Customer Reviews

Out of the Woods: The BBC Sessions

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As the author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent" I am often asked for my views on various rock and roll albums from the 60's and 70's.

When it comes to Gentle Giant it is a pleasure to write about them. I have been collecting every album for over three decades.

Many have overlooked this release thinking that if they have one or two of the Gentle Giant live recordinsg they are set. Please don't make that mistake.

With their tremendous ability to improvise no two live shows will sound the same. In this case for no other reason you want the CD for the terrific unreleased song "City Hermit." The consistance of the BBC appearances 70-75 will be obvious on every note. From the section with the material from Octopus to Free Hand tunes, you can experience the band in its different phases in live glory. Derek Shulman often called the BBC "Auntie B." You can tell there was a comfort level between the station and the band. They could do their thing without compromise.

It's summer time so get it out of the woods and into your home.

Be well always,
Craig Fenton
Author of the Jefferson Airplane book "Take Me To A Circus Tent"

Last time I checked, there were close to TWENTY live and/or BBC session albums by Gentle Giant.
So it might get a little difficult for newcomers to figure out which one(s) to get.

This is one of 'em.

"Playing The Fool" is their best live cd in terms of performance, sound quality and song selection. (If you don't have that one yet, come back here in three weeks after you've digested that gem...;-) And their "King Biscuit Flower Hour presents..." cd is another fine product. But I like this "Out of the Woods" cd a lot, partly because the band always finds a new wrinkle to throw into these already great songs, and also because this is about the only place you'll find the 5-minute opener "City Hermit". That song is in mono, and not on the same level of sound quality as the rest of the album - but still quite adequate, and the song itself is a worthy addition to your GG catalogue. Ya needs it.

Not much more to say - it's live Gentle Giant, so it's great. I think it's one of their top 3 live cd's.
There - I did the research for ya...

I value interesting music that is played and recorded well. This cd's rating was based on:
Music quality = 9.3/10; Performance = 9.0/10; Production = 8.5/10; CD length = 10/10.
Overall score weighted on my proprietary scale = 9.2 ("4-1/2 stars")