OCTOPUS

This was my introduction to Gentle Giant, and boy was it a great way to start my love for them as a band. The album title is that the album is an 'octo-opus', a piece with eight parts (songs). The record starts with 'The Advent of Panurge', a great track full of proggy nuances that anyone can love. You can hear slamming background piano, Hammond organ, and electric guitar that all add flavor to the song. This song seems accessible, but, like many other songs (if not all of them) on this album, have proven to be quite complicated, with odd overdubs, crazy time-signature shifts, and hidden hidden details that benefit the album. This song is so fun, from the vocals to the piano. It is lyrically based on 'Gargantua and Pantagruel' (much like 'Pantagruel's Nativity' on 'Acquiring the Taste'), and these lyrics are great! It makes me want to sit down and read this novel! Next is 'Raconteur, Troubadour', which has a strong medieval feel in both the lyrics and music. I love the weird time signatures in this song. Like the previous song, it is so fun! It has great bass, too. I love the medieval horn and viola solo. 'A Cry for Everyone' was the last song on this album I learned to like (it took about ten listens) because of the unusually hard-rock-ish feel in the beginning. But now I notice that it encapsulates prog better than other songs on this album. Quite amazing. 'Knots' has always been one of my favorite songs on this album, straight from the first listen. Crazy time signatures, awkward, seemingly delayed dubbing, and weird instrumentation (I could probably guess only half of the instruments played in this song) smother this song with proggy juice. There is a great xylophone solo about halfway through the song. The song gets pretty funky (quite necessary for somebody coming from a childhood of Parliament and Herbie Hancock) and ends the same way. 'The Boys In The Band' is funky to a degree as well. It is probably my second-favorite Gentle Giant instrumental of all time (only bested by 'Free Hand's 'Talybont'). Very complicated and proggy. I love the chorus (if you could call it that, but you know what I'm talking about). There is a flute at some point that just makes this song so much better. 'Dog's Life' has some great lyrics (wonder if they mean anything deeper). This song is chock-full of nuances to appeal to the average prog listener. One of the highlights of this album. 'Think of Me With Kindness' is the slowest song on this album, and is possibly the least proggy. It is a great love song, but the first half kind of interrupts the mood of this album. The horns in this song are absolutely beautiful, though, so I'm not complaining. The last minute of this song is extremely powerful. 'River' is a great song that has some very funky music and secretly complex instrumentation. There is a notable guitar solo somewhere in the mix. Overall, this album is a must-have for all prog-lovers, new and old. Prog on.

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