Gentle Giant take the prog plunge and finally make a concept album, about, you guessed it, Three Friends. However, if you have only heard their two first albums, this album marks yet another departure. Gentle Giant has however decided to strip down the overall sound of the album, in favourite of a slightly more minimalist approach. That’s not to say it doesn’t have that trademark Gentle Giant sound, there’s just slightly less layering here.
That doesn’t however; mean that it’s a bad album. Prologue is a lovely album opener; it introduces the story and sets the mood very well. Already you are introduced to the more minimalist and repetitive sound of Three Friends, but it won’t be long until you’re hooked. Prologue flows brilliantly into Schooldays which talks of the three friends in, naturally, their schooldays. In come the lovely little melodic hooks and instrumental passages you know and love by now. However again you’ll feel that it’s far simpler than other Gentle Giant releases.
One interesting little thing you should be able to pick up is Kerry Minnear’s keyboard playing. Especially on Schooldays, it’s very noticeable that his playing has improved, or at least matured. On the other side of the spectrum, you’ll notice the drumming is a bit more restrained. This is because Martin Smith has left the band to be replaced with Malcolm Mortimore, who will only stay with the band for this one album.
The story continues with Working All Day, which accounts for the move from school life into the professional world. Overall the song continues the minimalist theme well but also manages to keep all the melodies and vocals catchy and memorable. The slightly abrasive vocal style continues into Peel The Paint, one of the stronger and most layered tracks on the album. And of course, a brilliant guitar solo ensues, this is my favourite part of the album, and the solo wouldn’t feel out of place on a 1972 hard rock album either.
As I said a lot of the trademark Gentle Giant sound still remains on this album, and you’ll get a bit of their lovely British whimsy towards the end here. The closing track Three Friends is a nice reminder of what Gentle Giant can do when they are at their best.
Unfortunately for the album a lot of things do let it down. It often feels like it’s lacking direction especially for a concept album. The delivery of a lot of the vocals and instruments here seem a bit lacklustre and rushed. But I think what lets this album down the most is the other Gentle Giant albums, these three friends can indeed find it hard to stand in a field of Giants.
8.4/10