Profiles (Album)

Profiles is the second studio album by The Great Canon Orchestra, more commonly referred to as ‘TGCO’. The album was released on 21st September 1984, following the group’s 4 year hiatus since the release of their debut album, ‘To Live A Moment Longer’ on 6th December 1980. The album, along with To Live A Moment Longer is regarded as one of the most experimental albums by TGCO, with profiles being a unique crossover of classical and electronic instruments.

Recording Profiles
The recording process for Profiles began in June of 1983, following a dispute between the bandmembers in regards to what genre the album should be. It was decided that the album should be a classical / electronic crossover, and a strong sense of uniqueness was developed as the group continued to record for the album.

The album, much like To Live A Moment Longer was recorded in Elmer Studios, Kent, which was TGCO's own private studio. They had the freedom of no time restrictions, nor did they have the concerns of payment. They spent months recording in the space they nicknamed 'The Cave', and mid-way through, a new synthesiser (which would change the way the album sounded) arrived, make way for the 'Yamaha DX7'.

Though they had already featured the Roland Juno-6 and Roland JX-3P, including the DX7, a digital synthesiser, really changed the way the album sounded. It was no longer such a harsh transition between classical instruments and analogue synthesisers - there was finally an 'in-between' that would warm the album up.

It is said that the classical pieces were recorded first, with the first track, 'Stop The Clocks' being a re-rendition of 'It's Time To Leave', a track released on their debut album, some 4 years earlier. It was joined by the name-sake track 'Profiles' and others too. They finished recording on 16th April 1984, with their track 'Skylines', which was performed entirely on the DX7.

Artwork
The artwork depicts Bamburgh Castle, which is a nod to the video of Fables, Myths & Legends, their popular 1980/1981 single. The artwork is on a similar simplicity level to their debut album, yet the Profiles artwork does not include the record label name, and in the later vinyl releases, the typography reading, 'Profiles'.

The font is believed to have been hand created for their debut album, and featured on the covers of both To Live A Moment Longer and Profiles. It was not reused on any future The Great Canon Orchestra album.

In 2018, the album was remastered, and the decision was made to change the simplicity of the album cover by adding 'Remastered 2018' to the bottom of the artwork. Though this change was criticised by many, The Great Canon Orchestra voiced their support for the change, saying that it was "helpful to identify the new remastered version".