I saw them live back in my 80s NYC days and have been a fan since my 70s college radio days where Octopus and Acquiring the Taste got regular play on my show. Yet somehow I never knew the little tidbit revealed in the booklet that Reg Dwight, aka Elton John, played keys in the Shulman brothers earlier band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound and auditioned to be in GG. Consider my mind blown.
I enjoyed the quote-filled booklet essay, and the stereo masters of the first three albums in their entirety are a great inclusion especially considering I'd never heard their first album (and you call yourself a fan).
The SW mixes are, as always, excellent. Unlike some SW-remixed albums where I can hear shortcomings in the source multitracks, Tony Visconti et al knew their stuff and what Steven Wilson has wrung from this 45+ years old material sounds great. Like all the GG remixes I'm grateful and astonished that this exists.
I appreciate that they found a way to take what was available and create a unique collection of non-upmixed GG material, correctly judging that none of these albums had enough multitracks available to justify a stand-alone surround release. Octopus was borderline in that regard, although the upmixes were pretty damn good. The visuals aren't as consistent as on The Power and the Glory, but they have their moments and Peel the Paint is pretty great; both beat the writhing tentacles that make me keep my screen off when listening to Octopus.
Looping menu music, never a good idea, but it's not as bad as Sgt. Pepper.
I don't usually do the 'rate from 1-10' thing, but since I'm in this thread guess I will try. If I were rating this musically in comparison to other GG remixes to date I would give it 8- it isn't their strongest work. When I factor in the labor of love factor evident in the whole presentation and the fact that you get three complete albums in stereo in addition to the surround tracks, I'll bump it up to 9. Gotta save 10 for perfection if and when it happens.
