THE POWER AND THE GLORY

Sixth album in the Gentle Giant saga and again it doesn't differ much from any of the preceding ones. GG have a very personal approach but the lack of evolution in sound and style makes most of their albums redundant for casual observers. The Power and The Glory is no exception and while it pleases the fans a lot, I can't hear how it adds anything to what I already know of the Giant. Just a couple of nice songs maybe?

We start off with a nice series of killer tracks. Proclamation, So Sincere and Aspirations shouldn't be ignored on any GG compilation, all of them excellent compositions executed to perfection. From then on it quickly slides down. Playing the Game and Cogs are still quite acceptable but the remaining songs reveal how Gentle Giant's gimmicky style is a creative dead-end if the needed song excellence is not present.

The Power and The Glory has some filler and some excellent material, but even at its best moments it can't convince GG has anything to say they didn't say before. So it's just another nice album for fans of the band.