This is simply one of the best live albums ever. Gentle Giants studio albums were cerebral, complex, tricksy affairs. Live, they pulled out all the stops and were flamboyant, fun and exuberant. The double live album was de regueur in the 70's. This glossy gatefold was bought for a paltry £3.99 at my then local record shop Walkers in Irvine, which was bargain even then! It came with a nice booklet, with photos and an essay by Sounds writer and Gentle Giant enthusiast Phil Sutcliffe. This is Gentle Giant mixing things up into medleys, improvising and swapping instruments with aplomb. They should have been premier league players in the UK, but seemed to be bigger in the US and the rest of Europe where this was recorded. After this live album, things took a change. The next studio album was The Missing Piece. Great though that is, change was in the air and GG tried to change with the tide. Shame, as they never recovered from the punk gamut. This live album shows the band at their prime and also what wonderfully original and exciting music they could play, with all those instruments too!
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