David Randall chatted to Gentle Giant frontman Derek Shulman on release day, featuring tracks from the album and with reference to Derek’s subsequent career as a top record company executive. First broadcast on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, 4 May 2025.

Chrysalis [Release date 02.05.25] 2-CD set

Over the years, specifically in the early 2000s, Gentle Giant were subject to a series of “official bootleg” releases of dubious if historic quality. It is only right, then, in 2025 a definitive live set is reissued with the requisite sonic and setlist tinkering. Oh yes, and the ubiquitous 5.1 mix.

‘Playing The Fool’ is remixed and mastered and “fully reimagined”. Wasn’t the limited edition 29–CD box set (now retailing on Amazon at £3664.84) enough for fans? Or even the 35^th anniversary edition?

The novelty here is that the original album – which was taken from several shows on the band’s tour in September/October 1976 – is now re-sequenced so that certain missing bits are restored including the between song banter. As a result this release is trumpeted as the nearest thing you’ll get to experiencing Gentle Giant live, warts and all. To these ears, there are few warts. Even the reference to “turning the tape over” is historically significant.

Musically, this tour marked the apex of the band’s lifespan majoring on ‘Free Hand’ but also a judicious amount from their earlier album sorties. By the late 1970s the band was wrestling with changing musical taste and mostly the onslaught of punk and new wave. Sadly the band tried to be a bit more “commercial” before their demise in 1980 and it didn’t really work.

For the uninitiated, they were an intense hybrid of prog, folk, jazz- and hard rock. This also sits well with some of their early contemporaries such as Focus, Jethro Tull and Genesis and should appeal to fans of all. Check out ‘Excerpts From Octopus’ for a good summation.

Of course, progressive rock bred excess and there is a fairly short lived drum solo but also a five minute violin solo…(one of the three “unreleased” tracks along with ‘Timing’ and ‘Interview’).

The band were multi-instrumentalists. Keyboard player Kerry Minnear spearheaded much of the writing (with Ray Shulman) whilst Gary Green infuses an appealing blues rock guitar throughout. The band also used recorders, saxophone, cello and vibes whilst Derek Shulman offered his distinctive lead vocal. The other brother Phil Shulman had left the band in 1973 whilst drummer John Weathers had replaced Martin Smith in 1972.

They did have a unique sound and have arguably become more loved in the millennium, a highlight being the Lockdown collaboration when original band members came together with fans for a multi national online version of ‘Proclamation’.

For completists it would have been nice to have included a facsimile of the 12 page booklet that came with the first 10,000 copies of the original album (it’s even excluded from the triple vinyl version). Whatever, this repackaging is a real triumph and for trainspotters three unreleased tracks (although included on that massively expensive box set in 2019), decent liner notes and…a poster!

Seventies prog has never sounded so good. ****1/2

Review by David Randall

This is an exclusive non-broadcast extract from David Randall’s recent interview with Derek Shulman. The full version will be broadcast on Sunday 4 May at 22:00 BST (GMT+1) on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio. (repeat: Monday 5 May, 22:00; Friday 9 May, 22:00)

Book review (Giant Steps, 2025)
Book review (2020)

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David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 16 November 2025.

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Power Plays w/c 1 December 2025

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