GENTLE GIANT Octopus RARE ORIG UK 1972 VERTIGO SPIRAL EX++ LP, SUPER COVER/INNER

	£		400
	$		530

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: GENTLE GIANT

Album Title: Octopus

Producers: Gentle Giant

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: The Advent of Panurge; Raconteur Troubadour; A Cry For Everyone; Knots.

Side 2: The Boys in the Band; Dog’s Life; Think of Me With Kindness; River.

Label/Format: Vertigo – original Spiral format with matt, smooth surfaces.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only a couple of three light andquite faint spindle marks on side two, hardly anything on one and no wear around the hole area. This looks hardly played and the lack of handling marks or grubbiness on the snowy white side two is very impressive.

Cat Number: 6360 080.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 115 grams. Quite light, but apart from a near millisecond pressing sound towards the very end of the album, it plays near perfect and would have been almost the ultimate pressing this one tiny blemish apart. Still an outstanding example for cover and record, the very best I have seen or heard.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Quite rare: this being the first copy of ‘Octopus’ I have had for some considerable time. An album fast disappearing these days. Being a late Spiral, it was only available for a relative brief time on this format before being repressed on Spaceship.

Original Year of Release: 1972

Matrix Nos: 6360080 1Y//1 420 1 1 1 & 6360080 2Y//1 420 1 1 1 [an ultimate first issue, these stampers speak for themselves]

Musicians: Gary Green / guitars, percussion; Kerry Minnear / all keyboards, vibraphone, percussion, cello, Moog, lead and backing vocals; Derek Shulman / lead vocals, alto saxophone; Philip Shulman / saxophones, trumpet, mellophone, lead and backing vocals; Raymond Shulman / bass violin, guitar, percussion, vocals; John Weathers / drums, percussion, xylophone.

Brief Info: The band’s fourth album and all released on the famous Spiral format for Vertigo, this being the last before being repressed on the Spaceship label, then two new albums appearing on WWA. Also, this was a late album in the Swirl catalogue and only quite briefly available before the repressings on the new Spaceship label. Gentle Giant were always a little more challenging than some progressive bands. Complex music patterns with many time and structure changes - they were not for everyone. For sure they were original and had their own unique very polished sound and were always superbly produced. They usually appealed to fans of Yes, King Crimson, van der Graaf Generator and similar bands. ‘Octopus’ has another superb Roger Dean cover in the UK but a very different design on the US version. This one in particular is never too easy to find with a decent cover and a fine playing record. Even from new, this cover appeared to have wear but most of this lies within the design and the top areas of the cover sometimes give the appearance of wear but actually isn’t. This one is superb, the cleanest, freshest and least-worn I have seen for a number of years. The record plays with stunning quality sound, just the ultra-brief pressing crackle towards the album’s end stops a nigh-on perfect copy. No visual clues to this tiny blemish, but that is why I play-grade to tell it the way it is. A superb production that takes you almost into the recording studio itself, the tiny blink-and-you-miss-it blemish aside, this is as close to perfect as this album gets, and it is a challenging one as well. With all ‘1’ stampers as well, one for the specialist Swirl collectors, both record, cover, and even the Swirl inner are outstanding.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): and worthy of the extra (+) I feel, simply based on just how wear-prone this beautiful cover is. It almost cries-out for lamination, but alas, never the case, in the UK anyway. As per the majority of the Spiral cover series, this was unlaminated with a matt, smooth surface. A fantastic Roger Dean graphic gatefold spread and seldom seen like this. Printed and made in England, uncredited. Includes the later style Swirl inner sleeve with the now softer lining.

Cover Front: The best ‘Octopus’ front cover I have yet had, this looks stunning. Clean, fresh, no sticker issues and any of the fine hairline type creases confined to the edges, and only very few at that. Any marks or blemishes also small, few and faint with hardly anything showing viewed full-on. What has to be mentioned also: this cover is hugely unforgiving of natural daylight. The colours react and fade, often quite spectacularly. The green areas often change dramatically, this is a trait of this cover with the inks used being highly susceptible. But the colour hues are very complex anyway and only by comparing to a brand new one would ever really show the real story – unfortunately, stating the obvious, this is hardly possible these days. But for certain, this famous Roger Dean graphic will seldom be found looking better and has the least amount of rubbing or issues I have seen with even the corners hardly being rubbed.

Cover Back: If anything, and against the odds, the back is even better – the lack of ugly penetrating ringwear is massive bonus.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Superb, little short of as-made, they seldom get seen better.

Top Edges: Both straight, clean and practically unworn with no colour fading or changes, try finding these better.

Bottom Edges: The front edge shows little wear up to the right corner. The back edge shows some light patchy rubbing but the graphic detail is still largely present but does have a moderate rub for approx half an inch near the corner ends which realistically is almost the least can be expected from the usual storage edges. Minus this modest wear on the arguably the most perilous area, this would have definitely been graded higher still.

Right Edge(s), and Type: The front has a real tucked and folded edge. It is in super shape being straight and barely worn at all, also retaining excellent colour. The back storage edges are also impressive, the back, being slightly shorter in manufacture than the outside, is immaculate and very sharp. Leaving the outside back, still quite sharp with a little gentle thickening seen viewed end-on – all edges are guaranteed untrimmed.

Spine and Text: A hugely impressive spine and way better than average. With hardly any rubbing even to the corner areas, this is a very solid example. Robust and very straight, uncompressed and folded square, so all edges meet up perfectly flush and parallel. All text and graphic being fully present and unworn which can be considered a massive plus on this unforgiving Spiral cover. The lack of fading also is rarely seen either with even the fold hinges remaining little short of perfect and unscuffed.

Corners: The spine pair have hardly any rubbing and only tiny tip rubs on the right right pair as well. Better than excellent shape is retained with no knocks or dinks, how many of these will be devoid of tip creasing? – well this pair are.

Cover Summary: In terms of colour hue and graphic design, this has to be argubly the most challenging and difficult of the Vertigo Swirl covers, there are some others that run it close, but those green ink colours are immensely prone to all forms of wear and rubbing. The complexity of this sleeve has to be seen for real to fully appreciate it – I am not saying it is perfect – but I would put this against most and I feel few will better it significantly. With practically all of any wear on the perilous bottom edges, this should speak volume for the rest. So unless absolute perfection is mandatory, this classic Roger Dean design cover should please many, if not most collectors – and good luck finding a better one.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: with the usual seam adhesive darkening being near impossible to avoid. This correctly has the later softer lining as seen through two crisp and totally undamaged window circles. A little creasing, but nothing heavy and all edges are unsplit with no repairs. So fairly gently reminders of age, but personally, I never have any issues with that, even these Swirl inners are getting hard to find in their own right – thus modern reprints are becoming widely available. But there is no faking the real thing.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(++): a superb looking record that appears very little played. Very clean, fresh with excellent shine and quite solidly pressed. Any surface traces are ultra fine and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. Few of these will be seen or offered this little used. Visually a super record that should please many, if not most collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or miniscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This prog-rock classic plays for practically all above its very high visual grading. As stated already, it does have a super-brief – barely even a rev – crackle sound purely within the pressing towards the album’s end. Nothing is seen to indicate this tiny brief flaw, a purely invisible pressing glitch that somes and goes in less than a second – quite honestly – I am probably making far too much of this, but I consider myself an audiophile and immensely fussy. Anyway, this apart, this record plays with truly stunning clean sound – and collectors will know just how difficult this, and all Gentle Giant (and similar bands) albums are. Offering strong, crystal-clear sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is immaculate with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound – this is a geniune high-fidelity recording and Gentle Giant prided themselves on the audio perfection. The aforementioned surface sound apart, there is barely any others on what is a hugely complex work. Importantly no pops or clicks were noted with no tracking issues*, this could be deemed probably as good as they get (the one tiny blemish apart). Gentle Giant albums, like King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator (and other progsters), were roller coaster rides between loud and quiet passages. Few records over 43 years old will ever play these types silently, it’s a near impossible ask. This one makes a great fist of it and is certainly one of the best examples of this title I have yet heard – if not THE best. A very clean performance with little unwanted and I enjoyed this one immensely. Few copies will outperform this ultimate first all one stamper pressing significantly I feel sure. The one tiny blemish aside, nothing of any note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. This copy will prove very difficult to find significantly better for sound and looks and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is minuscule in over 14 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.