Comus says: Be a Gentle Giant for Seven Days!
 

Now ignoring my incredible paint skills for a second, here's a pre-recorded message:

Hello musicbanter! It’s Thursday, and for some reason that screams to me it’s time to shove some prog down your throat. Infact every day for the next seven days I’m going to shove some prog down your throat, more specifically in the shape of one band. That’s right, for you nubs doing discography threads over several years. I’m going to review, in order, Gentle Giant’s seven essential albums in a week.

This is to prove that prog doesn’t have to be all wankery and serious composition. Gentle Giant are perhaps one of the most fun bands in the progressive rock mainstream. Relying less on overt humour like Caravan and rather keeping their songs fun in a more subtle way. You’ll notice a lot of quirks about their music and lyrics, as we travel through this wonderful week.

I'd like this to stay in general music for the week it takes me to finish it please, would be appreciated.

This is not an album for everyone, but it’s most certainly a very interesting listen. The album starts on an unusual note for Gentle Giant in general. A quite under produced vocal performance surrounded by quite pristine instrumentations. As such, from the first few seconds you find out what Gentle Giant are all about. This is music for the sake of music; it’s for them as much as it is for us, which makes for an incredibly interesting listen.

You’ll immediately notice a lot of recurring melodies through a lot of differing instrumentation, adding a lot of depth to a great song. Funny Ways is far much more like the Gentle Giant most people know, the vocals are crisp and pristine, but still retain just that little edge of weird. I love everything that’s going on in the background here. The brief guitar solo here are very much reminiscent of the late 60’s British blues, and it’s always an unexpected turn.

Of course Gentle Giant aren’t a typical prog band. The songs aren’t all about virtuosity, solos and side long epics. For Gentle Giant, they were all about finely crafting songs for the sake of the songs, not the instruments within. This quality about the band is showcased very well on Alucard. Some very interesting synthesisers and vocal production makes it a very enjoyable and refreshing listen. But before you judge, and say “oh synthesisers, I bet they’ll sound like yes”. Not so, the synths here actually sound like synthesisers! There’s nothing much symphonic about them. You’ll be treated to a jazz style freak out at the end of Alucard here, and I must say it is a delightful way to introduce the next track.

And speaking of delightful Isn’t it Quiet and Cold? Serves as a lovely, cello-filled, interlude between the more demanding prog. More specifically Nothing at All, the longest song of the album features some of the more beautiful vocal harmonies and guitar melodies that you’ll find on any Gentle Giant song. Featured on this song is perhaps one of the most enjoyable drum solos you’ll ever find. Backed up by a wonderful keyboard performance by Kerry Minnear which fades from left to right and back again in a wonderful rollercoaster of production. It really is so good that you’ll want to replay the track to experience it again.

The album then takes yet another twist with Why Not? and we end up with some late 60’s style hard rock. Which quickly changes yet again to keep you on your toes, and once again cements Gentle Giant’s place as one of the more fun prog bands. Speaking of fun, ever wanted to hear the British anthem played on guitar? No? Seriously? Oh, well they do that to end this album off.

There are many strong points of this album, and it’s one hell of a debut, it can hold it’s own in the world of prog. But can it hold it’s own against the rest of Gentle Giant’s classic albums?

I never got all the nonsense about prog not having a sense of humor. I guess you could say that about Yes. But King Crimson, Genesis, ELP and Jethro Tull applied a lot of humor to their work. Bands like Gong and Caravan had an especially great sense of humor.

I mean Gentle Giant did an album with a cover that had a tongue drooling over an apple that looks deceptively like an asscrack. Ok. Maybe it wasn't brilliant or tasteful humor. But there was humor.

Gentle Giant were one of the more subtle prog bands, but "subtle" is quite a useless word in proggyland. Their music is still full of all the whimsy and bombast one comes to expect from 70s prog. But their compositions rarely featured really long solos and the longest songs they ever did were 8 minutes, generally their songs are pretty short, but they pack a real punch, because they manage to cram so much into their songs. And yet it never feels bloated.

They were quite possibly one of the most eclectic prog bands. All of the band's members are talented multi-instrumentalists, they employ many instruments into the GG sound. Sax, Trumpet, Violin, Cello, Vibraphone. The polyphonic vocal harmonies are another trademark of the band. There's much classical influence in their work, but less oriented towards Neoclassicism than other prog bands, it ranges from the Renaissance and Baroque to Impressionists like Debussy and Expressionists like Schoenberg. With some psychedelia, free jazz, folk and even some blues thrown in.

They express their virtuosity through their music but without trying to compete with each other and they never noodle. They're among the most brilliant melodists in prog, and their composition skills is nothing short of amazing.

Cool. I loaded Octopus on my iPod for tomorrow once I saw your first post. I don't have the self-titled so I'll have to stream that from last.fm, thanks for the links (I usually don't think to stream stuff).

Gentle Giant is definitely an acquired taste, some stuff I have heard I didn't like. But Octopus, In a Glass House, and The Power and the Glory I do like after a few listens. I'll plan to check out the other ones you post as I always intended to check out more than those 3.

Giant is still one of my favorite GG songs. It's the first song I heard from them and it really grabbed me, it's what got me interested in the band.

Alucard, Isn't It Quiet and Cold? and Nothing At All are other highlights.

Haha :D Gentle Giant is my favourite prog act at the moment and seeing as Anteater reviewed acquiring the taste not too long ago and you mentioned Octopus in your 1001 thread, I thought I'd add to the wind in their sails and also write up a review of Octopus and - of course as you know - a tribute thread dedicated to the band.

As I wrote up the thread, I thought about how cool it would be to actually have reviews of all their greats and this thread is gonna be an awesome companion to the other :D

The more I hear this album I start loving every song more and more, but yes, yes, yes AND YES on these four being brilliant.

For those of you brave enough to try to keep up with me, try doing reviews of the albums too, to make it even more interesting.

Thank tore for making a script.

Haha, told you it would come in handy :D

By the way, nice review of their debut! .. And I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow's acquiring the taste :)

The album starts off with a spacey synthesiser melody rolling into the quaint trademark Gentle Giant vocals giving a quiet air of expectation about the album. Suddenly you’re introduced to a very eclectic mix of instruments and melodies all fighting for prominence over the vocals. You’re also treated to a few lovely guitar solos cutting through the rather aggressive melodies and keyboard riffs. The song ends in a wave of tinnitus and suddenly everything has calmed down.

Edge of Twilight has some lovely relaxing vocals, and it continues the trend of quirky little out of place melodies. But it also has a very bombastic drum solo dividing the song into two parts. The whole thing plays incredibly well, and incredibly tight, you can feel that the band has matured. The whole album, as Derek pointed out in his review, was basically a big middle finger to the music industry as a whole. As such they basically recorded what they felt sounded good, at the risk of alienating their fans.

The effect was pretty much completely the opposite, you’ll fall in love with the sincerity of this album, it sounds so organic. And that’s because it is, this is what Gentle Giant wanted to write, and it marks an early shift in their music. The whole album seems to flow through because of this natural sound, and as such nothing feels forced. None of the long instrumental passages get boring, because they’re not “showing off” but rather playing how they want to play.

Take the guitar solo on The House, The Street, The Room, it’s quite proficient yes, but Gary Green can do more complex stuff. This is just what he found sounded best, and what way to do that than through a 12 string wah-wah guitar solo straight from the heart.


After the brief instrumental interlude of Aquiring the Taste comes quite possibly one of the most catchy tunes Gentle Giant have ever made. You’ll find it hard to not sing along to Wreck’s “Hey-yeah-yeah hold on”, I can’t contain myself that’s for sure. Combine this with a very catchy synth/guitar riff and you have yourself a massive winner. You’ll grow to love the little instrumental solos that occasionally sneak into the forefront. The beauty of it, as stated before, is that it’s music for the sake of music, not for the sake of “oh, every song needs a guitar/drum/keyboard solo dude!”

Nothing seems out of place here, and that’s the beauty of this album, while nothing is expected or boring either, it’s just that way because that’s how Gentle Giant wanted to make their album. So here we finally have a progressive rock album, that is completely sincere in its construction of music, nothing is there to “sound progressive” this is jus what they want to play. I know I’m hammering the point home, but it just makes this for such an enjoyable listen.

Overall this is a very very strong addition to Gentle Giant’s catalogue. You’ll find a heavier, more honest and straight forward Gentle Giant here, there’s not a lot of catchy vocals or lyrics like a lot of their other albums. But you’ll find lots and lots of catchy melodies and riffs. Overall it’s a lot stronger and more cohesive than their debut and as such does most certainly deserve a higher score.

Great review :D I basically agree with everything, I think. One funny thing I discovered when I first listened to this is that I'm absolutely sure I have an old module file (tracker music files of old) which has the interesting little bit from about 2:00 into Edge of Twilight in it and so that evoked some real nostalgia with me. I think my favourite tracks are Pantagruel's nativity or Black Cat, but yeah - as you say, songs like Wreck are insanely catchy.

All in all a great album, only good songs. Interestingly, I found this little piece of trivia on the album's last.fm page :

:)

Wreck is probably my least favorite song from the album but everyone seems to consider it a favorite for some reason.

Favorite tracks:
Pantagruel's Nativity
Edge Of Twilight
The House, The Street, The Room
Black Cat
Plain Truth.

But Black Cat especially, I love how the lush strings and that spooky chamber music break in the middle, and how it contrasts with that groovy bassline from Ray (such an underrated bassist). I wonder why songs like this aren't FM radio staples, it should be playing right alongside ELO, Procol Harum and The Moody Blues.

I think GG are at their best when they go for bombast and whimsy, weither its the medieval stuff or the symphonic stuff or "everything and the kitchen sink" type stuff. I like some of their bluesier stuff but that's not what really draws me to this band.

Gentle Giant take the prog plunge and finally make a concept album, about, you guessed it, Three Friends. However, if you have only heard their two first albums, this album marks yet another departure. Gentle Giant has however decided to strip down the overall sound of the album, in favourite of a slightly more minimalist approach. That’s not to say it doesn’t have that trademark Gentle Giant sound, there’s just slightly less layering here.

That doesn’t however; mean that it’s a bad album. Prologue is a lovely album opener; it introduces the story and sets the mood very well. Already you are introduced to the more minimalist and repetitive sound of Three Friends, but it won’t be long until you’re hooked. Prologue flows brilliantly into Schooldays which talks of the three friends in, naturally, their schooldays. In come the lovely little melodic hooks and instrumental passages you know and love by now. However again you’ll feel that it’s far simpler than other Gentle Giant releases.

One interesting little thing you should be able to pick up is Kerry Minnear’s keyboard playing. Especially on Schooldays, it’s very noticeable that his playing has improved, or at least matured. On the other side of the spectrum, you’ll notice the drumming is a bit more restrained. This is because Martin Smith has left the band to be replaced with Malcolm Mortimore, who will only stay with the band for this one album.

The story continues with Working All Day, which accounts for the move from school life into the professional world. Overall the song continues the minimalist theme well but also manages to keep all the melodies and vocals catchy and memorable. The slightly abrasive vocal style continues into Peel The Paint, one of the stronger and most layered tracks on the album. And of course, a brilliant guitar solo ensues, this is my favourite part of the album, and the solo wouldn’t feel out of place on a 1972 hard rock album either.

As I said a lot of the trademark Gentle Giant sound still remains on this album, and you’ll get a bit of their lovely British whimsy towards the end here. The closing track Three Friends is a nice reminder of what Gentle Giant can do when they are at their best.

Unfortunately for the album a lot of things do let it down. It often feels like it’s lacking direction especially for a concept album. The delivery of a lot of the vocals and instruments here seem a bit lacklustre and rushed. But I think what lets this album down the most is the other Gentle Giant albums, these three friends can indeed find it hard to stand in a field of Giants.

It's a damn good album but I do agree that it's the weakest of the classic 7. I guess because it's more miminalistic like you said. And I'm not a huge fan of the story concept. Lyrics were never one of GG's strong points.

That being said. Prologue is easly one of my favorite Gentle Giant songs.

Kerry shines a bit more on this album I agree, the bombastic instrumentation GG use is a bit toned here, there's more of a mellotron/moog sound.

Boobs' picks: Prologue, Schooldays, Mister Class & Quality.

This is an album that will grab you by the throat and force itself deep into your subconscious. Every single track here will undoubtedly get stuck in your head at some point in time. Usually it starts with Raconteur Troubadour, but then it’ll become The Advent of Panurge. From there it will just get worse and worse. If you make the glorious mistake of listening to this album, there’s no way that it’s going to let you escape its clutches.

The album start swith Advent of Panurge, and immediately we’re re-introduced to the classic Gentle Giant sound that was slightly absent on Three Friends. We’re also joined by yet a new drummer, one John “Pugwash” Weathers who will stay with them throughout the rest of their classic period. The Advent of Panurge really does give a very accurate reflection of what to expect. The playing is tight, upbeat and sporting great production, you’ll love all the melodies and little quirks that make this so re-listenable.

Raconteur Troubadour is the most instant of all the songs, the vocals will immediately stick on first listen and I can almost guarantee that you’ll be singing along the second time around. All the little melodies work so well together, and it’s impossible to pick up on everything in one listen, this literally forces you to listen to it again and again. Of course there’s also all the unexpected twists and turns that just make this band absolutely delightful as well.

While every song here represents Gentle Giant incredibly well, you’ll be surprised at the actual range of songs that this band can pull off. You’ll never feel that all the songs sound the same, or have the same structure, the album just changes time and time again. Knots is an incredibly powerful halfway point for the album, and along with The Boys in the Band provides a brilliant middle point to keep you interested for the final few songs.

The Boys in the Band is probably the tightest song on the album, and makes for a great instrumental interlude with some very interesting melodies. Which brings us to my favourite song on the album; Dog’s Life. This little ditty has some of the loveliest quirky lyrics of any album, and it just encapsulates what Gentle Giant are all about. It’s very whimsical, funny and tongue in cheek. An argument can be made that the latter half of Octopus is even stronger than the first, with Think of Me With Kindness and River finishing off the listening experience.

The second last track is a beautiful, sombre and intense experience. It would have probably worked better than River as the final track, it is truly beautiful. You’ll notice some brilliant keyboard work as well here that just makes it all the more brilliant .The album ends on a high with the irresistible River. River has probably some of the catchiest melodies and most interesting production on the album. That and one of the more badass guitar solos you’ll find, accompanied by vocals copying some of the notes Vas Dis style.

Overall this is a masterpiece, there is no doubt about it, and I have been debating with myself whether or not it deserves the big 10. I’m really not sure what to do about it, but I’m very much leaning in favour of it getting maximum marks. Before I started doing these reviews I would have undoubtedly given it maximum points, but I’m not sure if it’s worth setting a maximum points around with three albums to go.

fuck it

10/10

This truly is their finest album (well it or In A Glass House, I rate both of them a 10) and it's hard to pick favorites.

Boobs' picks: Errrrr. All of it.

Another nice review :D As most know, Octopus is my favourite as well, but as you say - with so many good songs it's near impossible to pick one favourite. More than any other GG album I've listened to, it has some kind of weird appeal and I guess it's must be the Gentle Giant sound itself which works so well across every track despite them being quite different. Excellent album!

Come 1973 Gentle Giant had some rather big shoes to fill after their masterpiece Octopus. It also marks yet another slight departure in sound for the Canterbury based band. This was the album that never made it officially to US shores because it was “Not commercial enough” and what a shame that is. It also marks their first album without Phil Shulman and as such represents yet another noticeable change in sound. All this of course makes this album an incredibly fresh and unique experience, who would want to listen to the same albums being done over and over again?

It is fair to say the whole sound of the album bears more resemblance to Three Friends than to Octopus, but in this instance it’s done a lot better. Runaway opens the album in a good high, you’ll love all the little quirks and awesome passages and unique solos. The production has changed in tune once more and you’ll notice a lot of little extra effects that add to the experience well. The album does however feel more driven, and less fun in comparison to their first four.

An Inmates Lullaby is a good example of that, it offers a stripped down very ambient form of Gentle Giant’s trademark sound. It’s clear the band has once again matured as musicians, because the creation of tension and atmosphere has improved remarkably. Fear not however, because there’s still lots of that Gentle Giant spunk on the next track; Way of Life. It stars with a high energy riff supported by a nice range of instruments and some of the whimsical vocals we know and love.

I can’t however help but feel that a lot of the songs of this album follow the same formula. Starting with an interesting melody, stripping it down, and then building up atmosphere and subsequently a climax, rinse and repeat with a few nice melodies thrown in for good measure. It makes the album very consistent, but it also lacks that air of unpredictability that made the earlier Gentle Giant albums so enjoyable. Probably the strongest song of the album, Experience offers an incredible listening experience. With some brilliant guitar work, vocals, production and interesting melodies.

Reunion is a beautiful little interlude to lead into the final track, and can be sort of thought of as Think of Me With Kindness’ sister track. It certainly has the same form of lovely atmosphere and sense of melody. The album finishes on a good high with the title track, but I can’t help but feel something is missing from it.

Yet another departure this album does indeed see Gentle Giant, with one member less, go into darker and more serious territory. They can still write great songs and melodies, however they’ve given a lot of it up for the sake of atmosphere. This album is far less instant than their previous works and as such is not one for the prog beginner. This is for progressive rock fans, while the rest of their albums are pretty much universal this is far more of an acquired taste.

9/10

You've convinced me to try Octopus out (so the thread's working). If it's anything less than a 10 i'll have harsh words.

I disagree with you on this one Comus. While it's a very experimental album it's also, I think, one of their most accessible and one of the first abums I'd recommend to those who want to get into the band. There's still some blues that pops up in Experience and the title track. But thankfully they started putting less emphasis on it and are beginning to explore their own sound more fully.

The lyrical subjects are a lot darker and more serious than their other work. An Inmates Lullaby for example is about a mental patient, but it's a very beautiful song, and it's an odd one because it's all percussion instruments like vibraphone and xylophone.

But the music itself on the album is very upbeat sounding. There's more of a bubbly folk sound on this record than the rest of their work. This is the only GG album where Green plays the mandolin, so that gives it a very unique flavor when compared to the other albums.

I do miss Phil very much, his brass instruments gave the first four GG albums a lot of their bombastic power, though his absence allowed the band to evolve once more.

So Piss, if you like Octopus enough to check out another album, make sure In A Glass House is the first.

Boobs' picks: The Runaway, Way of Life, Experience, In A Glass House.

It's a great album, but I think it's on par with Aquiring the taste, which is in no means an insult, it's tied second at the moment, but I'd say their debut is more accessible, while not as strong as Glass House.

The beginning of the end of Gentle Giant’s classic period, another shift in sound marks their venture into more poppy material. That’s not to say however, that it’s not done very well. The Power and the Glory is an example of the sound from In A Glass House being taken and made more palatable. This whole release is still unmistakeably Gentle Giant, but with yet another, more mature, sound. The album is stripped down in the form of instruments used, however the layering and usage of melody makes it seem far deeper.

The epic build up of atmosphere returns yet again, but this time it reaches far more satisfying and tangible climaxes. Proclamation is a great album opener and it establishes a good flow into So Sincere. The early style vocal delivery that were quite missed on In A Glass House return in good form, and make the experience all the better for it. The whole album is based on the great Graham Greene book of the same name, I’ve never picked up on it before despite liking the book and the album. Shows how much I pay attention, thank you wikipedia.

The whole album has a feel of mysticism around it, the flow, production and atmosphere all create a very powerful listen. That naturally means that this is one where it can be quite important to turn up to 11 to get the full, power and glory of the delivery. Songs like Playing the Game always have something new to discover, there’s some great single performances moulded together to become more than their parts. This of course is the whole appeal of Gentle Giant, and as such there’s always something new on subsequent listens.

One thing I can’t stress enough about what makes this album unique in the Gentle Giant spectrum is the guitars, the wonderful guitars. Judging on their earlier albums it almost seemed impossible that they’d give the guitar such priority for such a large part of the album. There have been hints of strong guitar driven songs, or at least a nice solo here and there, but it seemed like they’d never take the dive. Especially given the depth of the talent in the band, of course this isn’t a bad thing, it may seem like a bit of wasted talent, but it sounds so good.

Cogs in Cogs is manic Gentle Giant at it’s best, this song has so much going on it’s hard to concentrate on actually putting anything down on paper, or in this case, word document. But naturally, Gentle Giant aren’t going to let you get some rest in, with the challenging No God’s A Man. Everything can seem a bit overwhelming at times here, but things get a lot clearer with a few more listens. The interesting additions of Violin and Cello come a bit more into the forefront here, especially on The Face and again add some more depth to the listening experience.

I said at the start of the review that this was the beginning of their more poppy phase, well let me clarify that. On the surface a lot of the songs on this album, especially in the first half can seem very simple, pop driven songs (not a bad thing in itself). However venture deeper in, and especially in the second half and you’ll discover an album just as complex and interesting as Octopus. The classic sound is mostly gone, but the whole progressive spirit of the band lives on in a new adaptation of the Gentle Giant we know and love.

There is so much to this album, and it’s arguably one of the best in their catalogue, this is one you could play again and again and not get tired of. I should know, I’ve listened to it three times in a row now for the review, and it’s even more interesting. This is one that definitely gets stronger with subsequent plays, especially if you haven’t heard it in a long while. Highly recommended for prog and rock fans alike.

Funny, I'd always heard mixed reviews on The Power and the Glory, so as a a result its the only album from their classic period that I've never gotten.

Your review convinced me though; I'm dling as we speak! :wave:

^Haha, same goes for me, roughly .. I have it, but it's the only GG "great" I haven't given a total spin yet and the only song I know from the album at the moment is "Proclamation". I'll give it a spin once I get home later today. Of course, I know it's gonna be good.

I'm falling behind! Luckily I've heard the last 3 posted...but I plan to revisit them along with the thread. Octopus sometime today.

First listen was encouraging, very odd but has charm which i feel is missing with what i've heard with other prog bands. I won't judge this early but it's looking good!

Don't listen to boo boo though, if you want charm you need Acquiring the Taste and the self titled debut, once you've tried them Get Power and the Glory and then you can make your own choices about where to go next.

Since I'm on a DL'ing rampage atm I think I'll get Octopus a try.

And this album brings us nicely to the end of a five year journey spanning seven great albums. Free Hand, as you’d expect is yet another departure, marking a Gentle Giant tethering on the edge of prog obscurity. The complex layering is mostly gone; however the lovely melodies and vocals still remain in small doses. You’ll find a lot more solo driven material here rather than repetitive, catchy vocals. The first track, Just The Same is a perfect example of this, solo after solo with a few melodies thrown in to keep the song together.

The charming edge of Gentle Giant remains with little touches like the all vocal introduction to On Reflection which sports some fantastic melodies. Overall it’s a very simple vocal driven song. Which works very well in the short context of the start of the album, however it shows a focus towards the less complex arrangement Gentle Giant is know for. The trend continues with Free Hand, everything seems properly stripped down here, while still keeping some of the quirkiness from their earlier albums with random melodies.

As with all Gentle Giant albums this one is guaranteed to keep you on your toes, they never really get predictable. Even with a stripped down sound you’ll notice a lot of new things on subsequent listens. One thing you’ll notice is because of the stripped down sound, the songs seem to just flow away, the title track feels like a 2 minute song instead of a 6 minute one. Especially if you’re used to there being a lot of melodies, it seems like it would work in a completely opposite way, but it seems to just flow really well.

My main problem with this album is that the whole band seems detached. It’s like they’re no longer putting their entire attitude into the music. It can start feeling a bit mechanical and stale and not to mention safe. For a band that was created due to a collective distaste for what they felt was 60’s pop they’ve started losing their edge. The album is by no means poor, but you rarely catch the glimpses of Gentle Giant at their best here.

This is probably the last album you should get, prog fans seem to love this album for some reason I can’t really understand. It’s great, but it doesn’t really surpass any of their other classic albums. It’s a shame to end on a low, but in the end this album would probably be the pinnacle of a lot of bands.

I agree with you that the second half of Power and the Glory is more complex and more like their older stuff, as opposed to the first half which is a bit stripped down. Cogs in Cogs especially sounds like it could have been on Octopus.

I like that there's more guitar and keyboards, and for once, no blues rock jams. I always felt that those didn't quite fit in with their sound.

Boobs' picks: Proclamation, So Sincere, Playing the Game, Cogs in Cogs, No God's a Man.

Free Hand certainly shows them taking a more straightforward rock direction. But it's still a quality record.

Boobs' picks: Just the Same, Free Hand, Talybont, Mobile.

The one and only time I listened to Free Hand I was still warming up to Gentle Giant, and did not like it at all. It seemed relatively cheesy and kind of 80s (the album cover didn't help). I disliked the vocals in particular. I'm curious to see what I think this time around. I need to revisit In a Glass House and The Power and the Glory first.

If Free Hand sounds like the 80s then it was really ahead of it's time, since it was released in 1975.

Oh definitely. But I don't care for too much of the 80s rock sound. I'll be revisiting it in the next few days so we'll see. I have a feeling it will sound nothing like the 80s. :p:

Any more thoughts, feel free to ask for ups?

I caught up with In a Glass House and The Power and the Glory last night, Free Hand likely today.

Anyone else make it all the way through? :p:

I'm guessing only me, to be quite honest, a review a day might not seem like much, but most people get through a thread like this in a few months. The fact that I did it in the week, on time, and without delays I felt deserved a bit more attention than it perhaps has recieved.

It's tough getting people to listen to stuff when it's not already on their agenda, though. I assume many of us feel like there aren't enough hours in a day to listen to all the stuff we intend to listen to that day. So it's hard to squeeze in new recommendations and such. I find that things I discover on my own get played much more quickly than stuff recommended by others...unless I really connect with that recommendation. So...that might be why. People who aren't familiar with GG may work their way through this in a few months, as you say. And GG is definitely an acquired taste. For me, I was already familiar with 3-4 of the albums and curious about the others...I think what made me go for it was a comment about the debut being more bluesy and I guess straight-forward compared to the ones I'd heard, so it piqued my interest. After playing it, I was pleasantly surprised so I kept on going. To be honest I feel now that I like the earlier stuff better than Octopus. I think it's the vocals that always bothered me with that album and forward, they seem less...I don't know...annoying on the early stuff. Regardless, I've gotten use to them but really didn't like them when I first heard GG.

The comment about listening to stuff you discover first couldn't be more true. Generally if I discover something and get it I normally put in on the moment whatever I'm listening to finishes. It's not really right becuase if someone else reccomends something they have taken the time to explain why they like it and why I should listen to it. Problem is, with people reccomending stuff so often, there's a lot to listen to.

But then there's always the argument, why join a music forum if you're not going to try new things.

Exactly. I've put a lot of time into recommending stuff to particular people on other forums, and it's discouraging when they don't respond or don't get around to checking them out for a while. But then we sometimes do the same thing ourselves. There's just so much music out there. And often, someone will make recommendations to someone else based on their broad tastes, and the person may be on a certain kick at the moment and that stuff doesn't fit in right away. There are a lot of factors. But yes the bottom line is that we're here to discover new stuff...but also to spread the word about what we like.

thank you much for this thread! i keep liking this band more and more!

Glad this got an editors pick. Keeps it up there, and rofl at my paint job on the OP.