At the beginning of December a very impressive boxing set of the prog legend Gentle Giant was released. On 30 CDs "Unburied Treasure" not only collects all (remixed) regular albums of the band, but also numerous (partly unreleased) live concerts from all phases of their ten-year history. We talked to frontman Derek Shulman about this unique Christmas present for prog fans.
Shulman was pleasantly surprised by the unexpected success of the box: Even before the official release one day after our conversation, it was already almost sold out. However, despite all his satisfaction, he still stood by his decision to put the band, and with it his musical career, on hold almost 40 years ago.
eclipsed: Who had the idea for this monumental boxing set?
Derek Shulman: To be honest, it was Ian Crockett from Snapper Music who approached us. He knew that we own the rights to all our albums and also have a lot of live recordings from the 70s. So he suggested that we put the whole career of Gentle Giant into this box. We were then involved in the development process throughout the years, and in the end we chose the live concerts. Steven Wilson, on the other hand, remixed some of the studio albums that have not been available in regular stores for a long time.
eclipsed: Are you satisfied with the result?
Shulman: Absolutely! It is, so to speak, the chronicle of that decade in which Gentle Giant was active. That's why the live concerts include almost all stations. There are early recordings with my brother Phil on drums, who quit in the early 1970s. And you can also hear the band's very last concert at the Roxy in L.A. I think it's a wonderful documentary made for the real fans. The box set is limited to 2000 pieces, and they are almost sold out. Ian wanted to have another 1000 copies pressed right away, but we were strictly against it: The number of copies is limited, as announced, and that was it. There will be no reprints. However, we plan to re-release our records on vinyl with Snapper in the future. The first three, which are the first ones, have been sold out for a long time.
