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Top 4 CTTE, Fragile, Relayer and Tales. Next 4, YesStudio, Going For The One, The Yes Album and Tormato. Next 4, Drama, Time And A Word, Magnification, and Big Generator. Next Talk, Yes 1969, 90125 and Union. Depending on what week it is, I'll swap the perfect prog album of all time Fragile with CTTE, but the two are a tie in my opinion. Tales and Relayer can swap as well, but that is my top 4. Going For the One as well as YesStudio can swap the 5 and 6. Enjoyed this video, I put Fragile obviously much higher but have no problem with the rest, and do love seeing the wonderful prog album of Tormato getting it's due.

Great listing ! I agree with Three Friends in no 4 ! The combo "Mister Class and Quality?" - "Three Friends" in one of the most incredible piece of music ever written. I personally would have place Interview a bit higher because of "I lost My Head". But otherwise, spot on !

I never understood the prevailing opinions. Always been one of my favorites. Such a gentle album. You could almost argue that later Genesis at their best, would revisit and show flashes of the old band that made *this* wonderful record.

You and I are exactly the same age. For years I have given GG a go and it's all gone a little bit 'over my head'. Until the last month when I have tried again. Like you mentioned about 'sophistication', I feel that I'm now ready for the experience. I am becoming obsessed. I'm discovering them truly for the first time. 'Epiphany' is such a beautiful word. :)

For me: Gentle Giant first, Acquiring the taste second and Octopus is their worst or close to there..Which song from Octopus comes close to Nothing at all, Isn't it quiet and cold, Wreck, Black cat?

I saw them twice and their virtuality with theirs instruments was awesome. I prefer their works until The power and the glory. They were true musicians and had several influences in their mucic. But for me , it's not a rock band.

The way you recount the day Gentle Giant clicked for you, ping, reminds me of the day my older brother and his friends, all proggy musician types, out of the blue, put on Free Hand in my room, cause I had the cool stereo. I guess it would have been 1975 or so and I was about 14. I was transfixed as well as puzzled in trying to figure out what I was listening to. I was sold on them immediately. With the good fortune of living in New York City, I was already a frequenter of shows by Genesis (Lamb tour), Yes, ELP, Frank Zappa, Jethro Tull, and now added Gentle Giant to the list. Saw them at the Academy of Music/Palladium, Avery Fisher Hall, Central Park, a bunch of amazing shows that typically left me speechless. They were every bit as "good" as any prog band of the era, and probably the most unique and multi-talented as individuals by far, despite their somewhat smaller commercial footprint! That their music grew on you the way it did is a testament to your good taste!

What did you think of Giant For A Day?

Off time vocals were incredible. Yes did some off time vocals, but not to the complexity of GG. I am a full believer. And they are a challenge to understand at first, but once you're in, you're definitely in!

Jon was a terrific bass player on so many levels. Why his career seemed to hit the buffers after he left Renaissance is baffling.

Have you purchased the Gentle Giant 10 lp box set called "Front Row Center"? If so, do you have any thoughts. I'm thinking of buying it but it's expensive. If not, Are you thinking of getting it yourself?

For me - But they're all great. Even the worst of them are far superior to the garbage being produced nowadays. 1. Three Friends 2. Acquiring The Taste 3. Octopus 4. In A Glass House 5. Free Hand 6. Power And The Glory 7. Gentle Giant 8. Interview 9. The Missing Piece 10. Giant For A Day 11. Civilian

Great review!

"Gentle Giant ? If I had to explain, you would'nt understand".... (kudos for this excellent presentation !)

I have a soft spot for Union. I know most people don't like it, but I rather love it.

What about that live album?

I'm 62 and prog rock hardcore fan since I was 12. I dearly love all the 70's prog bands but to me, GG operate at another, unattainable level.

Try and learn and play some of their songs! They are difficult! Very complex!

Circus of Heaven is cheesy as hell

Silent Wings of Freedom rules

""Drama" is NOT like BG!!!! "Drama" is freaking CLASSIC

Wait a sec did he actually say a lot of Yes fans think "Onion" is a great album????!!!!!!!! wtf

BG isn't better than 90125, its worse, its much much worse

Open UP Your Eyes lol

Spot on with the Top 5. ✌🏼

The Missing Piece is my fav album of all time. Sadly, not mentioned in this post.

1. Relayer 2. Tales 3. Drama 4. The Yes Album 5. Going For The One 6. Close To The Edge 7. 90125 8. Tormato 9. Time And A Word 10. Yes

100% agree with your top four - impossible to put them in order. For me, some of the greatest music of all time. Would possibly put Fragile in the same category.

You're spot on, it's all subjective. It's all about personal taste.

Just to politely correct you Richie has been playing with BOC for 20 years, beginning on bass in 2004 and moving to guitar and keys once Rudy Sarzo was hired to play bass in 2007 or 2008. So Richie is well-versed in playing bass, guitar and keys. Great review.

Free hand ❤🎉

Nice list but I have a different take: 1 - In a Glass House (Not surprisingly #1 considering it has 3 of my top 5 GG songs with the title track, Experience & The Runaway) 2 - Octopus (With The Advent of Panurge, another top 5, Knots and A Cry for Everyone, side 1 had much more play but «Think of me with Kindness» is, to me, just as good as the Beatles' Yesterday) 3 - Three Friends (Loved the concept of 3 Friends drifting apart. Peel the Paint is the best GG song. Prologue & Schooldays are also tremendous. The ONLY problem with this album is that it's too short) 4 - Free Hand (This was my favorite album when it came out but side 2 is a bit lacking. Free Hand & On Reflection are amazing songs) 5 - The Power & the Glory ( Another great concept: The King is overthrown but the new King turns out to be just as bad. Playing the Game & Cogs & Cogs are GG at their best. Proclamation is great...almost. I love the verses and the way they reconstruct the music one instrument at a time in the middle section but Derek's screams on this one and on So Sincere are too much. They do them better live) 6 - Gentle Giant: The song Funny Ways was the archetype of all that is good about GG. The songs Giant & Alucard are also great. 7 - Acquiring the Taste: Good album but the melodies were often going nowhere. Often brilliant, it needed tightening up. 8 - The Missing Piece (It certainly was missing something. Memories of Old Days & As Old as You're Young are top notch but the rest? Crap.) 9 - Interview ( This concept failed miserably. What should have been introspection turned out to be very superficial. Take Timing; starts nicely but the lyrics are meaningless where one expected the hear about the ideas behind the construct of their songs. The song Interview is destroyed by that interview in the middle. What's up with the spring sounds on Get it back and Design is practically unlistenable) 10 - Civilian: It wasn't Gentle Giant anymore but compared to their previous «effort» it, at least, had a style. It was like «Duke» for Genesis or «90125» for Yes without the radio success. 11 - GfaD: Crap on top of Crap. Ok, I get it was meant to be amusing but GG was a cerebral experience for me, not a joke.)

What the fuck, that's a green screen???? That's some good arse job.

Gentle Giant are probably my 2nd favourite prog band next to Pink Floyd. A run of 7 superb albums between 1971-76. You can't go wrong with any of them. As Progaxia says, the complexity at some points is unbelievable using contrapuntal rhythms that very few bands use. One of the best UK groups of all time. Avoid the 1977-80 Lp's. They changed a lot and not for the best. 'The Cardiacs' are also one of my favourite bands and they clearly took a lot of inspiration and ideas from Gentle Giant. Check out the mighty 'Sing to God' for proof. Incredibly difficult time signatures and multiple changes in song structure in each track - just like Gentle Giant.

Love Wobbler! 🎶

Please show Jon Camp this link, th-cam.com/video/Hhr_bsdyMUU/w-d-xo.htmlsi=AU7iOlG4cFwbB76g

GG was the proggiest there was. And I dare say GG are the proggiest there is.

We recorded at John's recording studio in Wem Shewsbury back in 1987, I have some fantastic footage of him at work in the studio with us, i'm going to edit and load to my yt channel, can someone give me a contact to forward this to please

I totally agree with your inclusion of the first 2 albums making your top 10. They were doing what Vanilla Fudge & Deep Purple were doing on their early albums. Mingling their own tracks with interesting cover songs Fudge to Pchychedelic & Purple to UK "Fudge". Yes's first 2 were in a category of their own. A good companion to Yes & Time & A Word are their BBC sessions 2 disc set of this same period. Tony Kaye and Peter Banks Flash & Badger CD's are all worth a listen as well.

Simple answer: YES!!! In the 70s/80s, I didn't really "get" them; they were in company with King Crimson and Van der Graaf Generator in being bands I really didn't enjoy much, if at all. Then one day I put Free Hand on, and it all clicked. Now I have all their albums and listen to them regularly. But I'm still waiting for the other two bands to click.

i first heard GG in 1973. first saw GG tower theatre in philly 1975. my head exploded. it was as amazing as a frank zappa concert!!! i bought giant for a day as soon as it came out. i tried like crazy to love it. but i didnt. it was too disappointing. 1st side of missing piece was too. however, by the late 90's i was hearing giant for a day independently from the rest of their music. and enjoying it's "odd" pop rock songs. recently, i've been loving it. nostalgic. the sound on the album is great. the songs are fun.

gentle giant studio #10 gentle giant acquiring the taste giant for a day missing piece interview civilain three friends octopus in a glass house power and glory #1 freehand playing the fool is the greatest live album i ever heard

No doubt about my top five: 1. Acquiring the Taste 2. Three Friends 3. Octopus 4. Gentle Giant 5. In a Glass House

YES!!!! They BLOODY well ARE!!!!

Hey pal! Gentle Giant was my very first bigger venue concert. I saw them at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia probably 1975. I had already played concerts of my own for my middle school and high school. My main guitar teacher played Jesus Christ Superstar at a local theater group, most of which were NY session players, so it was most certainly high level music ... I was sitting in the orchestra pit reading along with the charts for my lessons. I guess when I saw Gentle Giant was about 12 or 13. That same years I saw Peter Gabriel's first solo tour and also David Gilmour's first solo tour... also Robin Trower right about then. I have to say that Gentle Giant has had one of the most profound influences on me over the years. Gosh, Steve Hackett is still touring, and if you haven't seen Jon Anderson or Steve Hackett with Todmobile, geez, please do yourself a favor. Thank you for bringing this to light. They really have a richness, and such originality. The problem with so much industry standard music is that it lacks the originality that true music possesses. Gentle Giant comes from a family heritage of classically trained musicians performing at the highest level in it's most sincere form. Yes, Gentle Giant really are that good ;-)

My heart goes with The Power and the Glory #1 :) Nice top 11 btw!

Glad to meet another Gentle Giant fan.

What about bands similar to Gentle Giant? What could you recommend?

I think Gentle Giant pushed the envelope more in terms of writing than any other prog band. Compared to others in prog, they were untouchable there. For me, Gentle Giant stood out because of their intelligent, fascinating and sometimes brilliant compositions. When it came to writing, they just had the goods. Also, the song itself was their priority, and not just a vehicle to show off dazzling, jaw dropping virtuosity, so often the case for many prog bands, which can be great, but more shallow, I think. Gentle Giant's music went deeper and would challenge me as a listener and I generally felt more fully rewarded going through it. Wish they weren't over so many people's heads cuz they don't know what they're missing, but I absolutely love and am forever grateful to them.

My gateway album into Soft Machine was Third - I still play it regularly.. Robert Wyatt's vocals on Moon in June are sensational and Out-Bloody-Rageous is one of my all time favourite tracks - in fact in a sense it was a CBS double album sampler Blockbuster which was the gateway album as there was an excerpt of Out-Bloody-Rageous on it which really piqued my interest and made me go out and buy Third. Oddly enough I bought 4 , 5, 6 and Softs but with Ratledge, Dean and Wyatt leaving at various stages I progressively lost interest. But after your video I will give the later albums a visit/revisit!