Back in June, I was mindlessly doomscrolling when an advert with music started playing. Because the algorithm knows me uncannily well, it was an advert for a new Gentle Giant reissue. “Big whoop,” I thought, as the sound of breaking glass from the album’s introduction started. But as soon as The Runaway started, I was shocked by how much more punch the music had. Even over my iPhone’s tinny speaker, I could hear a massive uptick in the bass and drums, bringing them to the fore. I had to hear this remix for myself.
I rifled through the comments to see what others were saying; amidst all the expected jubilation and fan love, others were asking how this remix could even come to be. It’s a fair question, because Steven Wilson skipped this particular album whilst remastering the rest of the GG catalogue. This is because the master tapes were sadly lost, though there is no official story as to why.
Nevertheless, whilst giving interviews on his new memoir Giant Steps last year, frontman Derek Shulman had hinted that he was using AI to bring In a Glass House back to life, and this product is the fruit of his endeavour. Naturally, the mere mention of AI will have alarm bells ringing for purists and naysayers, but the proof that AI can be a powerful tool to remix and remaster music is right here in the pudding. I always thought In a Glass House was a great-sounding album, but after just a few seconds of this reissue, you won’t want to go back.
When I spoke to Mr Shulman for an interview, I was curious to know exactly how he’d utilised AI, which he had described as ‘more advanced than what the Beatles used on Now and Then.’ I hoped that it had just been used to isolate the instruments from each other so that remixing could be done from scratch; the interview confirmed this, but I was fascinated to hear how deep the AI could go, separating each drum component (snare, hi-hat, bass, etc) into different tracks for full control. He confirmed that the AI had not been used for anything else and that the remixing had been done by hand.
In an era when artists are getting caught red-handed peddling music that is fully AI-generated, the caution around accepting that AI can be used as a force for good is warranted. When used in a non-generative way, such as this, it simply becomes another tool at the disposal of producers to make music sound the way they want it to. Did we lambast the Beatles when they slowed the rhythm track of Rain down by 20% to give it a trippier sound? Both are examples of technology being used as a means to achieve a creative goal rather than replacing human creativity.
In fact, it makes me excited when I consider the prospect of more albums from the 70s receiving the same treatment. When I discovered Carmen (who also had Tony Visconti producing their records) two years ago, I was bitterly disappointed by the sound quality of Esoteric’s ‘remasters’ that didn’t sound any different to the 2007 vinyl rips. After singer David Clark Allen informed me of the loss of those master tapes due to a flood, I had resigned myself to the possibility that I’d never get to hear these albums in their full glory. As this AI technology improves and becomes more accessible, however, it might be possible for all sorts of poor-sounding albums from the past to get shiny new remasters. What an exciting prospect!
In a Glass House has always been my favourite album of Gentle Giant’s, even if Derek Shulman himself has always related it to the troubled time in the band’s history when brother and founding member Phil left the group after the recording of Octopus. The band were reduced to a five-piece, but the line-up proved to be stable, lasting until the band’s dissolution in 1980. Despite the enormous pressure of figuring out if they still wanted to continue after a core member of the group had left, coupled with a tight deadline – Derek has said it took 4-6 weeks to write, record and mix the album – Gentle Giant managed to produce another prog rock masterpiece that has stood the test of time.
Perhaps it was that desperate feeling of uncertainty after Phil’s split that pushed the band to write arguably their darkest and heaviest music of the era. Gone is the whimsy of Octopus; the album’s pitch black sleeve lets you know that the band are on a new track while the sound of smashing glass that opens the album creates an instant sense of unease. While Octopus succeeded in showcasing short-form prog (with only one track longer than five minutes), the band give into their indulgences with four brilliant lengthy tracks hovering around the 7½ minute mark.
I always have to give first place to The Runaway, an energetic, adventurous track that never stays still and takes the listener through a twisting labyrinthine structure. Like many of Gentle Giant’s songs, the more you become familiar with its intricacies, the better it feels to mentally bop along to. The remix cranks up the rich bass to envelop the listener while the drums will punch new holes in your eardrums, all while leaving space for the rest of the instruments. Besides a bit of reverb that wasn’t evident on the original LP, the sound feels completely authentic while also brand new.
Having recently reviewed the Eyes of Blue 3CD box set, it only recently came to my attention that Weathers was the drummer in both groups, although you might not be able to guess it just from hearing the two bands side by side. Welsh drummer John “Pugwash” Weathers was no longer the newcomer to Gentle Giant at this point, as he had debuted on Octopus, originally as a stand-in for Malcolm Mortimore, who had been injured in a motorcycle accident. However, it’s arguable that he cemented his trademark style here, having adapted to fit the group’s needs.
Powerful and deliberate, Weathers’ drumming for Gentle Giant was refreshingly free of gratuitous flourishes, resulting in a straightforward approach that was nevertheless imbued with rhythmic sophistication. During Experience, Weathers boldly plays a simple common time ‘money beat’ during the guitar solo while the other players engage in other rhythms, providing a strong foundation. Weathers’ restrained, economic approach was by no means simple; on The Runaway, he provides just as many different beats and styles of playing as the other members do. He delivers the complexity that the music requires without ever distracting from the rest of the music, and helped to solidify Gentle Giant’s trademark complex-yet-fuss-free sound going forward.
The four long tracks have their own distinct identities, with The Runaway sounding mainly dark and brooding with some fun bits, Way of Life switching between speedy rock-based sections and symphonic excursions, Experience foreshadowing the complex polyrhythms of Free Hand and Interview while the title track has the most mood shifts and tempo changes of all. It’s quite unbelievable how much the group were able to cram into one song and have it still sound good in the end.
And then there’s the two shorter tracks, that I rarely tend to reach for but are still worthy of merit. An Inmate’s Lullaby is a finely-crafted existential horror piece written from the perspective of someone in a psychiatric unit. The childlike lyrics betray a lack of understanding but their simplicity is more haunting than sophisticated poetry could be. The bridge is particularly disturbing: “Hurt myself this morning / Doctor […] told me that I’m bad / I heard someone saying, ‘I think he’ll be staying.’” The arrangement on the xylophone and glockenspiel is also truly unsettling. Although it’s not particularly what I tune in to Gentle Giant for, I cannot deny the masterful craft here. I’m not sure I can say the same for A Reunion, which feels somewhat disconnected from the album’s darker atmosphere, leaning more heavily into the band’s medieval folk influences.
The remixes bring a clarity and punch to In a Glass House that fans will not have experienced before, and this new edition is a welcome opportunity to revisit a pivotal moment in Gentle Giant’s evolution. The restoration of the original transparent sleeve and die-cut artwork is the icing on the cake; after years of seeing only a printed approximation in my CD booklet, holding a version that finally recreates the original design feels like a small but meaningful victory. This is not just a stunning new way to hear one of Gentle Giant’s best albums – it is an exciting proof of concept for the future of music preservation, offering hope that other previously “unremixable” albums may finally be given the treatment they deserve through the power of new technology.
TRACK LISTING
01. The Runaway (7:24)
02. An Inmates Lullaby (4:29)
03. Way of Life (7:52)
04. Experience (7:48)
05. A Reunion (2:11)
06. In a Glass House (7:40)
07. Index (0:22)
Total Time – 37:41
MUSICIANS
Derek Shulman – Vocals, Alto & Soprano Saxophones, Recorder
Gary Green – Six & 12-String Guitars, Mandolin, Percussion, Alto Recorder
Kerry Minnear – Keyboards, Tuned Percussion, Recorder, Vocals
Ray Shulman – Bass Guitar, Violin, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Backing Vocals
John Weathers – Drums, Percussion
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Madfish Music
Catalogue#: SMACD1362
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 31st July 2026
LINKS
Gentle Giant – Website | Facebook | YouTube | X | Instagram
