The Only Progressive Rock Joke

Glad to see that there are some Gentle Giant fans on this forum.

I love their music, especially their albums, In A Glass House, Octopus, and Three Friends. Their other LPs are wonderful too.

Even though I live in the US I have their early LPs on UK Vertigo pressings except for In A Glass House and The Power And the Glory which I have UK WWA pressings. The UK pressings are better than the US ones, but the US pressings are not bad.

Wonderful stuff!

Scott

quote:

The Only Progressive Rock Joke

You obviously haven't heard Rick Wakeman's 'Criminal Record'



Stephen

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen Bennett:

quote:

The Only Progressive Rock Joke

You obviously haven't heard Rick Wakeman's 'Criminal Record'



Stephen

Hahahahaha! Actually I have...

I listened to Power and the Glory the other day; GG in their prime were the most musically accomplished rock players ever; they must have a good laugh when they happen to see what lights up MTV these days.

I've never really heard Gentle Giant. What are they like compared to those old diehards, Yes?

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by Yo-yo Master:
I've never really heard Gentle Giant. What are they like compared to those old diehards, Yes?

Steve

A thumbnail description: usually shorter songs than Yes; very rhythmically/melodically complex (particularly their mid-70's work); each member played numerous instruments, and they'd trade off during concerts (violin, percussion, recorders etc. in addition to the guitar/bass/drums/keys etc., going between electric and acoustic segments.). Real counterpoint was in evidence; recordings were often very dry (thus not dating as much as some 70's Prog)...stylistically they often displayed a medieval sound, like a cross between Jethro Tull and King Crimson.

Recommended recordings:
In A Glass House
The Power and the Glory
Free Hand

I think that bhazen summarized them quite well. For a while in the mid 70s Gentle Giant seemed poised to break into a wider audience but they seemed to miss out on wide exposure. Their music was too experimental and challenging to be mainstream but you could probably say the same for King Crimson and Yes who had a large audience during the same period as Gentle Giant.

In A Glass House, Free Hand, Octopus, and the Power and the Glory are good albums to start with. In particular their songs Knots and So Sincere are amazing in their complexity and timing. I also always find myself amazed at their song Schooldays which is very esoteric. The Edge of Twilight is another early amazing song.

If you liked other early 70s progressive rock groups such as Yes and King Crimson you should definitely investigate Gentle Giant's albums.

Scott