Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 51 to 62 of 62

Thread: FEATURED CD - Gentle Giant : Octopus

  1. #51
    Member Proghound's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Susquehanna Valley, PA
    Posts
    185
    Quote Originally Posted by miamiscot View Post
    And the US album cover sucked big time. What were they thinking?
    I agree with Bad Dog U completely. Maybe because it was 1972 man! The US version of the cover was probably a record company proposal, but even at that it was die cut so differently that it was totally "out of the box." Though as soon as I saw the European version with the Roger Dean cover, I immediately ran out and bought that. I remember showing my completely unplayed 1972 LP to Gary Green at Nearfest one year, and he couldn't get over it- calling it a "Virgin Octopus!"
    I love all the early GG albums and maybe because I saw them some 5 or 6 times it sways my love for them. Live.. they ran around the stage playing different instruments, sang like choir boys, and all played with extreme dexterity with Pugwash keeping the steady but totally driving beat. I cant even pick a favorite. PatG was my first introduction, but I bought everything I could after that. I also thought Jethro Tull took much of the GG sound into albums Songs from the Woods, and Minstrel. Actually the first time I ever saw GG was opening for Tull. My buddies in Happy the Man were huge fans and many of them would travel the entire east coast to see them on every single US tour at multiple venues...They were a great influence to their music, and Gary is still good friends with Stan and Frank.

    To me GG was one of the top Prog bands of all times and Octopus is a desert island classic. I get so tired of people on this site ranking each song, nitpicking, and criticizing... when in the day were all amazing. And maybe that's the point, you had to be there. IMO

    I do totally agree as the later albums emerged, they were more and more attempts to gain radio notoriety, that were total failures...but even those albums have a few gems. But as they watched the commercial success of Yes, ELP, and Genesis...you really can't blame them- one has to eat! They were always just a little too odd sounding, no matter what they did to get any significant radio airplay- PatG probably got the most on College radio stations and WHFS.

  2. #52
    Member Sputnik's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    South Hadley, MA
    Posts
    2,663
    Quote Originally Posted by miamiscot View Post
    And the US album cover sucked big time. What were they thinking?
    Funny, I actually prefer the US cover. Somehow it just seems more "GG" than the Roger Dean.

    As far as A Cry for Everyone, I'm not sure why I like it so much. But I just get very excited every time I hear it. I think it's a heavier track, but one that doesn't lose complexity or interst for being heavier, particularly in the verses. I love the little breaks after the "I'd cry for everyone" lyric, which are powerful even without the drums. I also love the little dueling synth break after the middle section, and the wild synth solos. For me, the song embodies everything I love about Prog Rock, all packed into a piece of fairly standard length.

    Bill

  3. #53
    Member bill g's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Near Mount Rainier
    Posts
    2,646
    Quote Originally Posted by ProgArtist View Post
    I almost always skip "Plain Truth" as it sounds like a s/t side 2 leftover, so that brings AtT down to about 33 minutes, too. (But what an amazing 33 minutes!!!) The three I mentioned were the ones that really got me on first listen and are still some of my favorites, but I really love side 2 as well. And where else am I going to get my Mellophone fix without the solo in "Think of Me With Kindness"?
    Yeah, I always skip 'Plain Truth' too. Used to skip 'Valedictory' too. Funny about 'Think of Me With Kindness' that Kerry says he kept it simple. It is most definitely not simple, lol. Great track though, and simple by Kerry's standards.

  4. #54
    Quote Originally Posted by bill g View Post
    Yeah, I always skip 'Plain Truth' too. Used to skip 'Valedictory' too. Funny about 'Think of Me With Kindness' that Kerry says he kept it simple. It is most definitely not simple, lol. Great track though, and simple by Kerry's standards.
    As much as I love "Think Of Me With Kindness," it would have been better served to have been kept more simple.

    The switch at 1:48 sounds like it's being forced just to sound more typically Giant-like. If that isn't enough he forces his way back into it a second time about 2:10. I think that whole idea is at odds with the piece.

    Still love the song to bits, but that arrangement is frustrating because it sounds like the need to be complex is overriding the value of the song at hand.

  5. #55
    I think this was my second or third taste of GG. AtT was definitely the first, and either this one or Free Hand was the second. I actually sought this one out, and it was the UK cover that I received just because it was the first copy I found. Had no idea it was Roger Dean (he’s not credited in the liner notes!) until someone pointed it out to me years later.

    Nowadays, I love pretty much all of their “classic” period (debut through to Interview), but it took me years to get into Three Friends, which I didn’t like much at first despite being hailed as their “classic” release by many. The debut has rather grown off me, too formative, but there’s bits that I still love. Interview was likewise a pretty tough sell at first, Side A was unimpeachable, but the B-side left me cold apart from “Another Show” and “I Lost My Head.”

    But Octopus? Loved it from the very start. Still love it now. “Knots” blew my mind. Stealth-fave: “River,” that tune is always so underrated.

    Quote Originally Posted by Vic2012 View Post
    I'd never heard of them, but I was heavily into Spocks Beard back then and all I ever read about on forums was that SB plagiarized GG (because of "Thoughts").
    Not so much a plagiarism as an awkward and rather amateurish imitation. It sounds like a junior high school band heard “Knots” without understanding what was going on musically and tried to do something similar. They got better at that sort of thing on “Gibberish” and “Thoughts (Part II).”
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

  6. #56
    Jazzbo manqué Mister Triscuits's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Utopia
    Posts
    5,390
    Quote Originally Posted by Proghound View Post
    To me GG was one of the top Prog bands of all times and Octopus is a desert island classic. I get so tired of people on this site ranking each song, nitpicking, and criticizing... when in the day were all amazing.
    Not a weak moment on this album if you ask me.

  7. #57
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Leicester, UK
    Posts
    699
    Octopus isn't my favourite Gentle Giant album, but it is the one where I think they finally crystallised the musical style that would serve them so well on their subsequent, best work (IAGH-Playing the Fool). On that note, I tend to think that John Weathers joining was of much greater significance than Phil Shulman leaving, as Weathers really gave the band that propulsive edge they'd hitherto lacked. I still only have this one on vinyl (on which it sounds great), and I should probably think about picking it up on cd at some point.

  8. #58
    My first Gentle Giant album was Playing the Fool, which I got upon release and shelved it right away (so estranged it sounded to my rockin' ears). Few years later, in my mid 20s, I gave them another chance with Octopus. I was instantly hooked! In hindsight it may not be the Giant's best album (In a Glass House holds this place to my ears) but for me it was the album where all the pieces came together into one masterful whole, that revealed a treasure of complexity and sophistication but still worked as a cohesive big picture.

    Still an all-times progressive classic.
    Macht das ohr auf!

    COSMIC EYE RECORDS

  9. #59
    Member DoubleDrummer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Mid-South
    Posts
    136
    I was introduced to GC by a friend of mine; his local band actually added THE HOUSE, THE STREET, THE ROOM to their set...............and nailed it !
    So my first purchase was AtT, then Octopus, Free Hand, and finally Playing the Fool.
    Brilliant !

    Saw them perform live only once...............mid-70s, Dallas, TX.

  10. #60
    Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Moscow, RF
    Posts
    317
    Great album, the first I bought - in the days of vynil..I owned both LP editions - US and UK. I had also both IaGH - WWA and Vertigo...fond memories!) Octopus, along with Free Hand, has always been my favorite GG album. I especially like Panurge and The Boys In The Band.

  11. #61
    Member No Pride's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Chicago, IL, USA
    Posts
    137
    Quote Originally Posted by Sputnik View Post
    Funny, I actually prefer the US cover.
    I do too, especially the vinyl version, where the album cover was shaped like the glass jar.

    Quote Originally Posted by JeffCarney View Post
    As much as I love "Think Of Me With Kindness," it would have been better served to have been kept more simple.

    The switch at 1:48 sounds like it's being forced just to sound more typically Giant-like. If that isn't enough he forces his way back into it a second time about 2:10. I think that whole idea is at odds with the piece.
    I used to think that too, but I'm so used to it now that I can't imagine it being anything besides what it is.

  12. #62
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Sunset Blvd.
    Posts
    385
    Great album, tied with Acquiring as my favorite

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •