Author Topic: The Gentle Giant Discography  (Read 13392 times)

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Offline splent

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #35 on: July 04, 2016, 01:15:18 PM »
Mr Class and Quality/three friends was a beast of a song to perform
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Offline The King in Crimson

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #36 on: July 04, 2016, 01:25:31 PM »
This is the first Gentle Giant album that I've heard in the thread. It was also the very first GG album I ever listened to as a whole. It is also, in my opinion, both the worst and the best album to use to introduce someone to GG with. The worst in that, from what I've heard, it's much more straightforward and rocking that other GG albums and it doesn't give much of an idea of how the band really sounds (if this is incorrect, bear in mind I've only listened to Three Friends, Octopus, The Power and the Glory, and In A Glass House, and Three Friends doesn't sound much like any of the others). But it's also the best in that it's not as 'weird' as some of the other GG albums; it's rocking and unique, but not too unique.

Personally, I really like this album. The Gentle Giant influences are there and very apparent but they're not overpowering and I like how it mixes with the more rock-based sound and structure. The album also makes great use of the different vocal styles that each singer utilized, giving each song its own style and personality. The solo on "Peel The Paint" is just amazing. One of my favorite solo sections of all time.

If I had any criticisms of this album it's that both "Prologue" and "Three Friends" are clearly overshadowed by the middle songs on the album. They don't do a very good job of closing or opening the album, though I do like "Prologue." Also, as I said earlier, it's not a very good representation of GG's overall sound and can give a new listener a very... uh "unclear" idea of what GG are supposed to sound like. I can remember liking Three Friends and then getting, I think, In A Glass House and being like "da fuq is this?" on my first listen.  :lol

Offline NoseofNicko

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #37 on: July 04, 2016, 05:14:37 PM »
Bought Three Friends recently. Another great album. Gentle Giant is slowly becoming one of my favorite prog rock bands.

Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #38 on: July 04, 2016, 10:03:13 PM »
Mr Class and Quality/three friends was a beast of a song to perform

I have to admit, when I saw you guys, I wasn't as familiar with the early stuff as I am now.  I was almost strictly a middle-period guy, with some familiarity with the later stuff, and basically the first album.  The other early stuff, I had in my collection, but they didn't get spun as much.  So I don't specifically remember you guys doing these two, but I'm sure they were great.  I was impressed by everything you did.

This is the first Gentle Giant album that I've heard in the thread. It was also the very first GG album I ever listened to as a whole. It is also, in my opinion, both the worst and the best album to use to introduce someone to GG with. The worst in that, from what I've heard, it's much more straightforward and rocking that other GG albums and it doesn't give much of an idea of how the band really sounds (if this is incorrect, bear in mind I've only listened to Three Friends, Octopus, The Power and the Glory, and In A Glass House, and Three Friends doesn't sound much like any of the others). But it's also the best in that it's not as 'weird' as some of the other GG albums; it's rocking and unique, but not too unique.

Personally, I really like this album. The Gentle Giant influences are there and very apparent but they're not overpowering and I like how it mixes with the more rock-based sound and structure. The album also makes great use of the different vocal styles that each singer utilized, giving each song its own style and personality. The solo on "Peel The Paint" is just amazing. One of my favorite solo sections of all time.

If I had any criticisms of this album it's that both "Prologue" and "Three Friends" are clearly overshadowed by the middle songs on the album. They don't do a very good job of closing or opening the album, though I do like "Prologue." Also, as I said earlier, it's not a very good representation of GG's overall sound and can give a new listener a very... uh "unclear" idea of what GG are supposed to sound like. I can remember liking Three Friends and then getting, I think, In A Glass House and being like "da fuq is this?" on my first listen.  :lol

I basically agree with all of this.  The concept is sound, but overall I think the presentation was a bit on the weak side, especially the prologue and epilogue.  I also agree that while this is one of the most accessible GG albums, that's a mixed blessing, since it's not exactly representative of their sound.  Actually, strike that.  It's representative of their sound, but not really their style as a whole.  It's only one side of it.

Oddly enough, I always recommend Free Hand as a starter, as it too reins in the extracurricular weirdness and condenses their sound into some tightly packed jams.  And I love those Gentle Giant rhythm jams.  Also, Free Hand was my starting point, and it worked very well for me.  I was able to move to the later material without a lot of trouble (unlike many hardcore fans), and moving forward was more challenging, but also more rewarding.  So I guess the one I recommend actually has the same potential downside as this one.  But you do have to start somewhere, and to be blunt, some people can't handle the craziness of those first two albums and would get scared off.

Bought Three Friends recently. Another great album. Gentle Giant is slowly becoming one of my favorite prog rock bands.

:tup

Offline splent

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #39 on: July 04, 2016, 11:39:40 PM »
There are a few vids of us on YouTube (God that was 7 years ago) but here's us doing Giant.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vduf0m_aqrk

Many people were critical of my singing and so I avoid the comments. My voice isn't as strong as Derek's, it's not really that voice type; it's more like Kerry's, so when we did a piece that featured his singing that was a lot easier for me (like a reunion, proclamation, funny ways...).

I'll post more when you get to those albums.
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Offline Cyclopssss

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #40 on: July 05, 2016, 03:42:12 AM »
As a former 'amateur' drummer, I must say, the drumming overall is fantastic. Very groovy, even in the complex parts.
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Offline Mladen

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #41 on: July 05, 2016, 03:55:55 AM »
I love the opening song. I got slightly tired of the rest of the album, but it actually used to be my favorite one.

Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #42 on: July 05, 2016, 12:33:38 PM »
The vocals are incredibly demanding, and I think you did a great job. :tup Screw the haters.  You guys rocked this song!

I think this was at that same gig, wasn't it?  The split show with Silverpipe?

Offline splent

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #43 on: July 05, 2016, 01:26:11 PM »
The vocals are incredibly demanding, and I think you did a great job. :tup Screw the haters.  You guys rocked this song!

I think this was at that same gig, wasn't it?  The split show with Silverpipe?

Yes. We only did 3 or 4 gigs as a band and most of them were in Milwaukee at Shank Hall.
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Offline Mosh

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #44 on: July 05, 2016, 07:55:05 PM »
I really enjoyed this one. Hearing this really shows how much of an influence they had on Neal Morse. Lots of stuff in both the vocal and instrumental sections that would become Spock's Beard trademarks.
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Offline splent

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #45 on: July 05, 2016, 08:04:55 PM »
I really enjoyed this one. Hearing this really shows how much of an influence they had on Neal Morse. Lots of stuff in both the vocal and instrumental sections that would become Spock's Beard trademarks.

That becomes even more apparent in upcoming albums.
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Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #46 on: July 11, 2016, 08:41:20 PM »
Final notes on Three Friends

Three Friends was distributed in the United States by Columbia Records, who spent a lot of money promoting "their" new act.  Columbia also had Black Sabbath at the time, and because record company suits are often complete idiots, someone came up with the brilliant idea to have Gentle Giant be the supporting act on the impending Black Sabbath tour.

The results of course were disastrous.  No one had heard of Gentle Giant, and Black Sabbath fans had no patience for this bizarre mix of medieval, blues, classical, folk, and whatever else Gentle Giant is and was.  Gentle Giant were used to people not quite understanding what they were all about, but Black Sabbath fans booed them off the stage more than once.

Fortunately, Ian Anderson happened to be at one of these shows, and arranged for Gentle Giant to open for Jethro Tull on their next U.S. tour.  The two bands had more similarities in terms of style and presentation, and it was certainly a much better fit.  Presumably, Gentle Giant's limited popularity at this time was due more to their support of Jethro Tull than to converting Black Sabbath fans.

Offline Big Hath

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Three Friends (1972)
« Reply #47 on: July 11, 2016, 09:34:11 PM »
someone came up with the brilliant idea to have Gentle Giant be the supporting act on the impending Black Sabbath tour.

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Offline Orbert

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The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #48 on: July 11, 2016, 10:12:03 PM »
As they were preparing for the Three Friends tour, drummer Malcolm Mortimore was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident and unable to play for several weeks.  John Weathers was brought in to play for the tour, and eventually was asked to stay on permanently.  Mortimore had a great deal of finesse and subtlety, which worked well with Gentle Giant, but Weathers had a more dynamic approach which provided the power and contrast that they were looking for at the time.  Also, he actually looked like the band mascot.



The new album was originally going to be another concept album.  There would be one track for each member of the band, the instrumental "The Boys in the Band" for the group as a whole, and "Dog's Life" was for the roadies, with whom they worked very closely and for whom they had great respect.  Eventually the concept was abandoned.

According to the story, Phil Shulman's wife Roberta came up with the title as a pun on "octo opus" -- eight musical works.

The album was released in the U.K. with a striking cover painting by Roger Dean, who was starting to gain popularity due to his work with Yes.  As with Three Friends, a different cover was chosen for the U.S. release, for reasons unknown.

Octopus (1973)


Original U.K. Release
(click for full painting)



U.S. Release


Gary Green: Electric Guitars, Percussion
Kerry Minnear: Piano, Hammond Organ, Minimoog, Electric Piano, Mellotron, Clavinet, Harpsichord, Regal, Vibraphone, Cello, Percussion, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
Derek Shulman: Lead Vocals, Alto Saxophone
Phil Shulman: Trumpet, Tenor Saxophone, Mellophone, Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals
Ray Shulman: Bass, Violin, Viola, Electric Violin, Acoustic Guitar, Percussion, Backing Vocals
John Weathers: Drums, Bongos, Varispeed Cymbal, Xylophone

----------

1 The Advent Of Panurge (4:40)
2 Raconteur Troubadour (3:59)
3 A Cry For Everyone (4:02)
4 Knots (4:09)
5 The Boys In The Band (4:32)
6 Dog's Life (3:10)
7 Think Of Me With Kindness (3:33)
8 River (5:54)

----------

The pattern of each Gentle Giant album having its own character, even to the point of starting differently, continues.  The words and music for The Advent Of Panurge start immediately, with no introduction of any kind.  In fact, almost every song on Octopus starts abruptly and has a definitive ending as opposed to fading out.  This gives the album a very concise, immediate feel.  Gentle Giant continued to condense their music, the sprawling, experimental works of the early albums were already a distant memory, replaced by complex, often polyrhythmic arrangements flaunting a different side of their musicianship.

Panurge is another character from the work of Francois Rabelais.  Continuing the story of Pantagruel started with "Pantagruel's Nativity" from Acquiring the Taste, here we meet Panurge, who becomes Pantagruel's close friend and lifelong companion.  I've never reads the books upon which the lyrics are based, but the lyrics are said to be very close, quite faithful to the stories told in the books.

Raconteur Troubadour dives deep into the medieval genre in both meter and instrumentation, then of course takes a left turn into modern prog for a spell, before concluding.  At only four minutes, it's a deceptively complex piece.  But then, that can be said of nearly every Gentle Giant song.  These are, once again, rather short, concise compositions.

The lyrics to A Cry For Everyone are somewhat nihilistic, inspired by the literature and philosophy of Albert Camus, but it's a rocker from start to finish.  Another four-minute gem.

Knots is, in some ways, the quintessential Gentle Giant song, intricately weaving vocal and instrumental parts as only Gentle Giant can.  When later prog bands such as Spock's Beard cite the Gentle Giant influence in their vocal arrangements, this is the song they're thinking of.  According to the liner notes: "R.D. Laing, an eminent psychologist, has stimulated us by his intriguing, logical, poetic riddles into composing this latter-day madrigal - and something of a musical jigsaw."  That description tells you almost nothing about the musical work, but once you've heard it, come back to the description and see how perfectly it fits.

As mentioned earlier, The Boys In The Band is an instrumental, meant to showcase each member of the band.  In the original concept, this song was for Gentle Giant as a whole, including engineer Martin Rushant who provides the laugh and coin spin which starts the track.

Dog's Life "A backhanded tribute to our roadies; our musical parody could only be drawn to a wily old dog. Surely two more unmatched sounds as the Regal (a medieval reed organ) and string section could not be found, but they seem to successfully convey the whine of both dog and roadie."  Gentle Giant freely admit that they sometimes combine sounds that should not work together, and make them work.  This is one of those times.  And as applicable as the description is, the big surprise is that this is actually a nice little song, one of the more melodic pieces on the album.

Think Of Me With Kindness is the Kerry ballad on this album, a personal song delivered in his sweet tenor, with a nice mellophone solo by Phil.  The arrangement is kept simple, as befitting the topic and the mood.

River closes the album with a rocker, but it's an offbeat experimental rocker.  The Varispeed cymbals, with effects, evoke rushing water, while the pitch-bending guitar and violin give things a dirty, backwoods feeling.  Derek provides the main vocal, with Phil providing the contrasting voice during the bridge.

----------

After all this time, and even after growing up during the 70's, it still surprises me sometimes how short albums were back then.  At 35 minutes, this was toward the shorter side of average, but only by a little.  Of course, bands usually released one, sometimes two albums per year back then.  So compared to nowadays, it works out about the same.  Albums are twice as long now, but bands usually only release new albums every two years or so.

But Gentle Giant were always a different sort of prog band.  Where most prog bands were by this time starting to spread things out and experiment with longer songs with multiple movements, Gentle Giant went the other way.  Their compositions were dense, packing a lot of music into relatively short tunes, but still with tastes of various genres, their signature ecletic instrumentation and odd time signatures, and impeccable arrangements.  Even as I write this, it strikes me that I think of Gentle Giant tunes as "compositions" rather than "songs".  Obviously, they're both, but there's so much going on, so much work has clearly gone into these eight songs, that they truly are eight works of art.  Eight musical works, an oct-opus.

Gentle Giant only existed for ten years, during which time they released 11 studio albums and one live album, so we're already into "the middle period".  The strings, saxophones, and brass appear a bit less frequently, and the songs are more concise.  Many fans cite Octopus as their favorite, and it's easy to see (and hear) why.  Every song carries a punch, starts and stops on a dime, makes its statement and leaves.  The sole exception is Kerry Minnear's ballad, which provides a beautiful contrast and a much-needed break.

My college roommate and I dug into the Gentle Giant back catalog the best we could.  In 1980, there was no Internet, no real way to know exactly what was out there, but he happened to find a Columbia release of Octopus with the "octopus in a jar" cover.  The cool thing was that the record jacket was contoured; the edges followed the odd curves of the side of the jar.  Probably a collector's item now, but I happen to know he sold it long ago.
« Last Edit: July 12, 2016, 10:53:34 AM by Orbert »

Offline Kwyjibo

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #49 on: July 13, 2016, 02:51:05 AM »
As I mentioned before this is so far the only Gentle Giant record in my collection and I'm still in the phase of getting to know them. I like it quite good but it's not that easy to get into them, there's just so much going on.

So far the first three tracks are my favorites and I'm always suprised how complex but relatively short these songs are. After listening to Advent Of Panurge I feel like a ten-minute song has passed, but it's only four and a half. Same with Raconteur Troubadour, the more "simple" rocker Cry For Everyone is a welcome change of pace. The rest of the songs sound good but need definitely more spins to really know and appreciate them.

Their compositions were dense, packing a lot of music into relatively short tunes, but still with tastes of various genres, their signature ecletic instrumentation and odd time signatures, and impeccable arrangements.  Even as I write this, it strikes me that I think of Gentle Giant tunes as "compositions" rather than "songs".  Obviously, they're both, but there's so much going on, so much work has clearly gone into these eight songs, that they truly are eight works of art.  Eight musical works, an oct-opus.

These song are truly "compositions", they are (probably) not written by jamming in a studio and coming up with ideas and then developing them into songs but by carefully composing all the notes for the different lines and instruments, trying to find something that is complex yet works when played together, each melody and rhythm complementing each other.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #50 on: July 13, 2016, 06:56:30 AM »
It's a bit of both, just taken farther than most bands take them.  Whereas many bands start by jamming, then fleshing out the ideas into songs, Gentle Giant usually starts with the basic song already written.  Then they play with it, and as they come up with things, the added parts are also carefully worked out.  Some parts you can tell were written and arranged beforehand, usually Kerry's stuff.  The Shulmans were more straight-up rockers.  But all of these guys were such amazing musicians that I'm sure they came up with some of this stuff on the fly, stuff you'd swear they had to have worked out ahead of time.

Ray once said that they constantly mess with the songs and arrangements.  The studio version of the song is what it started as, the live version is a snapshot of what it sounded like at that time.  Derek said that the studio version is just the blueprint, the live version is more the finished product.  Various bootlegs reveal that some songs changed quite a bit when they started playing them live, and some even continued to change over time.  So they were both right in a way.  When we get to the live album, we'll see how much things change, as well as a look at why.

Offline splent

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #51 on: July 13, 2016, 09:36:14 AM »
This album is brilliant. It's also a challenge to learn and play. We did Think of Me With Kindness and A Cry for Everyone. During rehearsal we often joked about learning Knots, since that is arguably their most challenging song to perform (we never got started learning that one :lol). We had music transcribed by Phil Smith, who is a beast at arranging this music, and he played primary keys for us. I often had to drive about 45 min from rehearsals since the main guy in the band lived in the southern Chicago suburbs (Lockport) and I lived in the west/nw suburbs (Addison at the time). Phil is from Milwaukee, but made the rehearsals every week. THAT'S dedication!

Here's us doing Think of Me With Kindness:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOv99JY9B-g
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Offline Mladen

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #52 on: July 13, 2016, 11:50:42 AM »
Another good album. A Cry for everyone is a great rocker with a short but memorable keyboard solo, Knots is a classic and a masterpiece (you're right, Orbert, that's a fantastic description), and Think of me with kindness is a hidden gem, a warm ballad with a beautiful little theme.

Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #53 on: July 13, 2016, 12:12:47 PM »
For those interested, here are the lyrics to "Knots":

All in all each man in all men
All men in each man.
He can see she can't, she can see
  she can
see whatever, whatever.
You may know what I don't know,
  but not that
I don't know it and I can't tell you
so you will.
To tell me all man in all men
All men in each man.
He can see she can't, she can see
  she can
see whatever, whatever.
You may know what I don't know,
  but not that
I don't know it and I can't tell you
so you will have to tell me all.
It hurts him to think that she is
hurting her by him being hurt to think
that she thinks he is hurt by making her
feel guilty at hurting him by her thinking
she wants him to want her.  Her wants
  her to
want him to get him to want him to get
him to want her she pretends.
He tries to make her afraid by not
being afraid. (permutations)
You may know what I don't know, but not
that I don't know it and I can't
tell you so you will have to tell
me all.
I get what I deserve.  I deserve what I
get.  I have it so I deserve it. I deserve
it for I have it.  I get what I deserve.
What I deserve - what I deserve what
  I get.
I have it so I deserve.
He tries to make her afraid by not
being afraid.

----------

I've done the thing where I read the lyrics as I'm listening to the song a couple of times.  It helps understand the song a little.  But it's not really supposed to make literal sense, not like most song lyrics.  It's just an exercise.  Once again, Gentle Giant getting all musically psycho on us because they can.

Online Podaar

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #54 on: July 14, 2016, 03:17:07 PM »
Just chiming in to say that I'm still listening while reading. Thanks Orbert, I'm really enjoying this thread!
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Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #55 on: July 14, 2016, 03:37:47 PM »
Thanks, Podaar, good to know.  I know that Gentle Giant is one of the lesser-known prog bands, and I kinduv imagine people listening to some of this stuff for the first time, and literally having no idea what to say about it.  It's very dense, complex, insane music, so if people forget to come back here and comment, I understand.  GG takes many, many listens to grok in fullness.

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #56 on: July 14, 2016, 05:04:59 PM »
I´m still listening also. Discovering some awesome music!
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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #57 on: July 15, 2016, 07:53:16 AM »
Finally listened to Steven Wilson's remix on the way to work this morning. I really love this album! Is there anyone here that can draw a comparison between Steven Wilson's remix and the original mix? Since I've never heard the original it might be interesting to hear the thoughts from someone who is familiar with both.
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Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #58 on: July 15, 2016, 10:24:47 AM »
I've been tempted to pick it up, but so far I have not.  The reason is that of the eight tracks, they could only find the original multitracks for five of them; the other three tracks were processed from 2.0 into 5.1 via software.  From what I've heard, the 5.1 mixes are great, on par with everything else Steven does.  I have all of his Yes 5.1's of course, and the ELP ones as well, and I'm sure they're great.  But it would feel like only 5/8 of the album is "really" 5.1, the rest is "fake".

Offline Mosh

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #59 on: July 16, 2016, 09:44:18 AM »
Thanks, Podaar, good to know.  I know that Gentle Giant is one of the lesser-known prog bands, and I kinduv imagine people listening to some of this stuff for the first time, and literally having no idea what to say about it.  It's very dense, complex, insane music, so if people forget to come back here and comment, I understand.  GG takes many, many listens to grok in fullness.
Pretty much my experience so far, not a lot to say but I'm enjoying every album. Definitely heightened my appreciation for this band already.

Octopus is the one I was familiar with already. I remember checking it out because of the cover, it looked like the covers for my favorite Yes albums so it had to be proggy and awesome. Needless to say, it was nothing like Yes. The first thing that really struck me was how short the songs were. I think at the time I was more interested in the long works like Close To the Edge and had a hard time wrapping my head around these shorter songs. They're so dense, it's like they packed the same information in a 4 minute song as Yes did in a 20 minute song. So it was (and still is) difficult to process. I didn't hate it, but I also didn't really get it and didn't bother much with GG after that.

Listening to it now I can appreciate it more as I've figured out their sound a bit after listening to the other albums and reading Orbert's notes with them.

Knots is very reminiscent of Spock's Beard indeed.
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Offline Orbert

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #60 on: July 16, 2016, 10:50:12 AM »
When I first started getting into Spock's Beard and heard stuff like Gibberish and Thoughts, I said to myself "Somebody listened to a lot of Gentle Giant when they were growing up".  The way the parts bounce off of each other and intertwine, both instrumental and vocal parts.  This was in the 90's.  I first got into Gentle Giant back in the 70's when I was in high school and starting to get into composing and arranging music, and it was so unique to hear counterpoint, madrigal, fugue, and other classic musical structures being applied to rock music.  As an aspiring rock musician, I couldn't help but be amazed and influenced by that, and I'm sure Neal was the same.

Offline jammindude

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #61 on: July 16, 2016, 01:51:13 PM »
Thanks, Podaar, good to know.  I know that Gentle Giant is one of the lesser-known prog bands, and I kinduv imagine people listening to some of this stuff for the first time, and literally having no idea what to say about it.  It's very dense, complex, insane music, so if people forget to come back here and comment, I understand.  GG takes many, many listens to grok in fullness.

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: Octopus (1973)
« Reply #62 on: July 16, 2016, 06:57:27 PM »
In fullness, baby.

Offline Orbert

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The Gentle Giant Discography: In a Glass House (1973)
« Reply #63 on: July 19, 2016, 06:28:05 PM »
After the Octopus tour, eldest brother Phil Shulman decided to leave the band and return to teaching full-time.  10 years older than Derek and twelve years older than Ray, he alone was married and had children, and since Gentle Giant were not exactly rock superstars, it made sense for him to choose a more stable career.  His departure was amicable.  The band assured him that should he ever wish to return, if only for a single show or tour, that he was welcome, but he never did.  Phil is therefore the only Shulman brother to leave the music industry.  As previously noted, Derek is now an executive (Dream Theater, Pantera, Cinderella, Bon Jovi, etc.), and Ray is a producer (The Sugarcubes, The Sundays, Ian McCullough, etc.).

The lineup on In a Glass House would be the final Gentle Giant lineup.  Musically, Phil's departure is perhaps less significant than any other change could have been.  His trumpet was an interesting addition when it appeared, but that was not often, and brother Derek also played saxophone and continued to do so.  His softer, sweeter voice was a nice contrast to Derek's rough, almost angry-sounding voice, but Kerry Minnear's voice was similar (so similar that I've often mistaken the two and didn't even realize it until reading the song credits).  No, the greater impact of Phil's departure was on the "attitude" within the band.  After four albums, Gentle Giant still had little more than a cult following, and Phil Shulman was the de facto leader of the band, as tends to be the case where siblings are involved.  In a Glass House has a stark sound and an overall bleak mood.  This is emphasized by the album art, which is all in black and white.

"People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" first comes to mind for most people, but the album was actually inspired by an American TV-movie titled The Glass House, based on Truman Capote's In Cold BloodThe Glass House is set in a prison, and studies the inmates and the society within that system, where nothing is hidden.  Another concept album, the lyrics are typically oblique, but seem to fit this scenario more than some kind of general statement about not causing trouble and potentially destroying what you have.

The original album art was Gentle Giant's most ambitious yet.  There are photos of each band member on the inner sleeve visible through a cutout in the outer jacket.  The cutout is cellophane, with other, different photos of each member printed on it, creating a double-exposure effect.  Also, the photos themselves are negative and rendered in black and white, emphasizing the photo concept.

It's actually a lot easier to just show than it is to describe.


(Combined images)


(Individual images)

Early CD pressings recreated the effect by printing the inner sleeve image on the CD booklet, with the outer jacket image silkscreened directly onto the front of the CD jewel case.


In a Glass House (1973)

Gary Green: 12 String Guitar, Electric Guitars, Steel Guitar, Mandolin, Tambourine, Treble Recorder
Kerry Minnear: Moog, Hammond Organ, Piano, Clavinet, Electric Piano, Thomas Organ, Clavichord, Celesta, Glockenspiel, Marimba, Vibraphone, Tympani, Cello, Descant Recorder, Lead Vocals
Derek Shulman: Lead Vocals, Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Descant Recorder
Ray Shulman: Bass, Acoustic Guitar, Violin, Electric Violin, Tambourine, Backing Vocals
John Weathers: Drums, Cowbell

----------

1 The Runaway (7:15)
2 An Inmate's Lullaby (4:39)
3 Way of Life (8:04)
4 Experience (7:50)
5 A Reunion (2:11)
6 In a Glass House (7:49)

----------

The album opens with the sound of breaking glass.  Then more breaking glass, and some smashing glass, and eventually it falls into a rhythm, which leads into The Runaway.  Of course, he is a runaway only in his own mind.  In reality, there are walls and guards.  A longer tune by Gentle Giant standards, but one of four on this album.  The tone is set.

An Inmate's Lullaby starts with an odd mix of percussion, obviously in a clearly structured rhythm, but daring us to find the downbeat.  The tune is whimsical and odd, giving a look into the way an inmate might pass the time, the things he might think about, including whether or not he's insane (yet?).

So she visits you in prison, and you wonder if she'll ever understand the choices you've made, and if she'll ever understand your Way of Life.  Of course, you don't currently have a lot of choices, and maybe you never did.  And maybe her visit was only in your mind in the first place.

Experience again brings up the subject of choices.  The narrator (Kerry on lead vocals this time) reflects on his youth, the choices which led him here, and how maybe after all this time, he might actually understand "the folly of these unripe years".  But what good is this understanding, considering where he is now?

A Reunion is the song (there are always one or two) which was likely written outside of the concept, but could fit into it as well.  Another Kerry Minnear composition featuring some excellent string arrangements, this is the shortest track on the album, and serves as a chance to catch your breath before the closer.

In a Glass House.  The title track, and probably the most "prog" in that it goes through several changes of mood, revisits a few topics from earlier in the album, and, in true Gentle Giant fashion, leaves us not quite sure what we've just experienced.

The album closes with short snippets from each track, then the sounds of breaking glass repeating and fading...

----------

This album divides a lot of fans.  Some consider it their favorite, some find little to love about it at all.  But – and stop me if you've heard this before – that is true of every Gentle Giant album.  We're back to six songs, originally two LP sides each opening and closing with rockers and with a mellower tune in between, but this time the songs are a bit longer than on Three Friends (the previous album with this structure).  The songs also feel more fleshed-out, a bit more dense, more akin to those on Octopus.  Much of the "weirdness" is toned down; there's no medieval reed organ whining away or vocal gymnastics a la "Knots", but there's still some pretty crazy stuff going on, and the longer track times mean a bit more time to explore each idea, so the shifts in mood don't feel quite so psychotic.

Whether any of this is better, or worse, depends entirely upon the listener.

Unfortunately, Columbia Records, which had the U.S. distribution rights, decided that the album was not commercial enough, and the original LP was never released in the U.S. and was only available for a long time as an import.  According to one source, nearly 150,000 copies of the album were imported.  Columbia chose instead to drop Gentle Giant from their label, which meant the rights to the album reverted back to the band, who eventually released it on CD on their own label.


(Back cover, just because I found a picture of it and felt like including it)
« Last Edit: July 19, 2016, 06:33:32 PM by Orbert »

Offline Nearmyth

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: In a Glass House (1973)
« Reply #64 on: July 19, 2016, 07:47:52 PM »
In A Glass House is my favorite GG record. It's so dense with so much going on, but the structures, writing, and progressions are impeccable.
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Offline splent

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: In a Glass House (1973)
« Reply #65 on: July 19, 2016, 10:03:40 PM »
Great album that really has that unique GG sound that I love.

We did Experience and A Reunion from this.
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Offline Prog Snob

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: In a Glass House (1973)
« Reply #66 on: July 20, 2016, 05:35:59 AM »

Great album that really has that unique GG sound that I love.


I concur. It's probably my favorite GG album and one of favorite prog releases in general.

Offline Mladen

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: In a Glass House (1973)
« Reply #67 on: July 20, 2016, 10:53:42 AM »
Re-listened to this one the other day and I still adore it, it's my 2nd favorite GG. An Inmate's lullaby, The Runaway, Way of life and Reunion are glorious.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: In a Glass House (1973)
« Reply #68 on: July 24, 2016, 12:01:21 PM »
I'm a little behind. This thread made me realize I've never listened to Three Friends, so I had to get a copy. I'll get back with some comments.

Octopus and Glass House I know very well, though I haven't listened to either in a long time. These 2, along with Free Hand, are possibly the 3 best GG albums overall.

Offline darkshade

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Re: The Gentle Giant Discography: In a Glass House (1973)
« Reply #69 on: July 24, 2016, 12:34:15 PM »
What the hell is wrong with me? Three Friends is awesome! Will listen again (it's a very short album.)