The Official Gentle Giant thread
 

It's been a long time since Gentle Giant broke up, but this shall be the one thread to bring them all and in it's pages bind them. Yes, I know there's already a thread, but that one suffered from a lack of effort while this one shall not.

British prog group Gentle Giant was formed when brothers Derek, Ray and Phil Shulman who were all multi-instrumentalists met up with Gary Green and Kerry Minnear who were also multi-instrumentalists and then drummer Martin Smith. The longest lasting lineup is the one seen in the picture above after oldest brother Phil Shulman left the band after their fourth album Octopus. Gentle Giant are known for their skills across a wide range of instruments, whimsicality, eclectic sound, vast creativity and complex music with more twists and turns than a snake pit. Their albums also typically have more hooks in them than Hellraiser. Okay, that was a dumb comparison. Anyways, they included a well-known-by-fans proclamation in the sleeve of their second album, "Acquiring the taste" :

I'm not sure if they were unpopular, but their strange sound kept them in the background compared to contemporaries like Yes, Genesis, King Crimson and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. However, Gentle Giant are much appreciated by prog followers today and they have influenced the sound of many bands out there.

They managed to put out a good amount of albums that are now regarded as prog gems before they buckled under pressure after the punk wave and tried to put out hits at the very end of their discography. For those who want to delve into their discography, their first 7 albums are all highly regarded by fans. I've put up their discography here with links to on-site reviews if available.

( Also, you could have a look under the letter G in the Album Review Index which is more likely to be updated. )

• Gentle Giant (1970) - Reviewed in : http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...tml#post663179
• Acquiring the Taste (1971) - Reviewed in : http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...s-obscure.html / http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...ml#post6640733
• Three Friends (1972) - Reviewed in : http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...tml#post664673
• Octopus (1972) - Reviewed in : http://www.musicbanter.com/album-rev...tml#post508852 / http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...tml#post665122 / Toretordens Treasure Trove
• In a Glass House (1973) - Reviewed in : http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...tml#post665638
• The Power and the Glory (1974) - Reviewed in : http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...tml#post666076
• Free Hand (1975) - Reviewed in : http://www.musicbanter.com/editors-p...tml#post666712
• Interview (1976)
• The Missing Piece (1977)
• Giant for a Day (1978)
• Civilian (1980)

So to summarize; Gentle Giant is a classic and slightly weird prog group with more musicality than most known bands out there today and if anyone wants to give them shot, me, Anteater, Boo Boo and Comus have put our heads together and made for you a small compilation featuring songs from their 7 first albums - from their self-titled released in 1970 to Free Hand from 1975.

Get Gentle Giant Compilation from Megaupload

Tracklist :

1. Gentle Giant - Alucard
2. Acquiring the Taste - Pantagruel's Nativity
3. Acquiring the Taste - Black Cat
4. Three Friends - Prologue
5. Octopus - The Advent Of Panurge
6. Octopus - Knots
7. Octopus - Think Of Me With Kindness
8. The Power and the Glory - Proclamation
9. In a Glass House - The Runaway
10. Free Hand - Just the Same

That's it. Let's post our favourite vids and find out which albums we like the most. I like Acquiring the Taste and Octopus, but falling more and more in love with Free Hand as well .. I'm still on Octopus though it might change soon. I'll allow for multiple votes in the poll. ;)

edit :

New mix-tape!

I've made a new GG mixtape without the help of Comus, Anteater and Boo Boo which I personally think is a better introduction (of course since it's all my suggestions). Check it out!

I've had Octopus for a while, and enjoy it a fair bit whenever I remember to put it on, but it hasn't quite clicked with me yet.

It's a lovely album! I think both me and Comus clicked with the album after initially listening to it and then suffering from earwigs from it later on - which of course can only be remedied by playing the album more. It don't think all of it's appeal is immediately appearant, but after a couple of spins, something might happen. Interestingly, Wikipedia says this :

.. yet it does not say which album it is. It might be Octopus, though, at least it has 5 members singing on it. :)


Some old members of Gentle Giant are still playing concerts by the way. Gary Green and Malcolm Mortimore (drummer on "Three Friends") formed the band Rentle Giant which they played with until they also picked up old Kerry Minnear and changed name to Three Friends. They play old Gentle Giant songs, though sadly still without the Shulman brothers.

To get some vids rollin', here's their song "Funny Ways" from their debut!

My second favorite group of all time, sandwiched right there between King Crimson and Yes. :love:

As great as Octopus and some of their later works are though, I consider their debut and Acquiring The Taste to be special due to the somewhat bluesy quality they have on some of their tracks, which was later shed in favor of a more medieval approach.

1. Octopus
2. In a Glass House
3. Gentle Giant
4. Acquiring the Taste
5. Power and the Glory
6. Free Hand
7. Three Friends

8. Interview

What I've heard from their last 3 albums is pretty damn awful.

I'm going to decide once I finish reviewing their 7 greats.

In a glass house was the first I heard from them, and although some of the earlier ones are supposed to be better, its still my favorite, although that may change as I listen to more of their albums(the only other one I have is "three friends")

Well the earlier albums are great. But IMO Octopus and Glass House are on par with each other as the band's best works.

I've always prefered their first three albums over Glass House, of course we'll see how that changes when I review them all. It's nice to get new perspectives on the albums you love by giving them your full attention.

I'm playing the debut now for the first time and noticed that it's more bluesy or maybe even more straight-forward than the later stuff that was more medieval, as you said...though I still hear some of that here ("Isn't It Quiet and Cold" is on now). The oldest one I'd heard up till now was Octopus.

Yeah stuff like Peel the Paint surely earns the title of "prog blues". It seems they sneak in bluesy breaks and developments into otherwise very prog songs. Like Experience off of In a Glass House. It starts out very prog, and then it turns to blues, and then straight back to prog right before the end.

Okay, here's some more GG trivia.

Derek Shulman (lead singer) has since his days in GG become a big man in the record industry and signed on big money machines like Bon Jovi, Dream Theater and Pantera.

And Nickelback. Don't forget Nickelback.

Let us please forget Nickelback >.< Well, at least it's another money machine. It sounds like he's done a good job although I wouldn't personally thank him for everything he's done.

Here's some more GG trivia :

As I'm writing this post, Gentle Giant has 5 albums on progarchives updated top 100 prog albums list. Listed with their ranks, they are :

• 29. In a Glass House
• 39. Free Hand
• 56. Octopus
• 72. The Power and the Glory
• 74. Acquiring the Taste

That's not a bad endorsement at all! Especially considering the amount of albums on progarchives.

Progarchives is THE site to go to for recommendations and general prog info.

But for they're reviews, not so much. Hail to the Thief has 3 stars, so according to them it's inferior to 16 Rick Wakeman albums.

Yeah, it shows how strong their following is in the prog community even if they are a bit obscure outside it :)

Probably because it is inferior.

Yeah they have a strong following among prog fans, and on ProgArchives especially.

I can't really bare to read any of that sites reviews though. It's full of middle aged elitist snobs who pretty much write off of every other genre and still don't know how to write a coherent sentence.

Just read some of the reviews from Ivan Melgar Morey and Sean Trane just to see what I mean.

0/10

Predictable as hell.

I'll agree that a lot of the reviews are definitely cringe worthy, especially for a lot of the newer albums. But every now and then you'll find a good, informative review that really sells the album in question.

The most cringeworty reviews are the "this album is bad because it's not prog" and "this is poppy therefore bad" variety. Of which there is a lot of.

There's some good reviews. But it seems that for whatever reason, the ones who give the worst reviews are the main contributors to the site. :laughing:

Oh yes, I cringe when a band has a change in sound, but still makes a brilliant album, and are labelled as "not prog" and as such given a low score. Seems the main scoring on progarchives is about how prog stuff is.

Case in point the idiots who rant about how "pop" Discipline is.

Caught :eek:

best to worst (fave song)

Octopus (The Advent of Panurge or A Cry For Everyone or Knots, however that one bit in Raconteur, Troubadour is gorgeous)
The Power And The Glory (Proclamation or The Face)
In A Glass House (The Runaway or Experience)
Acquiring The Taste (Moon is Down)
Gentle Giant (Funny Ways)
Three Friends (Prologue)
Free Hand (Just The Same)

In A Glass House and The Power And The Glory are really close in my rankings. also worth noting I have listened to my top 3 albums a bunch more than the others.

The 10 track comp for the initiate was pieced together by me, Anteater, Comus and Boo Boo. That means there was some compromise and so I'm not 100% pleased with it (I'm sure the others feel the same). For that reason, I pieced together a new for the 10 track mixtape thread and I figure I should advertise it here as well. :)

The only song I'm familar with is Just the same which Stuart Maconie played on a radio show about 10 yrs. ago. I didn't like the vocals but it was an intersting song with a sublime little break down in the middle.

The album that song is from, Free Hand from 1975, is currently my favourite Gentle Giant album .. It is brilliant and I'd say definetly worth getting! If you like Just The Same, you'll probably like the other songs too :)

In the comp from my previous post, the song On Reflection is also from Free Hand.

I really like that tracklist. Props!

Fave album is Octopus.

Fave song is The Advent of Panurge.

I saw this bumped (due to the poll) and it showed Howard's post as if it were posted today. Damn :(

I've seen some comments in this thread that sorta slag Interview. I'm not sure what makes them say that, 'cause aside from one pretty gawdawful annoying song ("Another Show") I absolutely love Interview