PLAYING THE FOOL - THE OFFICIAL LIVE

One of my favorite live albums of all time, recorded at about the same time I saw them perform at the Armadillo World Headquarters in Austin, Texas (one of my favorite concerts of all time). I'm writing this review the week before the release of the35th Anniversary reissue, so I'm reviewing the original CD issue on One Way Records. I may buy the new version since it contains a bonus track, but the sound quality is wonderful on the One Way version. If I have a complaint, it's that the cover artwork is somewhat blurry, almost like a bootleg's would be. As far as the quality of the compositions and performance, it's flawless. Gentle Giant is one of the few bands that make me want to own every live album that's available (assuming the sound quality is decent), even if the set list is the same. Unfortunately, there are quite a few GG live releases that sound terrible, so buyer beware.