Gentle Giant
 

What are everyone's opinions on this band? I have their albums ACQUIRING THE TASTE, OCTOPUS, IN A GLASS HOUSE and two live albums: IN A PALESPORT HOUSE and INTERVIEW IN CONCERT. They are a highly technical band and pretty exciting in my opinion.:)

Gentle Giant is one of my favorite bands of all time - probably the most technically competant prog band there ever was, especially vocally.

Can't get enough of 'em!

Avian

Gentle Giant are awesome! We have a fair selecion of them here on AM, and I'm going to be adding the rest of "In A Glass House" shortly.

The complexity, particularly the frequent use of counterpoint, make the melodic flow hard for some to follow at first, but repeated listens will reward most listeners. I know a very few people who appreciate, but don't like, GG. But I'm in the appreciate AND like category!

Yeah ! This is certainly a really great formation. If you like GG, you sould listen to the band Echolyn (the album : as the world). they are not very far to the GG style.

I've always loved GG as well. Not an easy listen for many people, though. Their counterpoint is amazing, but they sometimes connect the individual pieces together in akward ways. Vocally proficient in a rock choral sort of way.

found Free Hand at a used record store and loved it enough to track down just about every CD I could find on this band, including additionally their double-album release "Pretentious" :D

Free Hand, Octopus, The Missing Piece, and Civilian are also highly recommended by this fan.

:cool:

The most impressive are all first five albums, my favourites are the 1st ("GG") and the 5th ("The Power and the Glory")... hm-mm.. in fact, i luv all of'em. They all involve lots of things to remember - classic, bluesy, funky, folky - and lovely!
No classification - it's Giant rock.

didn't like the vocals.
 

I liked GG's music but found the vocals a bit distracting. They seemed harsh and almost too discordant to me.

I had the same with Van Der Graph Generator. I loved some of the music, especially Godbluff (The Arrow was phenominally moving) but the singer's voice used to really get on my nerves in some of the songs.

Giant
 

Andy, you have the Father,Son,and Holy Ghost of Giant albums! In fact, my three favorite tunes (Panurge,Wreck, & In A Glass House) are on those. The reply about Echolyn is essentially true - there are elements that remind us of Giant (This is different from Spock's Beard, who have lifted riffs from Giant). Pick up Three Friends, or as a change of pace, The Missing Piece.

I like the vocals.

Excellent band
 

Gentle Giant probably one of my all time favorite prog bands. My favorite albums from best to worst are as follows.

1. Aquiring The Taste
2. Octopus
3. The Power and The Glory
4. Three Friends
5. In a Glass House
6. Free Hand
7. Gentle Giant
8. Civilian
9. Giant for a day - sorry guys ... I love GG but this is their worst album.

I fell in love with these guys about 10 years ago and to this day I still manage to find interesting things in the music with every listen that I did not pick up before.

If you love great vocals, wonderful time changes, complex music, and a sometimes almost whimsical sound than I would highly reccomend GG. They are a truly talented and creative band. :D

Did we forget....
 

...Missing Piece, Interview, and the first record? Please tell me you rank them higher than the last two! And for a live record, "Playing the Fool" is one of the best.

Welcome,

RickandRoll