In our recent interview with Alan Morse of Spock’s Beard he mentioned Gentle Giant as an important influence, so I thought I would introduce readers to the band if they haven’t already heard of them.
They were a British prog rock band of the 1970’s, famous in the first half of the decade for the sophistication of their music, relying of classical devices like polyphony and counterpoint, frequent and rapid key changes, changes in time signatures, unusual chords and the use of up to 46 different instruments: BUT maintaining an accessibility, even a sense of fun, that (at least in my opinion) Yes or Genesis sometimes didn’t quite achieve.
Look, even Ozzy Osbourne was a fan;
“We have no option but to listen to Tool morning, noon and f**kin' night, it's Tool this, Tool that! You know, it's really funny. The other night my son said to me, "I went to see Tool last night, Dad, and saw this great band who opened for them, a band called King Crimson." I said, "Oh yeah, I've heard of them."
They were a British prog rock band of the 1970’s, famous in the first half of the decade for the sophistication of their music, relying of classical devices like polyphony and counterpoint, frequent and rapid key changes, changes in time signatures, unusual chords and the use of up to 46 different instruments: BUT maintaining an accessibility, even a sense of fun, that (at least in my opinion) Yes or Genesis sometimes didn’t quite achieve.
Look, even Ozzy Osbourne was a fan;
“We have no option but to listen to Tool morning, noon and f**kin' night, it's Tool this, Tool that! You know, it's really funny. The other night my son said to me, "I went to see Tool last night, Dad, and saw this great band who opened for them, a band called King Crimson." I said, "Oh yeah, I've heard of them."
I was like, if you like King Crimson, you probably want to listen to Yes, then you might want to listen to a band called Gentle Giant. He says, "Really?" And he comes back to me the next day and he says, "I got a chance to listen to the Gentle Giant album. It's fucking great music. How did you know about them?" Oh, I've only been around for fucking 35 years. "
Gentle Giant were one of the many bands that died out with the advent of Punk and Disco in the 1980’s, despite them simplifying their later albums for the American market.
In 2005 a series of remastered CD’s were released with bonus material: In a Glass House, The Power and the Glory, Free Hand, Interview, The Missing Piece, Playing the Fool, Giant for a Day.
Coming soon: Who Loves Nektar ?
Image: Courtesy Vertigo
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment