Artistically Cryme

AMG Review of Artistically Cryme

François Couture
All Music Guide

First released illegally (bootleg) in the late '90s, Artistically Cryme was given a legit release by the label Glasshouse in early 2003. This concert by Gentle Giant was obviously recorded by an audience member on a cheap cassette recorder. The stereo image is narrow, low frequencies have been lost, and the whole thing sounds muddy. It is a good concert (from Lund, Sweden, September 19, 1976, in case you wondered), typical of the Interview tour. Other shows from that tour have been made available, starting with the official 1977 live album Playing the Fool, but also on Interview in Concert, another title from Glasshouse's series that is far superior in sound to Artistically Cryme but misses the encore medley of "Peel the Paint"/"I Lost My Head," included here. The softer numbers like "Funny Ways," "On Reflection," and "Knots" (part of the Octopus medley) have been better captured than loud prog rockers such as "Experience" and "So Sincere," both suffering from signal overload -- the guitar solo in the latter comes through as finely detailed as your morning oatmeal. Add to that frequent drops that will make you wonder if your CD player is skipping (nope, those tiny blanks must have been on the master tape) and you get an "official bootleg" of interest only for the die-hard fan and completist. On the other hand, those looking for the whole experience will find that the concert seems to be complete, from the opening walk-on pre-recorded music down to the cheering before and after the encore.