Portland Reg. Semi Fin 1 - Camel v. Gentle Giant

Gentle Giant - no contest

bhikkhu wrote: Good choice using Knots as the sample. When did Camel ever come up with anything even half as interesting?

Camel.

I like both, but Camel it is.

Er, in the ELP-Camel poll, I compared Supertwister to the Canterbury band Supersister and somebody opined that Supertwister was perhaps too mild to be similar to Canterbury.  I like that track a lot by the way, but I can only comment on how relaxing it is.  It's not even close to as zany as Knots.  Nearly all of GG is zany and therein their biggest asset and liability.  It's hard to emotionally relate to them (at least for me) but, as I mentioned in my review of Octopus, that's like asking why there's so little overtaking in Formula 1.  When GG is so mind boggling that it takes a few listens, at first, just to understand what's going on, emotions can come later.  

I don't really disagree (besides you are describing your tastes and far be it for me to comment).  I do find GG lacking in emotional resonance and it is their brilliance in composition as well as in rendering said compositions that I love.  Camel, while a lot more staid, can be more emotionally satisfying if you are patient with their approach.  Latimer's leads hardly need to be mentioned.  I still love Mirage.  Not so sure about their other albums.  

Raccoon wrote: micky wrote: rogerthat wrote: bhikkhu wrote: Good choice using Knots as the sample. When did Camel ever come up with anything even half as interesting? Indeed    chosen for several reasons.  And yes.. that was a major intended point. The other being ... that sample .. perhaps more than any single PA's song sample has probably completely enthalled new proggies and turned them onto a specific group.  Really few groups really did something that interesting .. and definitely as few did something that distinctive. I love my Gentle Giant, but to contrast to your Knots: What about Supertwister? High-speed, signature, Camel-sound. Short, complex, many movements, like your Knots.  While I love Gentle Giant, after I finish that album, I don't think, 'S**t, I need to take a second to let that sink in...' like after listening to The Snow Goose. After the ending Great Marsh dies out, I have to take a breather from music. I let La Princesse soak in, because it's that good.

GG

Guldbamsen wrote: Gentle Giant.......but I don't really like Knots. Go figure.  The first 4 albums though, yummy yum yum. From there on they got a wee bit too technical and cold for my tastes.

Indeed. Perhaps not a commonly held thought, but definitely one a good number of us share.  I really ADORE those first four, the later albums...ehh.. really good.. but simply too cold and impersonal even if technically flawless to really enjoy. It is the first 4 that earned the group Mick-love.. I really have little time for cold souless perfection.. which is why those post Octopus albums get so little play from me. Respect them... I simply don't enjoy them the way I do the first 4.

oh most certainly. It was that atmosphere that I loved so much about it and in general with music.  I like those shades of grey in music, like to made to feel rather than think (books are are for making you think, music is for making you feel).  I definitely appreciate those post-Phil albums, impressive as hell, but as I noted in one of those RTF polls, I want music that touches me, not impresses me. 

GG really did however cover the bases. Perhaps why you very ever rarely find someone who DOESN'T like G.G.  There is a bit of something for everyone there.


Edited by micky - December 21 2014 at 07:25