Power & The Glory [Original recording remastered]

Gentle Giant | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 12, 2010)
• Original Release Date: January 12, 2010
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Alucard Records
• ASIN: B0030U1TA2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #16,643 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Proclamation

2. So Sincere

3. Aspirations

4. Playing the Game

5. Cogs in Cogs

6. No God's a Man

7. Face

8. Valedictory

Editorial Reviews

Gentle Giant was born out the ashes of Simon Dupree & the Big Band sound,a successful UK Based Rock and R&B outfit lead by brothers Derek, Ray and Phil Shulman. 1n 1970 the brothers Shulman founded Gentle Giant. Their untilization of complex classical chords and time patterns, together with hard rock, blues, Jazz and even medieval melodies set them apart from any other "Progressive" Groups. This Album is fully remastered for the first time from it's original 1/4 inch Tapes.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Remaster sounds pretty good overall although the bonus title track isn't part of this version, February 7, 2010

By 

WTDK "If at first the idea is not absurd, the... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Power & The Glory (Audio CD)

A vague concept album inspired by Graham Greene's novel of the same name (that focuses on the abuse of power, religion and corruption) "The Power and the Glory" followed in the wake of the band's "In A Glass House". Unfortunately, the band had lost some of its momentum in the U.S. when Columbia Records (their U.S. label)elected NOT to release "In a Glass House". With a new label (Capitol at the time), "The Power and the Glory" managed to skirt the bottom end of the charts.

The remaster from Alucard (the band's own label)in some ways improves on the DRT; "Glory" doesn't sound quite as harsh here as on that reissue (the original Capitol release sounded extremely good with a smoother analog feel). Fred Kervorkian has used some compression and different e.q. choices on this remaster. The resulting album is something of a compromise with better, richer detail than before but the use of specific band compression also means that the CD sounds less "natural" than the previous Capitol version. Dynamic range is mostly kept in tact which is a good thing and the remaster isn't brickwalled as many remasters are. There is limiting applied as well as some denoising (at the request of the band) but it isn't as obtrusive as I thought it would be. The best comparison I can think of is that this shares a lot of assets and drawbacks as The Beatles remasters.


The one drawback is that this reissue along with the others that were previously on DRT have had all the bonus tracks removed. For some albums such as "Free Hand" that might not be all that big a deal since they were live recordings but "The Power and the Glory" DID feature the previously withdrrawn title trackthat the band had recorded under duress as a possible single and for possible inclusion on the album. If it HAD been released when this album was, I suspect "Glory" would have sold better since the title track has a catchy riff and melody that would have earned it airplay on FM and perhaps even some AM radio stations at the time. Eliminating that track from this reissue was a mistake even if the band felt it wasn't a great song.

Overall the sound quality is pretty good for a reissue particularly in light of what passes for a "remaster" today with harshly compressed, dynamically squashed sound. Even if this edition of "Glory" is missing the bonus title track, this version is an improvement on the DRT with much better e.q. choices and a less harsh sound. The detail is crisper, sharper here than the Capitol version of this CD which more than likely didn't use the original mastertape (this reissue does). All hype aside (there's hype on the back of this about it being mastered at 24 bits but the album still had to be dithered down to smaller bit size for Redbook CD), this does best the DRT and in my humble opinion does sound better than the Capitol version even if that verion is warmer sounding simply because a better source tape was used for the mastering.

Cautiously recommended because of the missing bonus tracks. "The Power and the Glory" isn't Gentle Giant's finest album but it holds up remarkably well 35 years later.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Things Can Change, Things Can Stay The Same, May 5, 2003

By 

Solo Goodspeed (Granada Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Power & Glory (Audio CD)

In many ways, a breakthrough for this underappreciated quintet, Gentle Giant seemed poised to take on the mainstream with this, their first release on Capitol Records in 1975. They even enjoyed their first (if not only?) airplay on L.A.'s KMET with the song "Playing the Game". Despite other reviewers' claims of more dissonance than other albums, that is maybe the case on the first two songs, but the rest of this collection is pretty solid, funky, more repetitious and accessible than this exceptionally creative group had been up to this point. For more dissonance, check out the later release "Interview".

Further clarification is in order: One reviewer claims this to be GG's first concept album. That claim belongs to "Three Friends", released two albums previously. Others have compared GG on this release to Pink Floyd and Van Der Graaf Generator. They are nothing like either of those groups, though I can hear a slight similarity between the openings of "Aspirations" (a beautiful, reflective, jazzy piece) and "Plague of Lighthouse-Keepers". But to lump Gentle Giant in with other styles of prog of that period ..... uh-uh. They had a sound unto themselves, a deliriously syncopated, hard rocking blend of medieval madrigal and funk, and seemed to have more fun playing this highly complex hybrid of sound than many of their self-serious contemporaries. If you asked them what music they enjoyed, they would drop names like War, Funkadelic and Rufus ....... you get the idea.

Back to this album: Yes, there is a concept, and it does tell a very political tale of rise to power, ideals, confidence, manipulation, compromise, betrayal and abuse. Interestingly enough, Power and the Glory came out towards the end of the Nixon Watergate scandal ..... heard in that context, there's a whole other idea of why this album was well-received. Political implications aside, the music is perfectly performed (with just the right amount of dirty edge), cleanly recorded and, as stated before, contains a musical freshness and energy like few others before or since. It's kind of sad that something released nearly 30 years ago can be so much more alive and innovative than current fare ...... but I guess that really depends on what kind of ears one brings to it.

Ultimately, if YOUR ears are starved for something classic that sounds new, recorded at a time when notes and musical knowledge mattered, plug this one in, turn it up loud, and prepare for some serious (but fun) jaw-dropping ecstasy.

"The gentlest music I've 'eard ..... aside from thunderstorms." -the Giant

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretentious was never this much fun!, February 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Power & Glory (Audio CD)

Those who saw Gentle Giant performing in their heyday were always surprised by how much humour played a role in the live GG experience, rambling jokes in between numbers being par for the course. After their music was branded as pretentious by music critics they even took to touring with a huge neon sign flashing the word "PRETENTIOUS" over their heads. This spirit of playfulness was reflected in most of their music, including Power and the Glory, one of their best albums. It was the first one I ever heard and my initial reaction was "whaaaaaat?", particularly when faced with the frankly insane and utterly brilliant So Sincere. Power and the Glory is not one of their most accessable albums - not that accessable is a term anyone ever applied to Gentle Giant anyway with their nutty time signatures and sometimes raw dissonance counterpointing fragile melodies. But boy does it repay anyone who sticks with it for a couple of listens. What strikes one perhaps the most, compared to much music production nowadays, is the sheer clarity of it. There is no fudging, every instrument is crystal clear and in your face. If this is your introduction to Gentle Giant you might want to purchase Free Hand or Octupus as well and start with one of those since they are a tad easier for the first time listener. But Power and the Glory is one of their best albums and certainly the one that I find myself listening to the most. Just remember that the whole idea behind their music was that it was supposed to be FUN! And you'll have a great time.