Gentle Giant - Gentle Giant

[Phlakaton]

Why's that...

From my experience being an ok drummer... getting all the guys to play the bits in sync with nobody dropping the ball and in tempo... it was a bastard!

[trurl]

Ah...

[Cats On Glue]

this is a great album

[Progbear]

yup, somlething simply doesn't strike me with 3F... I'd also rank it the last of their first seven albums

It’s grown on me, but for years I just did not click with it. I still rather get the feeling they were doing a concept album just because “it’s what everyone’s doing nowadays.” Always found the concept of this one rather prosaic/uninteresting...although good on them for not treading the usual cheesy sci-fi/fantasy/historical epic/psychedelic gobbledygook BS concept album route.

not sure they were up to a concept album by that time (Interview is one as well, but seems more thought out

Interview is barely a concept album, in that the songs don’t tie into any overarching theme. It’s a concept album in the same way that Nektar’s Down to Earth is: i.e., having a recurring idea that links the songs together (snippets of an interview with the band in the former case, Robert Calvert’s absurd German-accented “ringmaster” in the latter).

[Vic2012]

Xylophone......

[Mister Triscuits]

Interview is barely a concept album, in that the songs don’t tie into any overarching theme. It’s a concept album in the same way that Nektar’s Down to Earth is: i.e., having a recurring idea that links the songs together (snippets of an interview with the band in the former case, Robert Calvert’s absurd German-accented “ringmaster” in the latter).

There certainly is a theme, although a few of the songs address it only obliquely. The album is about the band itself, and the pressures and heartaches of being out on the road in a band that is struggling and not...quite...making it. There's the tedium of repetitious interviews, dodgy finances ("Just how much can you spend/Give it back in the end," "Good news soon, bad news then/I know the sound that says 'nothing again'"), fear of failure (the old man of "Design," looking back on a life that didn't "mak[e] his mark"), the drudgery of touring ("Where tomorrow? No, I don't want to know"), and a final backhanded affirmation (I must have been crazy to go into this, "But today I can see").

[yesstiles]

I actually like the debut better than "Acquiring The Taste." But my favorite is "Three Friends."

[zombywoof]

In general, I'm not a huge GG fan these days - but when I first got into them, I really loved this album.

[Zeuhlmate]

The History of Gentle Giant!

Join host Pete Pardo for his look at the career of one of progressive rock's most unique and beloved bands, the legendary Gentle Giant!

[starless and bible black]

The only thing I really liked on this was "Alucard." The leap in quality from this to Acquiring The Taste is huge...IMO. Anyone think this album is as good as what they did from 1971-75?

I think GG's first album is a very good debut LP. My favorites on it are "Funny Ways", "Alucard", "Isn't It Quiet And Cold" & "Nothing At All". While I don't think it's as consistent as their best LPs (IMHO they are Acquiring The Taste, Octopus, The Power And The Glory & Free Hand), it's the template for everything the group did from 1970 thru 1976.

[starless and bible black]

The History of Gentle Giant!

Join host Pete Pardo for his look at the career of one of progressive rock's most unique and beloved bands, the legendary Gentle Giant!

Just watched this video the other day and I loved it! A must see for GG fans.

[Trane]

Just watched this video the other day and I loved it! A must see for GG fans.

I don't think it brings anything to the already-acquired GG fans, really... He just runs through the albums saying what he thinks about the albums (and like most of us, he agrees with the general consensus), and outside to pre-GG and after, little else.

[strawberrybrick]

Did anyone see the picture of Derek and Elton John floating around Facebook?

"What a pleasure to catch up with our old keyboard player ‘Reg Dwight’ after many years.
We fondly reminisced about touring with Simon Dupree and the Big Sound.
In some ways he was quite instrumental in the band deciding to call it a day as we became Gentle Giant and he became Elton John.
He was so welcoming and so proud of his kids and family life.
A really true old friend and an amazing musician."

43681889_1912526628794882_3937407768209653760_n.jpg

[Mister Triscuits]

Darren Lock on Gentle Giant:

I don’t think it’s actually prog, to be quite honest. I don’t think it’s prog at all, because it’s just, I think it’s just deliberately fiddly. There’s no, I don’t feel any outside influences coming in. There’s no classical, there’s no jazz.

[starless and bible black]

Did anyone see the picture of Derek and Elton John floating around Facebook?

"What a pleasure to catch up with our old keyboard player ‘Reg Dwight’ after many years.
We fondly reminisced about touring with Simon Dupree and the Big Sound.
In some ways he was quite instrumental in the band deciding to call it a day as we became Gentle Giant and he became Elton John.
He was so welcoming and so proud of his kids and family life.
A really true old friend and an amazing musician."

43681889_1912526628794882_3937407768209653760_n.jpg

Thanks for sharing the photo of Elton John & Derek Shulman. It's a treat to see them together and fondly going over the "Memories Of Old Days".

[betty humpter]

Darren Lock on Gentle Giant:

Darren Lock is a knuckle dragging troglodyte!