GENTLE GIANT

Review Nº 774

Gentle Giant was a British progressive rock band formed in 1970. It was one of the greatest progressive rock bands during the 70's and was also one of the legends created by this style, as there are now legions of fans of the band around the world. The band was formed by the three Shulman brothers (Phil, Derek and Ray) all former members of the British pop/soul/psychedelic band Simon Dupree And The Big Sound formed in 1966, after the band broke up in 1969.

The intents of the band were to expand the boundaries of contemporary popular music, at the risk of becoming too unpopular. In the beginning, they played all over England for four years, being well received by radio and television. During those ten years, which means between 1970 and 1980, Gentle Giant recorded eleven studio albums. Those studio albums are their eponymous debut "Gentle Giant" from 1970, "Acquiring The Taste" from 1971, "Three Friends" and "Octopus" both from 1972, "In A Glass House" from 1973, "The Power And The Glory" from 1974, "Free Hand" from 1975, "Interview" from 1976, "The Missing Piece" from 1977, "Giant For A Day" from 1978 and "Civilian" from 1980.

"In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" is one of the many live albums released by Gentle Giant after the split of the band. It was released in 1994 from recording tapes taken from a radio concert recorded to the BBC on May 1, 1978. It has the same song selection and song order that Gentle Giant used throughout "The Missing Piece" live tour, although on some dates more songs could be added to it. This is a live concert tour with a high quality sound available, but they all sound nearly the same because by this time, Gentle Giant was no longer jamming or stretching out songs like they used to. "In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" is a live album with forty-eight minutes long. We can say that the sound quality is fairly good.

"In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" has ten tracks. The tracks are essentially focused on two of their studio albums. So, and this isn't really a surprise, we have six tracks that were taken from their last studio album released at the time "The Missing Piece": "Two Weeks In Spain", "Memories Of Old Days", "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It", "I'm Turning Around", "For Nobody" and "Mountain Time". From "Free Hand" we have three tracks, the title track "Free Hand", "On Reflection" and "Just The Same". We have also a track from "The Power And The Glory", "Playing The Game".

About the individual tracks, "Two Weeks In Spain" is the track that opens "The Missing Piece" and that it's also a great opener for this album. It's a charming and energetic song with nice changes, very fun and enjoyable to hear. While lyrically and musically it's a pretty light pop fare, it really works performed in studio and live. After the opener we have a bit more complex music with the three tracks from "Free Hand". "Free Hand" is a more elaborate and complex track, a traditional Gentle Giant's track with dissonant parts and with constant changes of rhythm and tempo. "On Reflection" is one of Gentle Giant's trademarks with the polyphonic vocals inspired by renaissance and the cappella music. This is essentially an acoustic song. Here we can see the high skills of all band's members where they change from their usual electric instruments to acoustics. "Just The Same" sees the return of all band's members to their electric instruments. It's a slow rock song with good keyboard work that has also some great jazz influences. "Playing The Game" is the track that revisits their album "The Power And The Glory". It's a dynamic and a relatively complex theme. It's a multi-faceted pure prog track in the Gentle Giant's most pure musical style. And now we have the other five tracks from "The Missing Piece". "Memories Of Old Days" is a stunning piece where Derek pulls out one of his most heartfelt vocal performances and the dual acoustic guitar textures from Ray and Gary are just magical, complemented by Minnear's sumptuous keyboards. "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It" is clearly influenced by the punk. It's a rock song but that doesn't sound too Gentle Giant. "I'm Turning Around" is a calm and beautiful track. This is a soft romantic track that reminds me the good old Gentle Giant. "For Nobody" is a driving rocker led by Minnear's raging Hammond riffs and Green intricate guitar lines. It's full of energy and a really delightful for the ears of fans. "Mountain Time" closes this live concert in a rock nice way. This energetic piece has some fine organ work and some great vocal arrangements too.

Conclusion: Who are used to the band knows that many of Gentle Giant's live albums have a very poor sound because of many of them were taken from official bootleg performances in a very cheap way. But, fortunately, and this isn't a strange thing since it was recorded by the BBC, "In Concert (BBC Radio 1)" has a very good quality sound. So, all in all, this is a very nice live concert recording. It's true that it isn't very well representative of all band's career, but it remains for me as a very nice live work of Gentle Giant. It's also true that it was performed when the band became in decline, the time after where their last great album was released, "Interview". However, it was performed in the time of "The Missing Piece" which is a very nice work. But, above all, the live performance and sound are irreproachable. So, 4 stars to it.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

I haven't listened to the two last GG albums often times and maybe that's the reason why I find them interchangeable - progressive pop records with several memorable songs and competent playing. GG could still rock when they wanted, although in a polished AoR manner. Perhaps this album sounds a bit more natural after changing their direction but it's still far away from how Genesis/Camel blended their ambitions with commercialism. I may be biased after hearing their classic albums and have trouble accepting the vocal in the pop music, where I feel it disrupts more than it glues together. A 2,5 star pop album and 2 star prog album.

"Giant for a day" is again a wrongly chosen album title that suggests a good familiar progressive music by the band. It starts on a relatively good note by strongly reminding of the modern Yes (vocals, rhythm section) but the music gets even more straightforward (and boring) after that. GG produce mildly memorable melodies and vocals got more digestible ("It's only good-bye" is a good attempt). Apart from 2-3 songs, the album is really bland. The lyrics could not have been earnest after years of high standards. This is best to be avoided or forget about the Gentle Giant moniker to avoid disappointment.

Gentle Giant really started to cut down on their ambitions and aspirations on the deceivingly ambitiously titled "The missing piece". Music gets less complex, somewhat more accessible but in the end, none of the audience may be happy. It's not that the band cannot produce memorable radio friendly cuts - listen to "I'm turning around", the band seems awkward at merging pop with prog unlike Genesis, Yes and Camel did it, more naturally. Vocals were already an acquired taste and even more so for the pop material. The only mastermind who still deserves high praise is the keyboard player who still tastily supports the overall band sound. The rhythm section sounds bored. "Memories of old days" is far away from their previously complex suites but let's recognize the band for attempting to create a listenable epic. Not recommended to anybody but GG fans.

One of the most complex 70's prog rock live albums out there? Possibly. GG proved to be compelling live players (I would love to have a single camera on the keyboard player who must have done a lot of context switching). The choice of material is great, focusing on the the material before 1977 and preferring variety rather than full length. There is also a good level of improvisation on the drum/guitar solo pieces. Naturally, vocals aren't overdubbed and thus more down to earth but still impressive. The band succeeds in creating a dense yet music friendly atmosphere. The sound is OK, does not overwhelm the listener but the instruments can be distinguished, otherwise I would have given it 5 stars.

The band was confronted with a daunting task of matching the previous masterpiece "Free hand" (it wasn't possible to overachieve it in 1976) and they didn't lack experimentation on the 1976's "Interview". The band is still deeply rooted in complex progressive rock and medieval music but allowing new synths and beats to appear. The first track is astonishing work on the organ/piano, typical GG vocals, rhytmical complexity (not sure how to play this cut live), this is still GG at their best. Simplification signs arrive with the reggae workout "Give it back" which is still more complex than 99% reggae works in the world. It is more accessible and still contains tons of keyboards. "Design" is a step in avantgarde with vocals providing tempo, background and lead melody whereas "Another show" has a whole lot of dynamic pyrotechnics in the 3,5 minute. "Lost my head" alongside the first track match the GG best of material although with the latter it is more for its execution than invention. GG playing is no worse than before but let's admit it, the compositions are less memorable and inventive. 3,5 stars

Many early 70's prog bands hit their most mature and sometimes also the best album between 1974-1975. Gentle Giant had arguably several very strong albums and it is difficult for me to pick the best one, but "Free Hand" is in the Top 3. The band developed from "The power and the glory" by relying more on synths/moog rather than organ, suppressing the hard rock element slightly and also creating more coherent listening experience. The most important contributor though - the compositions are not only elaborate, they are well thought out and developed. Saxophones soften the vibes. Medieval elements are very present and they almost get at the level of "Gryphon" apart from vocals which are much more advanced. "On reflection" is an extremely well executed medieval-inspired piece. The title tracks marries airy moody keyboards with funky clavinet. "Mobile" leaves the album on the active challenging note that brings promises to the future. I'm very thankful, once again, for all the keyboardist contribution which really create the backbone of the instrumental sound and moods. One the best prog masterpieces of '75 and a crowing achievement by the band.

And there goes the album with the most decent prog rock cover and title! GG took their mission and chops seriously once again and deliver the album which is, in my opinion, little surprising and rather, continues in their mid 70's slightly streamlined but still very powerful and unique maze of complex rhythm changes, brilliant vocal exercises and excellent symphonic moments. The first track, "Proclamation" can be a suitable representative track of the album with all traits I've mentioned above. It is also less repetitive that what you hear later through the album. "So sincere" can be rhythmically one of their most challenging track, sounds very incoherent at first listens but you'll hear the binding motive later on. "Aspirations" has a modern facade with lush keyboards, simplified drumming and greater accessibility. "Playing the game" is the second great epic on the album with typical GG motives. The second half of the album is slightly worse but all in all, it is still a very strong album.

Gentle Giant being down to 5 musicians do not let the listener notice it too much. The sound is still very rich mainly thanks to the myriad of keyboard sounds and the keyboardist mastery of complex arrangements and hooks. Drumming has become a bit more streamlined (at least they sound more contemporary). Guitar playing gives harder edge to the music but can become quite muscular and supports the progressive direction. As usual with GG, the first track blows me away, this time it is less because of vocals and more because of very complex rhythm structure and subtle keyboard workouts. "An inmates lullaby" is an impressive lush vocal driven lullaby, maybe the most sophisticated one you've ever heard and you won't feel asleep easily ;). "Way of life" combines disco-like beat with a high number of rhythmic shifts and even medieval mini-suites with symphonic moments. This piece is overfilled with progressive moments and becomes to the best tracks by GG. It proves that even though GG could be dissonant, they could also bring harmonies together. "Experience" is perhaps the most known composition with a catchy hard-rock hook. "In a glass house" deserves the same merits as "Way of life", full excellent upbeat playing, energy and even guitar riffing.

Gentle Giant released to excellent albums in 1972 and I find "Three friends" to be a better one because of its soundscape, it is very experimental and no signs of compromising yet. It also has longer compositions to immerse in than "Octopus". "Prologue" has an ominous start and reminds a bit of King Crimson and Magma but no way ripping anything off, the rhytm is very irregular, the bass sets the tension and keyboards greatly fill the space with Hammond/synths/moog. "Schooldays" brings alteration with medieval vocals and jazzy keyboards. How they managed to combine this masterfully with the evil seemingly unrelated piano chords is beyond my understanding. The third part of the composition is a venture into a fast honky-tonky territory. Incredible amount of ideas. "Peel the paint" is one of the most successful GG hard rock composition, but don't think of a few-second riff, this one has a complex and long hook, I also love the raw guitar and intensive drumming. "Three friends" is a beautiful symphonic composition with semi-church organ/melotron and excellent vocal harmonies. It has a majestic chord sequence that Focus wouldn't be ashamed of. Excellent GG album, once again.