Album title: Gentle Giant
Artist: Gentle Giant
Nationality: English
Label: Vertigo
Chronology: Debut
Grade: A
Previous Experience of this Artist: Quite a bit through the feature I ran previously
The Trollheart Factor: 4
Landmark value: More a case of cult value I would think. Gentle Giant were not one of the big prog acts that broke through in the 1970s, in fact they seem to have remained fairly obscure and under-appreciated in their day, and have only really acquired the respect of prog fans from a retrospective prospective as it were.
Tracklisting: Giant/Funny Ways/Alucard/Isn’t It Quiet and Cold/Nothing at All/Why Not/The Queen
Comments: Although I knew initially nothing about this band - but had heard them being praised by proggers in the same breath as Genesis, Yes and Camel - I did get a little better acquainted with them through the first “ProGenitors” feature some while back in this journal. This was their debut album, and it sort of gives me a feeling of a mixture of early Uriah Heep and Spock’s Beard. There’s quite a lot of brass, which while not unique in prog bands was certainly not standard, gives it a kind of jazzy feel. I guess I could also throw some Kansas in there too in terms of overall sound. The title track is quite keyboard-led, or at least organ-led, with plenty of trumpet. I’d say it’s a little improvisational though, and definitely too long.
Nice violin starting “Funny Ways” with a more restrained vocal from, well, one of the Shulmans, hard to say which, as two of the three brothers sing lead. Nice honky-tonk piano piece, with some cool Hammond too. I like the vocal harmonies in “Alucard” (seriously?)
here, almost reminiscent of what Queen would later make famous, and it’s another jazzy number with touches of the Alan Parsons Project leaking over the edges, more brass and heavy Hammond. I’m not entirely sure why so many bands, especially prog bands, always want to have a twenties-sounding song (maybe it goes back to the Beatles?) but Gentle Giant are no exception, as “Isn’t It Quiet and Cold” demonstrates ably. The violin - sounding almost fiddle-like - helps here, and the vocal is good. You could almost see them playing this in some fashionable tea shop or something while gentlemen and ladies clap politely, or more likely ignore them completely.
There’s a lovely soft acoustic melody to “Nothing at All” with again some fine vocal harmonies, puts me in mind of very early Dan Fogelberg or perhaps The Eagles. It does however break fairly quickly into a bluesy boogie with sort of, I don’t know, Deep Purple overtones? Maybe Bad Company or Free? That sort of thing anyway. I think I detect some marimba in there, do I? Oh yeah, and another drum solo. Wonderful. And a very jazzy piano run. Given the title, there’s a hell of a lot in this! Well, it is the longest track, over nine minutes. “Why Not” seems to hover between blues/psych rock and nascent prog; I’d still have a hard time classifying much of this as what I would consider prog rock, though it’s certainly got potential. Here is where the band shows it the most I think, with some nice flute backed up by lush keyboards. The album ends with, of all things, a rendition of “God Save the Queen”. All right.
Favourite track(s): Funny Ways/Alucard/Nothing at All
Least favourite track(s): Giant
Overall impression: A competent album, well written and played, but I can sort of see where Gentle Giant were already lagging behind bands like Yes, Genesis and ELP, who were setting their own seal on their work and getting ready to ride the upcoming prog storm. GG seem to have still been saddling up their horses here, not quite sure what the weather was going to be like.
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