OCTOPUS

This was the last GG album I ever purchased (the third one as far as I'm concerned). I used to be a completionist for bands like VDGG, Genesis, Floyd, Yes, Purple, Led Zep but GG never belonged to my fave bands. Far from it.

This album is of the same caliber than its predecessor on my scale of value; meaning a good album. Their inimitable vocal style is now well under control and their music probably at its peak.

Several musical styles are being proposed but the common denominator is the jazzy feel which prevails here ("A Cry for Everyone"). Before this song, a more folkish and medieval "Raconteur Troubadour" was available. The opening number "The Advent of Panurge" holds each facet from this band: complexity, diversity, polyphony, jazz atmosphere: a classical and a good GG song for sure.

As usual, songs are on the short end. Maybe because their music was already complex enough and didn't need fifteen minutes to develop. A song as "Knots" for instance is quite tough and difficult to approach: it sounds like leading nowhere and changes from theme every twenty seconds or so.

My favorite song is the tranquil and melodic "Think of Me With Kindness". It is a straight forward ballad that conveys a nice feel. A "gentle" moment, should I say. It was necessary after the weak "Dog's Life". The album ends on a good note as well in the form of a heavier "River".

Three stars.