I love this band but rarely hear any discussions about them anymore. I first heard of them when I was in junior high, when I asked a girl what bands she liked. I expected her to name some lame chick bands or Led Zeppelin or whatever. But she said Gentle Giant. I said that I wasn’t into mellow stuff. She tried to explain, but got frustrated. Really, how does one describe them.
A year or two later I grew some courage and picked up Octopus. A couple of years after that I got Playing the Fool. I owned a few more records in my college and young adult days, but all of those were on vinyl and have since been abandoned.
I pretty much forgot about them until about 14 years ago, when I decided to get Three Friends on CD, and soon after the live album (King Biscuit Flour Hour). Once again I forgot about them, until last weekend. I’d totally forgotten how awesome they were.
I’ve always been a huge fan–GG is probably in my all-time top 5. First heard them in '72, when Three Friends got a smattering of airplay–mostly for “Prologue” and “Mr. Class and Quality,” with or without the segue into the title track. I got to see them live three times: in 1975 (supporting Strawbs), in 1976 (at the bottom of a stadium bill with Yes, Peter Frampton, and Gary Wright), and in 1977 (Headlining at last! Take that, Renaissance!).
I’m a huge GG fan, but it wasn’t always so: when I first heard them at age 18 or so, they sounded just too disjointed and dissonant, even ugly. But with time, I grew to love them more and more, until I spent a good six months listening to nothing else. The cacophony suddenly made sense, and all the little bits and pieces fell in place, making most rock music, even from the adventurous '70’s, sound simplistic songs-by-the-numbers in comparison.
I’m a sucker for deft vocal harmonies and nimble yet ballsy bass playing, and GG fits the bill perfectly. Also, the savior of Gary Green’s heavy blues guitar breaks after minutes of keyboardish counterpoint noodling is just awesome, especially when Ray Shulman joins in with his Precision and John Weathers lets loose.
Gentle Giant albums keep on giving for years, there’s just so many facets crafted into the songs. Also, their music always included a fair bit of humor, which many other prog bands from the '70’s knew nothing about. Many great albums, and some not-so-great albums with killer songs nonetheless. I think I enjoy The Power and the Glory the most now. Acquiring the Taste has faded a bit, but it still has a magical atmosphere to it; Octopus always kicks ass. Even GG’s last album - hated by any true Progster - is a strong 80’s techno-rock album, and miles beyond the lightweight dreck the likes of Yes, Genesis and Asia churned out at the same time.
The cacophony is really highly ordered, but sometimes difficult to pick out. I remember listening to something (Interview, perhaps?) with a couple of other guys. I just happened to notice that we were all tapping our feet to the music, but none of us were tapping the same beat. Try doing that with The Carpenters!