Gentle Giant - "The Missing Piece" (1977)

Within the progressive genre, Gentle Giant has always been one of my favorite bands. They've had a talent to create complex and interesting pieces, which haven't become too complicated and academic. A delicate balance, which the band has managed well. However, The Missing Piece is none of their better moments.

The punk had arrived, the music scene had changed, and the progressive music was the great villain, according to the new loud bands. Gentle Giant was one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, but had lost some of their fan base. So there was certainly a sense of wanting to find new fans, while also reconnecting with old ones. They also had a desire to bring their live music closer to how the studio music sounded (it could differ a lot due to the complexity of the studio versions), so the songs were created with the thought of being possible to perform live without major changes. So on The Missing Piece, the band takes a lot of new paths, with mixed results, to say the least.

The album opens with Two Weeks In Spain. A fun pop-progressive song, which promises big for what to come. But it's unfortunately the A-side's only interesting song. What follows is the band shocking the listener by playing a cheesy ballad, punk, blues and hard rock. Other bands could do this better, and the the first side gets pretty confused and unfocused. Their attempt at humor with the song (title) Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It, a song where they play straight hard rock, is not very fun. On the side B, however, the band finds its way back to its former sound, with mischievous progressive music. Here, too, the opening song is the best, As Old As You're Young. Then you'll get a longer ballad, which I find a bit bland, with two following songs in classic Gentle Giant style. However, they have done this better on previous albums, and it's only the opening song of each side that really is of higher quality. My recommendation is rather to listen to Gentle Giant's earlier albums, which generally are better.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Two Weeks in Spain 3:07
2. I'm Turning Around 3:59
3. Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It 2:25
4. Who Do You Think You Are? 3:35
5. Mountain Time 3:20

Side B
1. As Old as You're Young 4:21
2. Memories of Old Days 7:18
3. Winning 4:18
4. For Nobody 4:05

Gentle Giant - "Octopus" (1972)

A deep dive into the prog world via Gentle Giant's fourth album Octopus. Can that be something? In the prog world, it's often a balancing act between the beautiful, a bit difficult and too difficult. I usually argue that Gentle Giant always manages to stay on the right side of the balance point. Even their regular excursions into the more complex and strange soundscapes are nice to listen to, and are relatively accessible, at least at Octopus. That said, it should be mentioned that the Gentle Giant is considered one of the more experimental bands within the 70's progressive music, and the music they made was unusually complex. So they should not be underestimated. 

Gentle Giant consisted at the time of the recording of the three brother Shulmans, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green and the new drummer John Weathers. Almost all members were multi-instrumentalists and extremely adept at their respective instruments. It's fun to watch concert clips of the band on Youtube, then they unconcerned switch instruments in the middle of songs and seamlessly continues playing. On the album, they often play up to three instruments each in the songs.

Octopus is considered by many to be the start of Gentle Giants best musical period, Ray Shulman argue that it is their best album (possibly second behind Acquiring The Taste). And as mentioned, I like Octopus. It is varied and fun to listen to. Although it can be very complex arrangements and creations that are often outside  the normal musical box, it is never too difficult. Which is one of the things that makes me like Gentle Giant. Many other bands within the same genre sometimes make music that one suspects is difficult just for the sake of it, and it becomes hard to appreciate what you hear. Gentle Giant does not fall into that trap on Octopus.

One of my favorites on the album is Think Of Me With Kindness. A beautiful song that is perhaps the least "progressive" on the record. If you like progressive music the album can absolutely be recommended, almost a must-have. If you like more accessible and "normal" rock and pop maybe Octopus will seem a bit too difficult and strange. A funny detail is that Gentle Giant, before the Octopus tour, was a supporting act for Black Sabbath  on a number of concerts. This combination did not go down well with the audience, one can safely say, which loudly expressed its displeasure with the prog band on stage.

The album I have is the North American pressing, I found it for 4 dollars in good condition in a local vinyl store, here in Montreal, which I of course couldn't resist (I have it on CD since long). The European cover looks like this:

Tracklist 

Side A 

1. Adevent Of Panurge 4:42
2. Raconteur, Troubadou 4:03
3. A Cry For Everyone 4:06
4. Knots 4.10

Side B 
1. The Boys In The Band 4:33
2. Dog's Life 3:12
3. Think Of Me With Kindness 3:32
4. River 5:51