Free Hand is the seventh studio album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1975. It was Gentle Giant's first album with Chrysalis Records in the UK and internationally, except for the USA and Canada where it was released by Capitol Records. It is noted for having a less dissonant and more commercial sound than the previous album The Power and the Glory. It was their highest-charting album in the US, reaching number 48 on the Billboard 200.
Releases In addition to the usual stereo version, the album was also mixed in 4-channel quadraphonic sound in 1976. The 4-channel mix was not used until 2012 when it finally appeared on DVD with encoding in multichannel LPCM, DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound formats.
A 1990 CD re-issue in the US by One Way Records used an alternate stereo mix. This version revealed some different details in the musical and vocal parts. However, this edition may have actually been a reduction or variation of the 4-channel mix.
Alucard Music/EMI Records re-released the CD in 2009, "from the original 1/4-inch tapes through 24bit 96k Hi-Resolution transfer."
On 25 June 2021 a new remix by musician and producer Steven Wilson was released in Dolby Atmos & 5.1 surround sound, accompanied by custom animated visuals for each track on Blu-ray. In addition, a flat transfer of the original mix, the 1976 quad mix and an instrumental mix were all included in a digipack CD. A double vinyl album was also released with both the same transfer of the original mix and Steven Wilson remixed versions.
Two versions of the album cover were issued with the hand in slightly different positions. UK copies show the thumb curved, while US copies have a straight thumb.
Reception
The Great Rock Bible described the album:
In turn, Music Week assessed:
Track listing
Personnel Credits taken from liner notes. There are no instrument credits listed. Gentle Giant Derek Shulman Ray Shulman Kerry Minnear Gary Green John Weathers
Technical Engineer – Gary Martin Assistant engineer – Paul Northfield Cover design – Gentle Giant Graphics – Richard Evans
Charts Chart (1975) Peakposition
Chart (2021) Peakposition
References
External links Gentle Giant – Free Hand at Discogs