GIANT ON THE MOVE

Giant On The Move is an album from 1976 which I think is the best Indonesian prog album of all.

It has a much better sound than the DIY album by predecessor group Shark Move and much better songs than the first Giant Step album as well as the ones that came after.

It is more consistent and exciting than the Guruh Gipsy album or Abbhama's Alam Raya. And I like it quite more than God Bless's Cermin.

The down side is that even though the vocals by the great Benny Soebardja are quite a bit stronger than before, his pronunciation is still really difficult to get past.

It's quite a shame as he got his friend Bob Dook to write the lyrics in English. And I guess this happened a lot in the 1970s as there are bands from Italy, Germany, Hungary and Japan singing in poor English.

Regardless the music is pretty exciting, with prog influences as well as immense slabs of Deep Purple shining through.

Originally there were only four songs on the LP - Giant On The Move, Air Pollution, Decisions and Waste Time. They are all good but you are better off getting the expanded version with nine tracks.

The album begins with Farewell Today which is a barnstorming opener with nods to ELP and Deep Purple. There is great synth and organ work from Triawan Munaf and some powerhouse drumming from Haddy Arief. Lots of great shifting dynamics too.

It sets the tone for the rest of the album by having a lovely melody yet flawed vocals in terms of diction.

The title track Giant On The Move has great organ sounds and piercing guitar solos, and even a Beatlesque bridge. It has some of Benny's best singing.

I would deem Fortunate Paradise and Air Pollution as among the best songs here. The former starts off with some lyrical classical piano before it calls to mind the heavy psych of Shark Move with some of Benny's best melodies and unison guitar leads featuring Albert Warnerin. The latter kicks off with a two minute drum solo from Haddy Arief and is another very Deep Purple soundalike.

Similarly Liar begins with heavy guitar riffing and more ELP influenced pomp rock. Then there are quiet synth runs, although the heavily phased acapella vocal la is not my favourite part. It's unpredictable as there is suddenly some Brian May influenced guitar and then a funky bass-led outro.

Allusion Way is another schizophrenic composition with a strong Purple influence. Pounding riffs and a great combo of synth and organ.

Decisions has more heavy riffs, bristling synths, acoustic guitar and some great flute from bassist Adhy Sibolangit, while So Long has a nice bass/organ/piano/acoustic guitar arrangement.

Overall this really is one of the best gems of the era and of the Asian region. I would love to hear a remastered/remixed version with clearer vocals. Not to mention Shark Move's My Life as a bonus track!

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