OCTOPUS

Somebody thinks this is the best album ever released by Gentle Giant, other say their best is Three Friends: two very different albums, however.

Octopus has the incredible characteristic of songs which contain a lot of things concentrated in few minutes. There is the medieval arrangement of "Raconteur Troubadour", the rock (hard for its time) of "A Cry for Everyone", the acapella choir of "Knots", the experimentalisms of "The Advent of Panurge", the Canterbury of "Dog's Life". The Caravan-like "Think of me With Kindness" (At least in the first half of the song).

It's like a soup of the best ingredients of the golden age prog. The only negative thing that I can find are the tracks fading out. Something absolutely not needed in an album that's 35 minutes long. Regardless this, and because of the huge variety of sounds and ideas, this is a milestone of progressive rock.

It's shortness just makes me wishing more, specially because my favourite track is "River", which closes the album with its violins and strange signatures. Its sudden end is a chock. I might have preferred a fadeout this time. This is another strength of this band: they never give you something that you can expect, and the ability to surprise is one of the most important skills in music.

Share this GENTLE GIANT review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to octopus-4
• Report this review (#320088)
• Buy GENTLE GIANT music online with PA partners
• Show all GENTLE GIANT MP3/Stream
• Go to GENTLE GIANT page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Octopus page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENTLE GIANT related discussions