25. GENTLE GIANT - OCTOPUS (2), VERTIGO SPACESHIP 2nd PRESS, PERFECT CONDITION

	£		34
	$		45

gentle giant - octopus, uk vertigo SPACESHIP in classic roger dean gatefold. generally considered to be the gentles opus, dynamic complex progressive music as only the british and italians created. 
THIS IS A NEAR PERFECT 2nd PRESS, THE OTHER LISTED IS A SWIRL.
grading is - cover / disc
ex / ex - gorgeous condition in gatefold and on the spaceship label being a slightly later pressing. given that all the early unlaminated vertigos seem to have poorly applied printers ink thats slowly rubbing off, this later press has a different printing technique thats adhering without problems and may be the only way to get a mint sleeve, and yet, the image quality is noticeably different almost a bit pixellated so its not as detailed as the 1st press, a bit like examining photo covers on slightly diff pressings, if, like me, you often stand in a shed for 3 hours comparing 9 copies of simon and garfunkel lp covers printed at yearly intervals you see that each successive printing has a paler or less detailed image, ditto with us lps given uk releases , the uk prints are often inferior in detail as if printed from scans not negs or films. but not as bad as the us lp covers of uk original releases that are from the deepest pits of the netherworld (eg cream disraeli gears usa cover travesty, wouldnt pay 5p for that) this kind of minutiae can obviously impact the listening experience profoundly and many collectors find that sharper cover images sound much better. even on a pro-ject deck. so whats better, an inevitably rubbed swirl octopus or a minty spaceship octopus cover that has a slight xeroxy feel?  assume an infinity stretching out ahead of humanity, and all original octopuses covers will rub off into a blurry green soup over the millenia, whereas the spaceship ones covers will survive much longer perhaps in a steadystate state. so what to do? kip thorne and stephen hawking have worked on this problem and failed to answer it. its quantum, its art rock, its gentle giant.
ive listed around 60 rare progressive, psych, folk and blues lps on ebay in a big clear out, please click other items if interested to see them all. they are all getting harder to find as the years go by, and prices and demand seems to have gone stratospheric.
all are 1st pressings, original uk editions.
all lps are placed in period/vintage plain paper inner sleeves. any generic polylined inner sleeves have been discarded as they are unsafe and damage lps, as per the policy of many serious collectors.  old pvc lined inners are ageing, chemically unstable,  and sticking to lps, paper inners are the only currently known way to avoid it. vertigo inners are retained and sent outside the covers to avoid damaging contact.
most photos show the fronts, backs, spine and labels so cover condition is fully visible in the photos.
lps listed include sam apple pie, hungry wolf, gerry lockran, mike westbrook love songs, shape of the rain, cressida, idle race, five day week straw people, dransfield, fuschia, rockin horse, gentle giant, and the now very rare aubrey small lp with insert.
grading is mainly visual, all the lps have been fully or partly tested mainly on the run in and first tracks, and any visible defects have been played through to see if theres any audible results.
tested on lenco/cyrus/tannoy 60s/70s equipment.
everything starts at 99p and theres no reserve prices!
POSTAGE - £5 for anywhere in europe and uk. if you bid from usa, japan, australia please wait for an invoice.
postage will be combined and reduced significantly for multiple wins, just wait for an invoice, if ebayers win a few lps postage will be free.