GENTLE GIANT

Free Hand is Gentle Giant's 7th studio album in my opinion the best up to date. The album is Gentle Giant in their peak, with a perfect line-up and a perfect tracklist.

The album starts with one of GG's most famous pieces, Just the Same. Finger snaps? Gentle Giant is known for their odd album beginnings, I mean, The Runaway much? Kerry enters with his piano and the first thing you can think of is The Power and the Glory's Proclamation. Thinking that the verse is in 4/4 is just insane! Most of the times people will compare what the song sounds like, but Gentle Giant sounds like nothing ever heard before, they've invented a genre, and that genre is called, Really Effing Progressive Rock!

On Reflection starts with its famous vocal polymeter: "In my way did I use you, do you think that I really abused you, on reflection now, it doesn't matter." How can you say that this is nothing short than perfect? This is my favourite in the whole Gentle Giant catalogue and I doubt that it will ever change, but go figure, things can change!

Free Hand's opening piano is a pretty well known song opening in the prog world, but then, everything fades away, and Kerry Minnear's clavinet enters with the super famous line? Pum pa pow, paloopa decku pow, pa pa palalala tiki tew daku pow, and BOOM, the song starts. "Now that my hands are free, from the ties, from the ties."

Time to Kill is, once again, a song that is special in its own unique way. Ticking clocks explode into good old Gentle Giant riffs in GG's good old 9/4ths time signature!

I won't review every song, and it is hard for me as this is in my opinion the world's most perfect album, but if that's what my readers want, that's what I'll give!

To sum it up in as few words as possible, Free Hand is a masterpiece, an album that can't be recreated, no matter how hard you try. An album of which no song could be covered perfectly, with every instrument and every note. An album that should be learnt from! An awesome part of Gentle Giant's AWESOME catalogue, and an essential addition to any Really Effing Progressive Rock music collection!

So, 5/5 for being a Gentle Giant album and being perfect.

The most important thing that makes me feel very ambivalent about them is: why does a band that is so talented (at least I agree about that) need to play their music in such a daft way. Anyone who can explain this to me is welcome to send me a pm. But I haven't got a clue. Take Just the Same for instance, a song that's all about rhythm and a-rhythm, so far no problem. But what on earth is that crazy key sound doing in the middle for several times. It makes a complete fool of the song and band. Wacky stuff and why ???? It's the same as with their famous song Knots from their album Octopus where the foolishness is expressed by the vocals. I really don't see the point when they play their music like this. And they do this on this album a lot more than on the two previous albums I reviewed. On those the normal music prevailed but on Free Hand there are plenty moments that I cannot appreciate. The only aspect that's really nice on Free Hand is the medieval touch (recorder !) in two of the songs.

I will make this my last review of a Gentle Giant album. I think I already witnessed their two best for my taste and the rest will both be torture for me as well as for the readers and mainly the fans who will get annoyed by those reviews. I've heard enough and I've had enough. I have been confronted with the reason why I don't really like Gentle Giant and will leave them alone from now on. Objectively I can hear this is special and I even understand why many people love them. But I also understand why just as many don't and to be honest, I'm one of them. I know I should give the album at least three stars for originality and quality. But the ratings we give are personal and so I will give my true opinion and will leave it at two.

Gentle Giant's INTERVIEW marks the last of the band's classic eight extremely progressive albums. As the genre was in decline, the band attempted to find a pop audience after this album, to no avail. Ironically, the band had achieved its greatest (at least American) success on the previous FREE HAND, an album that had combined GG's trademark complexity with a bit of levity and accessibility. Under time pressure to follow up that success, the band essentially put together FREE HAND 2. The result is predictable; another complex but (relatively) user-friendly album, with less of the fire and heart that FH displayed. But to be very clear, more of FREE HAND is a great thing, and INTERVIEW is an excellent piece of prog rock. Though I usually avoid song-by-song reviews, Gentle Giant's music really begs for the treatment. So here goes.

1. Interview - the album starts with vintage GG led by Kerry Minnear's syncopated organ. Angular melodic lines get traded from organ to voice to bass to piano until we're once again the the realm of calculated chaos that all GG fans love. Though we've heard these sounds before, this ranks up there as one of the better prototypes of the Gentle Giant sound.

2.  Give It Back - a quirky, near reggae tune adds a sense of whimsy to this album that may be part of its lighter reputation. However, the song quickly evolves in complexity peaking in a march-like bridge that uses instrumentation new to the GG repertoire. Harmony guitars, a haunting whistle (? Theremin) alternate with vibes on one of the freshest of the album's pieces.

3.  Design - by this point, GG fans expected a composed a capella piece, and INTERVIEW does not disappoint. This song is one of the most haunting of its kind, using dissonant harmony and noisy percussion in a great piece which is unfortunately a little long for the number of ideas it uses.

4.  Another Show - speeds up the pace with another typical GG groove. This song is solid enough, but shows the band starting to run out of ideas. The entire album suffers from a dearth of strong lead lines (hooks seems terribly inappropriate for this band) and this song really just blends into the background.

5.  Empty City - this is perhaps the best song on the album, starting with a beautiful acoustic guitar and packing by far the strongest emotional punch of the album. The melody line on this one sticks with me, and the balance of moods is good. This is the only song from the album I'd put on a "Best of GG" collection.

6.  Timing - a bit more poppy (by GG standards) this mid-tempo number is very well composed but lacks heart. It features a few great instrumental breaks including a nice rock solo by Gary Green, but just doesn't grab one's attention that well.

7.  I Lost My Head - for some reason this song gets extra mention compared to the other songs on this album, and I'm not sure why. It does employ a little of the Medievalism of early GG, and its light feel is pleasant enough. I actually don't like Minnear's voice on this lead (I thought it one of saving graces of IN A GLASS HOUSE). The melodic lines are good, but too much of the song seems mechanical in execution. It's actually surprising that GG hasn't fallen into this trap more often given the complexity of their music, but here they truly are too much in their head and not enough in the heart.

INTERVIEW must still be considered one of the great Gentle Giant albums, and part of the greater canon of prog. It doesn't meet the masterpiece level of some of its predecessors, but still comes highly recommended. The last great work of one of prog's greatest bands.

I got a vinyl copy of this album from a friend who was lucky enough to buy a GG album I didn't already have. Normally I might have skipped on the last three GG albums because of the fact I already own the big GG8 (their first eight studio albums) and Playing the Fool Live. The reputation of the their last three effort is like that of the later Genesis albums: Great musicians who start to record pop-music in order to survive the ugly eighties. Some of the band-members didn't like the material at all and this album became the last Gentle Giant effort.

This record had not real surprises for me. There are six pop-songs and two interesting tracks for people who like progressive music. Some of the pop-songs are nice. Convenience (Clean And Easy) has some interesting parts and an up-tempo feel I like. Furthermore the fast key parts are interesting. Some other pop tracks are plain boring or too simple.

The two track that might be of interest to the fans of the early Gentle Giant period are Shadows on the Streets and Inside Out. The first one is a very gentle piano track that has a strong emotional feel and some beautiful musicianship. The latter of the two is an impressive atmospheric rock track with Queen-like vocal harmonies that give it a spacey feel. Both tracks are enjoyable at least.

Conclusion. This is pop-rock record. For it's genre it might be actually quit good, but for the fans this is a real pity. No complexity, no silly time signatures, no epics, little great musicianship and no experimentation can be found on the record. But then again, it's a nice pop-record. I'll give it two stars because of the two nice tracks it has. Recommended to curious hard-core fans and people who like crossover-prog.

And the Gentle Giant does it again. Number seven of the big GG8.

I really liked The Power and the Glory and the next effort Free Hand is another example of Gentle Giant's brilliance. The naive period of the first three albums is long gone and Gentle Giant sounds like it knows what it wants on Free Hand. The music is highly sophisticated, but always functional. For some this might be to prog, but I think it's a great example of what bands in the classic period wear capable of. Though Gentle Giant sounds highly professional, this album lacks some ground-braking ideas that made their early works so brilliant and essential.

On this album there are only great tracks, but some seem to be even more special. Just the Same is nice positive mood opening song that reminds me a bit of the opening track of The Power and the Glory. On Reflection is an four part vocal masterpiece with great instrumentation resembling Knots on the Octopus album. This track always get me in a euphoric mood, it's just so much music! The other tracks on the album are all very rewarding, but not as experimental as On Reflection. Therefore I won't discuss side two.

Conclusion. Another great Gentle Giant album, but not one of my favourites. After their fourth album Gentle Giant has found it's sound and they kept making great albums, but sometimes I miss the naive experimentation of the first four records. This leaves us with a very professional, progressive album with lots of great Gentle Giant material. That means I will give it a very very big four stars again.

Gentle Giant is back on track with the sixth album of the big GG8. I didn't like In A Glass House and I'm glad the band returned to a style I like. At this time the cohesiveness of the band was high and the compositions still very intelligent. The progress was made mainly in the technical side of the music, the atmospheric side had become less important after the third album, so it seems. This doesn't bother the music as one would expect, because the energy of this album is endless! Sophisticated yet catchy. The Power and the Glory had more short songs and no big epic, but all track a great on this one! Somehow this has always felt as the playful Gentle Giant album.

The staggering vocals on Proclamation and the dis-harmonic vocal section with heavy instrumentation in the middle section are both masterful parts of the track. The great playful key-parts are also inspiring.

So Sincere has an unbelievable strange timing and even the harmonic structure is beyong human logic, but as soon as the vocal begin a great song emerges from the chaos. Yet another playful refrein with chaotic instrumentation. So Sincere is both an progressive masterpiece as a very funny enjoyable song. Strange isn't it?

Aspirations is a great intimate song with great chord progressions. It brings the music back from energetic to soothing. This is important for the feel of the album.

Playing the Game. Another positive up-tempo track full of ideas.

Side two starts with the up-tempo and very progressive Cogs in Cogs. The musical introduction is a bit hyper, but the combination of vocals and instrumentation on the couplet theme memorable. How is this possible? The other parts of the song are also good and so this is one of my favourite Gentle Giant songs.

No God's A man. A track with great use of the odd time signatures and melodic guitar parts. The mix between sophisticated moments and melodic moments is great in this track. The vocals are good too. The Face is another track with much ideas and catchy themes.

Valedictory is the reprise of the opening track, this time in a minor key instead of a major key. The conclusive sound of the vocals make it a good ending song. The intense dis-harmonic vocal section is played again (could we ever get enough of that? No) and the album ends with a big bang.

Conclusion. Yet another perfect record of Gentle Giant. There's a lot of music on this album with a lot of ideas and a lot of inventive moments. Playful and serious combined greatly, though I normally don't like positive progressive rock (I tend to the dark side of prog). I think I can call this specific album an essential masterpiece, though most of the albums of GG are equally important for me. Five stars!

I didn't get this one....

By now Gentle Giant had become technically unbeatable in the field. This album was the last one I found for my vinyl collection. I've listened to it for ten times now and every time it ends in disappointment. I just don't like this album, though I feel ashamed admitting it. I understand it's a technical achievement for the progressive scene, but I don't like the songs that much.

Somehow this album makes me feel uncomfortable. It starts with the unpleasant guitar amplification on the first song (did they try to get an surf rock sound?!), get's amplified by the pling plong synthesizers throughout the album and finishes with the out of pitch vocals that are hard to bear. Among the problematic parts of the album are parts of pure genius. The great spacey guitar parts in the middle section of The Runaway, An inmate's Lullaby is nice throughout and some parts of the second side are very rewarding too. But overall it just isn't as good as the other seven album from Gentle Giant's big GG8. Some emotional parts might have suited the album well instead of the continues freak parts.

Conclusion. For now three stars. I would never give up on a Gentle Giant record and I hope to rewrite/add some information and some stars in the Future. For now three stars will do. I just didn't get this one...

Yet another masterful album.... number four of the big GG8.

Octopus can actually be seen as the album Gentle Giant had found a sound that they really liked. From this moment on the albums became more cohesive (which I find totally unimportant, maybe even a pity), but even more technically sophisticated and intelligent. One can find a vinyl copy of this one with two different covers. One is the one shown on PA with the red octopus on a green sleeve and the other shows an octopus in a pot of glass with blue colours. Both covers are great. Warning: This record is hard to get into. I'll do a song-by-song review for this one.

The Advent Of Panurge took me some time to enjoy. Looking back on it I don't understand why because it's a great track introducing some of the middle-ages like musical influences Gentle Giant shows often from this album on. The vocals are gentle, but the music is rough on this one. The story telling seems to be the main focus for the composition that is made around it in a very sophisticated way. Great track though!

Raconteur Troubadour is an totally into the middle-ages sound track. This track isn't only inspired by it, it is in the very style whilst showing some of Gentle Giant's technical compositional style. Nice inspired track with a lot of different innovative elements.

A Cry for Everyone is a weaker track in my opinion. The main guitar riff with vocals have little emotional appeal and it doesn't really rock too. Some of the instrumental parts in the solo sections are quite interesting, but not very appealing too.

Knots became a legendary song among Gentle Giant fans. What can I say? Combine four part vocal harmonies singing in a wild battle against each other accompanied by strange sounds. This element is combined with progressive rock band sound like instrumental parts and a combination of the two in the end. This one of the great focal focussed track of Gentle Giant, but nevertheless it's hard to get into.

The Boys in the Band is a great inventive instrumental tracks. It's up-tempo and Gentle Giant basically shows what it is capable of. Just a great instrumental track!

Dog's Life. A great classical inspired track! Accompanied by violin and cello the beautiful vocals and lyrics sound very inspired. Throughout the composition the classical influences are apparent. Great song!

River is the second lesser song on the album. The vocals are bit out of pitch and the composition isn't that interesting. If they had chosen a better ending song this might have been a five star record for me.

Conclusion. A lot of great inventive new material that isn't like their album that came before this one. How do manage to keep getting new interesting ideas? By now they had left most of the other progressive groups far behind. Another very very big four star record. Essential listening though.

Another highlight of the progressive genre: Three Friends. After the very experimental Acquiring the Taste yet another highly impressive and renewing album. This might make it seem like both albums are a bit the same, but actually I couldn't mention one song that sounds even a bit like another song of these two albums. After listening a lot to Gentle Giant for years Three Friends became one of my favourite among the big GG8. Furthermore it's nice to know this a concept album about three friends their lives. It's not a cohesive album, but cohesiveness would have disturbed the innovative spirit of the band, so I think it's great. I'll do a song-by-song review this time.

Prologue. This song is hard to describe. The warm opening synthesizer parts in a strange time signature sound like something I've never heard in another song. The first evolves in a progressive track with an non-logical atmosphere before the magical vocal parts begin. The vocal parts with the great keyparts around them are very progressive and interesting. Emotional it's quite strong too.

Schooldays is totally different. It's a quiet track. The vibraphone-clean electric guitar combination plays a central role in the main themes. The harmonic vocals in strange signatures are mature and give the song a very special tension. The symphonic moment in the middle of the track with piano, mellotron and very intelligent vocals is an outburst that works very good. Emotionally a bit confusing, yet still a soothing track.

Working All Day. This track has as main ingredient jazz chords and a fine wind section. The vocal themes are a bit bold and the solo parts also aren't among the most interesting. This makes the track the lesser track of the album. Still acceptable though.

Peel the Paint. Very intelligent compositions played with a lot of style and power. The quiet part in the beginning introduces the main theme and changes into classic violin parts. Then suddenly the heavy bass/guitar/wind riff starts. This might just be the heaviest track Gentle Giant ever recorded, and I love it! The vocals are powerful. In the middle section we get to listen to the extended guitar solo with Gary Green using delay paddles, the other band members are silent during this experiment. One of the stronger Gentle Giant tracks!

Then came the perfect combo of tracks. Mister Class and Quality and the final Three Friends are among my favourite tracks ever. The first one starts with the main theme played quiet and chaotic and thus it seems meaningless. Repeated listens will make you discover the genius of this rework of the main theme of the track that is yet to come. The catchy vocals on the Couplet with the great timed riff between the couplet parts are great. Some instrumental parts part the couplet and in couplet two the riff is changed in a more chaotic riff whilst the vocal stay the same. Amazing! This always gets me excited. After further compositional treats we get launched into the title track.

Three Friends is Gentle Giants main symphonic bombastic moment! Such great symphonic sounds and harmonic vocals with a main theme that has such length it's actually hard to say when the repeating moment is! Great composition again! The conclusive vibe of the last track gives a satisfied feeling when the record stops.

Conclusion. On of my favourite Gentle Giant albums. There's just so much! All tracks except Working all Day are highly exceptional and truly progressive/inventive. This is what the genre is about. I'll give a five star award for this one. Essential for every-one on this site.