they were playing, needless to say, some shows were more on than others. as a rule though, they kicked ass live (and i saw them many many times).

as for the albums - both Civilian and Giant for A Day have good material on, imho. Giant for a Day has a couple of my favourite Giant tunes on it.

that said, if you want the full set of studio albums they released, you should have those two certainly. all of the last 3 are underrated, i think.

Live In Stockholm '75 is quite excellent - a blistering show really. it's a good snapshot of the hard rocking nature of the band live.

Kim

[Progatron]

Live In Stockholm '75 is quite excellent - a blistering show really. it's a good snapshot of the hard rocking nature of the band live.

Interesting! Perhaps I'll add this to my next order from Lasers Edge since Ken has it in stock. He also has King Alfred's College, but so far nobody has weighed in on that one.

They were touring behind "The Missing Piece" at the time, so the setlist isn't quite as "classic" as "Giant on the Box." But the sound and visual quality is far superior. I'd highly recommend it!

That's okay, I like The Missing Piece. I do consider it a half-step down from the 1970-1976 albums but it's got some great stuff on it. I know a lot of people don't like it, but I actually don't skip anything on it - when I'm in the mood for that album, it's a beginning-to-end spin. The live In'terview tracks would be welcome too, since I love that album. I also hear there's a band commentary track? I'd love to hear that!

[Mister Triscuits]

He also has King Alfred's College, but so far nobody has weighed in on that one.

Fascinating for the inclusion of some unreleased material, but the sound quality is really bad.

[fictionmusic]

Wow, you think so? I tend to think of GG as one of the bands that reworked their arrangements the most live- even more than King Crimson, discounting improvs. I've not heard any of the releases mentioned either but I find almost every note they ever played essential. BTW, I would say get Civilian somehow- it's not prog per se, maybe, but it's a good album. More worth owning than Giant For A Day imho.

yup...I agree totally. In fact I MUCH prefer their live stuff over their albums.

[wideopenears]

Oh, I don't have Giant for a Day....I stopped at The Missing Piece.

[trurl]

Oh, I don't have Giant for a Day....I stopped at The Missing Piece.

GfaD is the only one (besides *maybe* the debut) I would classify as for completists only.

[PeterG]

Oh, I don't have Giant for a Day.

You're not missing anything! You don't need it. IMO one of their worst albums, if not the worst.

[jkelman]

H. When they played live, they were very, very faithful to the studio versions

Seriously? Compare Any most of the studio versions of material on Playing the Fool and what was terrific about Giant was how UNfaithful they were to the studio versions. they rocked more, and arrangements were significantly altered.

[No Pride]

When they played live, they were very, very faithful to the studio versions

That couldn't be farther from the truth. NO prog band rearranged their material more for their live shows than GG. The studio albums are great, but they had a lot of overdubs that couldn't be performed live. And more importantly, they give you no idea how hard they ROCKED as a live band.

Both of their official DVDs, Giant on the Box and GG at the GG are well worth having!

[NorthNY Mark]

Seriously? Compare Any most of the studio versions of material on Playing the Fool and what was terrific about Giant was how UNfaithful they were to the studio versions. they rocked more, and arrangements were significantly altered.

That couldn't be farther from the truth. NO prog band rearranged their material more for their live shows than GG. The studio albums are great, but they had a lot of overdubs that couldn't be performed live. And more importantly, they give you no idea how hard they ROCKED as a live band.
Both of their official DVDs, Giant on the Box and GG at the GG are well worth having!

I agree that the live versions are very different from the studio versions. I'm probably in the minority, however, in finding Playing the Fool far less interesting or satisfying than any of their classic studio albums. As you both correctly point out, the live versions "rock" more, which is the last thing I look for in Gentle Giant. To me, what was best about them was their balancing of the harder elements of their sound with the more delicate contributions of (especially) Kerry Minnear. and I find that balance to be completely lost on PtF.

[wideopenears]

Those are the ones I don't have...including Civilian as well. I do like Out of the Woods, and Playing the Fool....I think they've got a certain energy that is different than the studio versions.
I'm particularly interested in the GG at GG vid.....do I need it, if I have Giant on the Box...??

[florentine pogen]

Giant on the Box is all you need.

[Progatron]

I should mention that I know Civilian quite well, and I like it and agree that it's much better than GFaD (I don't prefer it to the debut album though!) I just don't actually own it since I don't want to buy the twofer version when I already have Playing The Fool. And yes, Giant On The Box is fantastic. Do I understand, then, that none of those titles I listed are particularly necessary additions?

[florentine pogen]

You are correct, sir.

[Progatron]

You are correct, sir.

Gotcha. So other than Civilian (is it ever going to be reissued?), my collection is as complete as it needs to be.

[aplodon]

Do I understand, then, that none of those titles I listed are particularly necessary additions?

If you like Giant On The Box, you should definitely get GG at the GG!