I neither like the sound of some of his keyboards, nor do I like his singing and song-writing. The band changed with Brent, I didn’t like a lot of the new material . . . . I liked Keith and Donna a lot, saw the band with them four times, saw them once with Brent, and just lost interest in the band. I don’t collect the material after the Godchaux departures. We’re all different.
For me New York, Songs for Drella and Magic and Loss are his best work. I think maybe he’d slain all his daemons at that point. Not sure anybody wanted the collaboration with Metallica …
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Others stopped when Pigpen left. To each his own. I saw the band with Keith and with Brent dozens of times. I saw Keith and Donna’s last show and Brent’s first (was living in the Bay Area in that period). I also saw Keith and Donna with Jerry’s band. I was never a fan of either of the Godchauxs. She was often off-key and came in at the wrong time and he just pounded the heck out of his piano (sometimes drowning Jerry out) and wouldn’t play organ much at all. Brent was a breath of fresh air and he and Jerry developed a real rapport in their playing. I was very happy when the band made the switch. But I know others who also preferred Keith and really liked Donna, and that’s fine. The band changed a lot over the years and each period has its fans.
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I listened and was dumbfounded at the poor sound quality of this release. By far the worst sound quality they’ve ever released IMHO. If all the mid 80 shows are of this quality then please don’t release another.
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Fantastic release from last year. This represents all the available multi-track songs from the first three Gentle Giant albums remixed/remastered by Steven Wilson. I’ve never heard “Nothing At All” sound this good. A must listen for all Prog rockers! Highly Recommended.
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I’m not familiar with this label…looks good!
Another listen to Orlando Gibbons, since there was an article on him in Copper
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The Pigpen years are my favorite. 
I much prefer Keith’s playing to Brent’s. As you say, to each their own. Regardless of the piano playing I prefer the Dead before Brent.
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My wife, who speaks fluent French, loved this. It was more of a struggle for me, even with the text from the program notes. Nevertheless the whole experience was very like sitting in the courtyard of a French château as the evening light faded enjoying a half-understood story. If you speak no French and do not enjoy medieval music this may not be for you.
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A wonderful description of the music and the experience listening to it.
This inspired me to pull Richard Eihorn’s Voices of Light, his 1994 composition inspired by the incredible 1928 silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc , directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer.
Einhorn’s work was premiered with a live performance accompanying a screening of the film (I have attended one such performance, remarkable).
The libretto contains bits of various ancient writings, primarily Medieval female mystics, as well as excerpts of the accusations by Joan of Arc’s contemporary accusers.
The recording features Anonymous 4, a superb quartet of women. They represent Joan of Arc in the composition, singing in unison.
The entire effect is stunning.
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The recent Washington Post article was very disturbing. I already find that I can’t listen to recordings by Levine or Dutoit. I’m still on the fence with Daniele Gatti. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra fired Gatti this week. Part of me feels like we have a “guilty until proven innocent” scenario, the other part of me has zero tolerance for harassment.
I was listening to this amazing live SACD on the RCO label one day before seeing the news that he was fired…not sure yet if I’ll give it a second spin…
I, too, was greatly saddened when the news first broke about Levine some months ago. Thank you for the link to the July 26 Washington Post article. I’ll read it now.