A richly rewarding experience, it takes an acquired taste to love GENTLE GIANT. That’s why, perhaps, the band’s reissue programme has been progressing slowly but turns out impeccable. There won’t be a regular album, though, to see the light of day in the wake of the "Octopus" expansion; instead, the veteran proggers’ opted for what can be perceived as a new concept. Planned for a September 29th release; “Three Piece Suite” is a collection – or “specially curated selection” as they formulate it – of numbers from the group’s first hat-trick of albums: nine cuts creating a fresh, if chronologically ordered, experience, and an earlier song, all remixed by Steven Wilson in stereo and 5.1 surround sound.
Still, this concept was born out, or based on, of multi-tracks’ availability, because the rest of the cuts from these records exists only as masters, yet the remastered albums in their entirety are included on an animated Blu-ray which accompanies the “Suite” CD in one of the format to be made available, the others being a standalone audio CD, a 2LP version and a digital download of both CD and Blu-ray.
Housed in a beautiful digipack and accompanied by an essay that Anil Prasad penned which incorporates recent interviews with the players, “Three Piece Suite” looks like this – surely a must-have item:
Three Piece Suite
CD:
1. Giant
2. Nothing At All
3. Why Not?
4. Pantagruel’s Nativity
5. The House, The Street, The Room
6. Schooldays
7. Peel The Paint
8. Mr. Class And Quality?
9. Three Friends
10. Freedom’s Child
11. Nothing At All (Steven’s 7-inch edit)
Blu-ray:
The Steven Wilson Remixes –
As 1-10 above in
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
96/24 5.1 LPCM
96/24 Stereo LPCM
Instrumentals –
As 1-10 above in
96/24 Stereo LPCM
Original Album Mixes in –
96/24 Stereo LPCM
“Gentle Giant”:
1. Giant
2. Funny Ways
3. Alucard
4. Isn’t It Quiet And Cold?
5. Nothing At All
6. Why Not?
7. The Queen
“Acquiring The Taste”:
1. Pantagruel’s Nativity
2. Edge Of Twilight
3. The House, The Street, The Room
4. Acquiring The Taste
5. Wreck
6. The Moon Is Down
7. Black Cat
8. Plain Truth
Three Friends:
1. Prologue
2. Schooldays
3. Working All Day
4. Peel The Paint
5. Mister Class And Quality?
6. Three Friends
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