Raindances: Transatlantic Recordings 1973-1975

This remastering of these classics was clearly a labor of love, and it shows. The details are stunning, the clarity is crystal clear, the dynamics are as wide as can be. It's like years of dust and rust have been taken off this music so it can shine in its original glory. Absolutely worth the wait!The booklet provides some fairly in-depth background on the band's history particular in the world of studios and record labels. Richard Harvey is conspicuously absent from these recollections, a circumstance perhaps explained best by an aside toward the end offered by Graeme Taylor that he and Richard were in constant competition even before Gryphon formed: Graeme says they were both considered prodigies. When the label tampered with the playlist for their fourth album, favoring Richard's compositions over Graeme's (and presumably Brian Gulland's), this was the final wedge between Graeme and the band.If you're not familiar with these utterly unique musical offerings, which straddle the worlds of progressive rock, classical music, and early English instrumentals (replete with a panoply of historic instruments), you owe it to yourself to acquire this double-album. Not only is this a must-buy for those who already know and appreciate Gryphon, it is self-recommending to those willing to take a journey into musical excellence.I cannot recommend this album highly enough. Kudos to the engineers (something I've not been prone to say with other remasterings done for other bands over the last decade). Will sonic wonders never cease!

While the 2 cds and booklet were fine, the plastic cd case was broken on arrival.

Nice to get digital versions of favorites.

The Editorial Review reads: “UK two CD anthology featuring every track from the four albums released by Gryphon on the Transatlantic label between 1973 and 1975.” The Esoteric website makes a similar claim. But, in truth, this reissue is missing the instrumental suite “Dubbel Dutch” from Midnight Mushrumps.In 1996, Castle Records reissued these four albums on two CDs, pairing Gryphon and Midnight Mushrumps on one, and Red Queen to Gryphon Three and Raindance on the other. However, “Crossing the Stiles” from the first album was omitted. When I saw that this song (also an instrumental) was included on the Esoteric reissue, I naively assumed that it would really be “complete”. (Alas, I did not count the songs!) Esoteric substituted the shorter song (2:26) for the longer one (5:35), resulting in three and a half minutes less music than the Castle reissue.Now, one might argue that choices had to be made in order to accommodate the time limitations of the CD. BUT, the second CD of this set clocks at 79:54, longer than what the first CD would be if it were really “complete” (74:05 + 5:35)! Obviously, space is not the issue, it’s just sloppy compiling.On the plus side, it’s a lot of very good music to cram into two discs, and to my ears, the remastered sound is superior to the old Castle discs. If you’re not a completist, this is a good buy. But, it is just so irritating to be suckered by false advertising. Esoteric’s reputation as the premier reissue label for progressive rock is starting to badly tarnish—witness the botched reissue this year of Blodwyn Pig’s first two albums. (See the reviews on the Amazon website.)

great remix must prog cd

Service toujours impeccable. C’est un excellent album regroupant les quatre premiers disque du groupe. Le son est superbe grâce à une excellente remasteurisation.

Un album per amanti del genere, molto rilassante, un ottimo album rock folkloristico, very good.

ottimo doppio cd, atmosfere mediovali, primi Genesis, ad un prezzo eccezzionale

Bien que je ne sois pas "fan" de l'album "Raindance" restent les trois superbes premiers albums , le tout remasterisé !!!Petit bémol cependant : À défaut d'intégrale, il s'agit plutôt d'une compilation à 30 sur 31 ... En effet il manque l'avant dernière piste de l'album "Midnight Mushrumps" à savoir "Dubbel Dutch" (5mn 35) ... Alors problème avec la capacité d'un CD audio ? La durée de ce premier CD étant de 74mn 05, ce qui donnerait un total de 79mn 40 ... est-ce la seule explication ? Un peu dommage mais, malgré tout, quel bonheur !