OCTOPUS

Gentle Giant hit a chord with the progressive crowd with 'Octopus', making it its most famous album. Released in the same year, 1972, as its brilliant predecessor 'Three Friends', it sounds significantly more direct and less dreamy. Still sounding a bit like an artistic chamber group that happened to pick up rock instruments, 'Octopus' does offer a beefed up sound an an easier to understand type of sophistication. Just as technical, but more consistent in flow and less focused on very distinct atmospheres. Gentle Giant also dialed down on the (perhaps too big) dynamics of their earlier efforts. The album functions as a sort of dividing line between their first three albums and the three that would be recorded after 'Octopus'. The combination of classical music, folk, rock and jazz is however still there. With the song 'Knots' the band would create the perfect showoff vehicle for live performances in the US; changing from string quintet to a capella (vocal harmony) group to progressive rock band. 'Think of Me With Kindness' is a ballad type song that te band did not treat with too much advanced arrangements because of the sheer beauty of the song itself. 'The Boys in the Band' is a hardrock prog instrumental that should be a good start for newcomers to the band. Though I enjoy the clarity of these tracks, I still prefer the songs that remind me of their earlier albums like the sophisticated opener 'Advent of Panurge' and the folky 'Recontour Troubadour' and 'Dog's Life'. 'Knots' is a lot of fun for sure. I must admit that I've never been a great admirer of the whacky rocker 'A Cry For Everyone' and the ending song 'River'. Both have a certain naggin' vibe I can't quite dig. The band would end up performing a 15 minute acoustic arrangement of themes taken from 'Octopus' which became a popular part of their shows.