In Search of Ancient Gods

Ok where to start? Back in 1976 I bought the original Vinyl LP of this album after listening to Radio Londons,Robbie Vincent show (10pm weekdays)and he had Paul Fishman the composer of this album talking about and playing tracks on the show. Now many years later having bought 4 more LP copies of the album,3 singles from the album plus the cassette tape release and in the last 5 years all 3 CD releases of the album the first being the rare Japanese import from Arcangelo Disk Union,the second from Wounded Bird and lastly this latest copy from Grey Scale. So what do I think about this latest offering from Grey Scale,well sadly it's a mixed blessing, it's really not the fault of Sound Engineer John Hughes who put this CD together,he has had to work with a 41 year old master tape,in the album there are lots of quieter moments in the tracks and tape hiss on the CD is very noticeable,the sound is far better than the Wounded Bird release from a couple of years ago. But this is where it gets interesting,I have a rare CD Copy from Arcangelo Disk Union (Japanese import)now this CD was vilified by some because it didn't use an original master tape from 1976,but made it's copy from an LP,--------WHAT! You say,yes LP. I tell you this copy is the far better route to go,bass,mid range,treble and overall sound field is so much more engaging,yes there are a few clicks and pops here and there,but it just sounds a lot better,ask yourself why people are going back to Vinyl.If you still have a record player buy the original album,you can still get on well known auction site,if you haven't and this is your only option then £6-7 is a fair price to pay for this CD it's not bad and far better than the Wounded Bird release. Score 7-10.

Alas, I fear this disk suffers from the same problems as the Wounded Bird release. A close listen to the opening of Chariots of the Gods reveals a lot of distortion in the wind sound effect. I can do no better than to quote an earlier review:https://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B000JGEUFQ/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1"The first CD release I bought was from Arcangelo, a Japanese mini-LP facsimile from 2006 faithfully reproducing the original vinyl cover and inserts. It's downside was the CD mastering from a crackly vinyl copy, as has been mentioned in another review here. This is a problem during some of the quiet passages but isn't prevalent throughout the album. Otherwise the sound quality is pretty good - airy, detailed and dynamic.Woundered Bird's CD release in 2009 used the original master tapes and so should have been a huge improvement over the Arcangelo. The crackles are obviously missing, though some tape hiss is evident. The real problem, however, is that the sound quality suffers from poor reproduction of the above mentioned ARP, which wobbles in a way I don't hear on the Arcangelo CD or my own vinyl copy, and a compression of the soundstage which sucks the life out of the album. It may be that the original tapes were in poor condition and that the sound has undergone considerable processing to compensate. If this is the case I can see why Arcangelo chose to issue a vinyl rip and it is more pleasing to listen to, despite its shortcomings."

While I was working (I wasn't even 20 years old) in Germany there was this guy who had a fine collection of albums ... he played them on and on, and introduced us to Alan parsons, Mike Batt, Absolute Elswhere, and more of that stuff ... in other words, after 30 years I'm still buying LP's from those days when they appear on CD ... and this is one of them ... If You loved it back then, You will still love it in 2012. It's up to our generation to introduce these kind of albums to the next generation of (REAL) music lovers ...

I first purchased this recording 30 years ago, then lost it. It does sound dated but then perhaps JS Bach does too but both will always be masterpieces.

Arribed in a perfect state! Thank you very much!

Thanks !!

This is an amazing album, one of the best keyboardist ever, the music flows towards heaven.

The transfer is appalling. Avoid this CD issue at all costs. The is a huge a mount of distortion, hiss, pops, and even bits of music dropping out and skipping.It sounds like a crackly vinyl was recorded to an old cassette, then dropped onto CD after trying to clean it up, which means no bass, tinny sound and full of noise.I threw my copy in the bin in disgust. They should be ashame selling this.