OCTOPUS

Octopus is for many fans the album, where Gentle Giant had grown up. After the highly promising debut album, the reaching-another-levels Acquiring The Taste, and the band's first theme album, Three Friends, Octopus is probably the most consistent album Gentle Giant ever recorded between 1970 and 1976 - and the rest doesn't really matter.

Octopus is a remarkable work for many reasons. In my opinion, their writing was at that point as excellent as it had been on my biggest favourite, ATT. The other thing is the general sound, the perfect combination of the basics: Kerry Minnear's keyboards, Phil Shulman's saxophones and Gary Green's guitars formed together a compact and tight basis for great and highly individual overall sound - not to mention something like 25 other instruments used! GG's vocal works - spearheaded by Derek Shulman's incredibly strong voice - had always been second to none, but in "Knots" they reached a new level in using vocal polyphony in rock music. Bands like Queen were only happy to follow their example... One more thing in the sound was of course the inclusion of the new drummer, John "Pugwash" Weathers, who made his debut as the band's member on Octopus. His powerful drumming gave Gentle Giant another, higher ladder to stand on and look downwards at their contemporaries.

The song-writing is really strong. The fact that for years on the band used to play a medley called "Excerpts From Octopus" only proves that they knew themselves the power and strength of the music on this album. What is a bonus is that the songs on Octopus are easily approachable by Gentle Giant's standards (i.e. Think Of Me With Kindness), and that has always made it easier for a wider audience to admire this truly fantastic compilation of songs.