THE POWER AND THE GLORY

Gentle Giant is often forgotten by many of the die-hard 70s progheads. Even worse, some of them just plain hate this interesting group. I myself find that I like the mighty GG even better than some of the standard prog masters, such as Yes or Genesis. The reason for this is that GG is just so dang strange sometimes. GG just has a way of taking the oddest time signatures and grooves, and making them work. They might take a few spins to sound right, but it'll happen.

I've decided to listen through the GG discography, and so far I've loved Octopus way more than I expected. I loved it so much that I didn't think it possible that the next album would be even better. I was wrong. "The Power and the Glory" is a better album, and I feel it is more cohesive and structured, too. There are a couple reasons for this.

First, this is a concept album. Now, I'm a sucker for concept albums, so that may haze my judgment. But with a concept in play, the album is so clear and concise. The theme for this album is a social commentary on unjust rulers. As this is very relevant still today, I quickly identified with the lyrics, which is always important to me.

Secondly, I feel that the musicians were just on point here. There was obviously much inspiration. All the instruments come together, complement each other, and also have the same tone. Case in point, "Playing the Game" has an awesome guitar line that is perfectly supplemented by a killer funky bass line. I could listen to this tune all day! I'm afraid to say it, but it almost sounds a little like proggy disco at times. I know that most people are probably gagging at the thought, but I think it works. Each and every song, however, is unique and seriously good. My favorites besides "Playing the Game" are the bold "Proclamation", the quiet "Aspirations", the melodious "No God's a Man", and also the folksy "The Face".

With Haken's "The Mountain" bringing some more attention to Gentle Giant (seriously, everyone is talking about GG), I think it's high time that these awesome artists receive more recognition. Funky, technical, melodic, folksy, eclectic, and so much more; GG is definitely my favorite 70s prog band.