I saw them 3 times at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby PA, every show was just an incredible display of musicianship. Thanks for spreading the word, there will never be another Giant.
The thing is: I discovered GG with their "weeakest" album "Giant for a Day" as a teenager in the eighties. I think my elder brother got the record from the public library. I recorded some on tape and I remember that for a while I used to wake myself up in the morning with playing "Spooky Boogie". In these times the radio Music no longer was prog at all. So what i heard was interesting enough compared to the mainstream. I think the complicated music of the other albums wouldn't have worked for me in this situation. I rediscovered the "real" Gentle Giant only years later after having "sharpened" my ears with the listening to many King Crimson records. Now I fully agree that gentle giant are musically outstanding. Just watch their live performance in Gentle Giant - Sight an Sound in Concert. They reach a level of compexity and technical virtuosity that can compete with classical musicians and composers (and meanwhile seem to have a lot of fun!). I doubt that many professors of classical music know that band at all. By the way: I still like the songs from Giant for a Day that were on that tape: Words from the wise, Spooky Boogie, Take me, Friends, No Stranger And I also like some of the the very early tracks that show the transition from Simon Dupree to GG. They are collected on the CD "Under Construction".
Totally agree. My first listening experience was civilian. Age 4. Couldn’t get enough of the first side. Never heard the second side until I was in my late teens. In certain ways nobody touched them. Counter Melody like no other. Thanks for the video.
thank you for the open honest assessment of Gentle Giant. Their music has always been one of my faves. They seemed to have such an original unique sound and way of expressing themselves. From the smashing of glass to open IAGH, to the theme of Runaway, Inmates Lullabuy. Truly original. My favorite songs are Experience, Just the same, and Peel the Paint although I truly love many others.
Thanx for ur intelligent & artistic "point of vue" ! I'm agree with u that the last real one is " the missing piece" ! . . . Amazing and really creative band ( i just got five albums on vinyle - wasn't easy to find them in France - and all until " the missing piece" on CDs ... even the Official Live (1976). So great band, trop méconnu ! ............ Merci !
I completely get the whole notion that the albums Missing Piece and GFAD represent the decline and/or demise of GG, but lately, me and my two kids have been listening to that double cd non-stop in my car. The son who is nine wants to start playing guitar due to the monster/clever riff in "Little Brown Bag". They love "Spookie Boogie" and several others....as do I. Regarding The Missing Piece, "Mountain Time", "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Two Weeks In Spain" are just incredible tracks. Basically, I appreciate those albums for what they are, warts and all.
And as a live recording, it sounds *really* good, even today. Unlike many bands, GG used their own top-quality PA at every gig, never renting locally. Also, that recording has almost no overdubs, another rare thing that truly highlights how good they were.
Funny about "Civilian", although it may have been the final straw for the Giant before quitting, it's ironic that Men At Work (who sounded similar to GG on this album, particularly in the vocals) made it _huge_ the next year. I find that "Inside Out" is the standout track on the album.
I used to have basically the same opinions on each album. Except I always liked the first one and I am gaining a new appreciation for some tracks on the later ones, like Inside Out, on Civilian.
For Me. The Power and The Glory and Free Hand were the BEST ever! But of Course, the "LIVE'; album, 'Playing The Fool' was one of the ever BEST 'LIVE' albums, EVER! Thank You, Brother!!!
Same here for me Derek, on The Missing Piece they kind of lost the plot for me as well. "Giant For A Day" was the weakest imo. What I always respected about them is they bowed out gracefully after the attempts at being more commercial. They didn't flog a dead horse.
Great analysis my man. Gently Giant was my 1st concert ever 1980 I'm Roxy theater Hollywood 400 people Civillian tour.I'm 15 years old . I truly feel If you saw them perform this album live at such an intimate venue you would feel different about the album. Prog rock was evolving for all bands tormato, Duke etc...
Tull came out with A King Krimson Neil Jack and me, after Discipline. Saw a great interview with Derek not to long ago and he talks how civillian was one of the bands favorites they recorded in LA and he talks about how inside out is one of his favorite GG tracks. Power and the Glory and In a glass house my 2 favorite albums but for the time early 80s I still believe you would feel differently if yo saw them perform the Civillian album live.
Thanx for showing and for the namedrop. Got me some new subscribers so thats cool! Aqiering the taste is on My next buy. Saw that they reissued glory and glashouse. The last one im thinking of picking up the reissue but i do whant the cool cover that you showed so i have to do some research first... Thanx!
I saw the final tour civilian. Many people don't like it but I love it. No other band could do what they did live. Their last albums were ahead of the rest of the music business by 4 years.. I don't think you get what they were really about. That's all there is.
*Giant For A Day*, *Love Beach*, *Tormato*, *And Then There Were Three*: Face it: '78 was a fucking terrible year for prog. Back in '73, all these bands were putting out records I consider the best in rock history. What a difference 5 years made.
Adrian Lackey Trees is my least favorable track on the album, but I adore La Villa Strangiato, aswell as Circumstances and Cygnus X-1: Hemispheres.. Strangely, GUP was hard for me to get into and I'd take Power Windows over it any day
Aside from there medieval influences (largely via Kerry Minnear), there's a strong Zappa influence too I think. Did any other Euro-prog band use a clavinette so prominently? It gave them an engaging almost-funky edge that other prog bands sorely lacked.
Did you make your point about what was 'missing' in the album "The Missing Piece?" You were about to talk about it but were interrupted by the phone call. Not sure if you got back to it. I agree. "Power & Glory" & "Free Hand" were my favorites, totally awesome !! I wore out "Free Hand" during my college years in the parties I had... not many attendees knew of the band at all, so I made a point of playing it. Their polyphony in lots of ways remind me of Bach, but with different scales/modes. Not many bands could do that or even tried, not on that level of intricacy anyway. There are things by Yes that approach it from their "Fragile" album (I'm thinking of the track made by the drummer, I think it was Bill Bruford at the time).
Prog was dead by 1980. The label needed something more commercial. I happen to like Civilian. I used to play some of those tunes in a band. Lighten up Francis.
We are about the same age. Like you, in 1977 I didn't like what they were doing but now check out one tune of Civilian called Inside Out. It changed my opinion of the album but it took 30 - 40+ odd years to do so!
I like the way you refer to "watering down". It happened to so many greats. Most disgusting to me was the watering down of Gino Vannelli and Earth Wind & Fire.
Love your taste in music and expansive knowledge. I have discovered so much good stuff from your videos(Barre Phillips & Old &New Dreams of note recently). Yeah, Giant ran out of gas. What a fantastic band in their prime. Keep up the great videos.
Derek, just watched your Gentle Giant LPs video, man great job! I was/am a big GG fan since one late night around 1970 or so at age 16?, I heard a song on local Cleveland radio: 'The Advent of Panurge' I never heard anything like that up to that time. From then I was a big fan, bought every LP on THE DAY each was released. I am an audio engineer, recorded Live Concerts above the Cleveland Agora(for WMMS), recorded GG in '77 one night and met Ray, Derek, Kerry in the studio-Big Thrill for me -Ken
Nice collection Dereck! You know man one thing that makes me respect you is your honesty. If an album doesnt do it for you then you say so and explain why. Thank you for that. I am looking forward to picking up more GG and thanks to this I know which ones to go for 1st.
It's sounds like GG even knew their time was running slowly out. I'm sure they were tired of touring and it started to be shown in their last albums. They got out in time. Or is it that the listener wasn't ready for what they were transitioning into.
If you lived in UK or Australia at the time you would probably understand Giant For A Day and Civilian. Everyone around me liked Punk I never really did but Gentle Giant Civilian and The Pretty Things Cross Talk were my Punk era. I stayed away from most Punk except The Saints. I just got it with those last 2 albums. Some songs related to events only 70s youth would understand today. Not sure how a young generation today would understand about some of the political characters mentioned in the title track Giant For A Day!. They were probably trying to prove they could do it as in I Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It? They changed every album!!! Very interesting from an American point of view because it was hard to get some albums over there. We tended to get a lot of British albums here because of our ties with the UK!!!!
"playing the foole" came out between "interview" & "missing piece." the 2nd compilation you held up was called "giant steps." it has the single "power & the glory" -- maybe that's the track you were looking for...? i love that one!!! the band hated it, haha.
Great summary! Just found it. I would also be one of the ones to fight for "Playing the Fool". One of the best live albums ever made. Especially since the advent of TH-cam. Also, I am one of the (Probably) few who think Civilian is actually quite brilliant. You commented that, if it were another band that made it, you might think differently. I would urge you to listen again in that frame of mind and let the album stand on it's own. A beautifully scathing indictment of "modern life".
I like the later albums, they don't compare to octopus and acquiring the taste, but I think they have a charm much like the latter Genesis albums do,which also don't bear much comparison to foxtrot and nursery cryme etc.
My favorite album is definitely Power and the Glory. So many iconic songs. Then again, that's probably the same thing that could be said about the first 2/3rds of their discography
dereck, our stories sound similar about discovering gg & then going sour with the last few. there are a few gems tucked away in the last 3 albums. i'm careful not to play the whole album...just a few trax that i like. the 2nd side of "missing piece" is particularly nice. "words from the wise" is good from "giant for a day" & "shadows on the street" & "inside out" from "civilian" are eerie.
I remember someone from the band saying they were starting to run out of ideas on Interview which was probably the reason they changed their sound, but you're right the results weren't very good. I really like Memories of Old Days on Missing Piece though.
Nice objective review; I enjoyed it. I value ALL giant albums; some have more to offer than others & I am partial to the "middle" Giant period 73-76 and Playing The Fool live is raw, energetic & a standout live album. Civilian is not dreadful - has some gems: "All Throught The Night," "Number One," "Underground" have the signature Giant counterpoint. "Giant Steps," not "Giant For a Day" is ompilation, which has the outtake track "Power & The Glory," (PAG) which is also on the CD re-issue of PAG
Maybe it's just me but it seems that Gentle Giant deserve to appear in the same row as Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and others more often than they do. Many people consider them second-rate for some reason (or so it looks to me somehow) but I've held them as one of the best prog-rock bands ever since first hearing and getting into them. Especially the first five or so albums strike a chord with me but the rest is far from bad either. Really, a truly great band.
I just listened to 'I Lost My Had' off of the album Interview and that is a great song. They sort of have that Tull/Yes/Early Crimson sound. You are exactly right regarding live LP's. I was never a fan of them. My feeling was if you liked a band that much, go to see them in concert. Maybe Get Your Ya Ya's has its moments and I love The Last Waltz but not many more. Wikipedia has about 12 live albums listed for GG? Thanks again, love your band series videos Dereck~ Rob/Boston
I respect your opinion on this band's later albums, because it is indeed an opinion. but I do think that if a band's soul and motive is to produce what they feel like in the moment, whether it is due the trends or fashions, or just their imagination at a certain given time.... they should just do it.... and if that sound differs a lot from earlier stuff, even better... I'm attracted to change.... not prog change but change whatsoever. I like how GG became 'simpler', how Camel became pop (i can see your house from here), how PFM became 80's madness (pfm? pfm!), how genesis became what it ended up sounding like.... if bands always keep playing 239480239843 notes and giving thesis all damn time, music becomes technichal and boring
Of course bands change, people change, everything changes....but the most difficult change to accept as a music fan is when a truly brilliant band or artist simplifies their style at the expense of their distinctiveness and musicianship. That's not development that's going backwards.
Dear Derek, Your assessments are spot on although I thinking Playing the Fool is one of the best ever live albums. To me the studio albums post-Free Hand really start to unwind. Haven't heard Interview in a while so will have to get back to it back to it and reconsider it though when I first bought back in 1980 or something I found it a bit of a regurgitation of much better previous works. The problem with the last albums is a really drippy sentimentality about their original sound and lyrics that have lost any wit and irony that their first stupendous works contained.
by the way, i saw the gig in New York when they were recording the LIVE CD.. so i have the film (in my head) of what was going on when i hear it..if not having seen that , i understand your point.
Didn't knew anything of this band. But after being catched by the great covers I tried your recommendation song "Aspirations" which I think sound very nice. pretty like it. So I went listening to some others songs, but unfortunately I didn't had the same feeling (yet). Maybe the feeling of the band's songs must grow a little on me. If you have some other songs of them which I need to hear in my introduction to the band, I would be glad to hear them. Tastes are obviously personal, but ok..
Great Gentle Giant review. Just heard Steven Wilson's remix of Octopus recently. Still one of my top albums ever. I agree with your assessment of their last three studio albums. Too bad. Last one terrible.
Agreed on most things, Derek and it's great to see another GG fan on TH-cam but Playing the Fool Live, really demonstrates that they could do this stuff live and that it wasn't all studio trickery. It's better than OK, IMO. Far better.
I cannot with Giant for a Day. Listening to that made me realize how the Yes fans that didn't like Heaven and Earth felt. in which case, sorry guys, I understand now. I do like more of Missing Piece than I don't, Playing the Fool is an essential (I find I don't like a band if I don't like them live) but frankly, I'm afraid to sit down with Civilian. I don't want to know Santa isn't real. And to think all this started for me on this years Cruise to the Edge!
I also was disappointed with Civilian. The very end of GFAD has a strong guitar riff but the rest of the song doesn't resonate well with me. I like Two Weeks in Spain, and Words from the Wise also. Would you say most groups experience this life cycle? ie start out with their best music early on, and end with so so material, ex Led Zepp I vs In through the Out Door, etc etc with most bands
Yeah, it seems like a lot of prog bands and rock bands in general in the late 70's tried to go pop or punk. I guess Gentle Giant ended up in the same situation as Genesis and Yes. Gentle Giant couldn't really pull off a pop album though.
@dereckvon - It's funny because I'm exactly the same way about "GFAD".Got a sealed copy $1.50 many yrs. ago. I'll pull it out thinking just like you "there's gotta be something that's gonna hit me now in hindsight" etc. "Words To The Wise" starts and I think "well, it's not that bad" then bam it is that bad! I can tolerate "Civilian" much more than GFAD. I think after seeing it as a cutout for so many yrs. back in the day and it being the followup to "that" album expectations were very low
I only find Giant for a Day to be utterly worthless, but the last three lp's are disappointing. You review Power and the Glory, before In a Glass House which is understandable as in a glass house was late to the US market, but in fact it was the other way round, From my point of view it is slow downhill ride from Acquiring the taste, but mostly an enjoyable one. Civilian would be far better if it didn't have such a 80's drum sound.
Straight up... NOT a gentle giant fan. I just do not like the sense I get from this band that technique and ability out weight *feel*. Emotion. Letting the universe control those moments when you relax and simply fall into your ability as a musician. If music is life, then let life DICTATE your approach to music... which is improvised.
I saw them 3 times at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby PA, every show was just an incredible display of musicianship. Thanks for spreading the word, there will never be another Giant.
Gentle Giant bottomed out with giant for a day, without a doubt. civilian was a good album imho. not the giant we loved, but I like it.
The thing is: I discovered GG with their "weeakest" album "Giant for a Day" as a teenager in the eighties. I think my elder brother got the record from the public library. I recorded some on tape and I remember that for a while I used to wake myself up in the morning with playing "Spooky Boogie".
In these times the radio Music no longer was prog at all. So what i heard was interesting enough compared to the mainstream. I think the complicated music of the other albums wouldn't have worked for me in this situation. I rediscovered the "real" Gentle Giant only years later after having "sharpened" my ears with the listening to many King Crimson records. Now I fully agree that gentle giant are musically outstanding. Just watch their live performance in Gentle Giant - Sight an Sound in Concert. They reach a level of compexity and technical virtuosity that can compete with classical musicians and composers (and meanwhile seem to have a lot of fun!). I doubt that many professors of classical music know that band at all.
By the way: I still like the songs from Giant for a Day that were on that tape:
Words from the wise, Spooky Boogie, Take me, Friends, No Stranger
And I also like some of the the very early tracks that show the transition from Simon Dupree to GG. They are collected on the CD "Under Construction".
SAY, you made my day!, to hear you talking about one of my Favorite Prog rock bands, GENTLE GIANT...
Since 1971, started listening to GENTLE GIANT....
The arrangements and rearrangements on the live album are amazing. Excerpts from Octopus? The rearrangement of On Reflection? Wow. Amazing.
The live album is also a unique showcase for the incredible power and precision of John Weathers' drumming.
Totally agree. My first listening experience was civilian. Age 4. Couldn’t get enough of the first side. Never heard the second side until I was in my late teens. In certain ways nobody touched them. Counter Melody like no other. Thanks for the video.
thank you for the open honest assessment of Gentle Giant. Their music has always been one of my faves. They seemed to have such an original unique sound and way of expressing themselves. From the smashing of glass to open IAGH, to the theme of Runaway, Inmates Lullabuy. Truly original. My favorite songs are Experience, Just the same, and Peel the Paint although I truly love many others.
Yes! Gentle Giant! I LOVE what you said at the end. Beautiful.
Thanx for ur intelligent & artistic "point of vue" ! I'm agree with u that the last real one is " the missing piece" ! . . . Amazing and really creative band ( i just got five albums on vinyle - wasn't easy to find them in France - and all until " the missing piece" on CDs ... even the Official Live (1976). So great band, trop méconnu ! ............ Merci !
I completely get the whole notion that the albums Missing Piece and GFAD represent the decline and/or demise of GG, but lately, me and my two kids have been listening to that double cd non-stop in my car. The son who is nine wants to start playing guitar due to the monster/clever riff in "Little Brown Bag". They love "Spookie Boogie" and several others....as do I. Regarding The Missing Piece, "Mountain Time", "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Two Weeks In Spain" are just incredible tracks. Basically, I appreciate those albums for what they are, warts and all.
Patrick Thomas Hearing the music through young ears, away from the history can make a difference. Thanks for sharing.
Also, I think Playing the Fool is an crucial piece of evidence of how good they were live.
And as a live recording, it sounds *really* good, even today. Unlike many bands, GG used their own top-quality PA at every gig, never renting locally. Also, that recording has almost no overdubs, another rare thing that truly highlights how good they were.
Love your enthusiasm for the music. Thank you!
Gentle Giant is awesome!
Funny about "Civilian", although it may have been the final straw for the Giant before quitting, it's ironic that Men At Work (who sounded similar to GG on this album, particularly in the vocals) made it _huge_ the next year. I find that "Inside Out" is the standout track on the album.
From the last three I like "Civilian" best, it has a nice new wave sound, of course it's not the classic sound but imho the did a great job. :)
A very enjoyable presentation and I agree with you. Gentle Giant were unique and magnificent.
I used to have basically the same opinions on each album. Except I always liked the first one and I am gaining a new appreciation for some tracks on the later ones, like Inside Out, on Civilian.
For Me. The Power and The Glory and Free Hand were the BEST ever! But of Course, the "LIVE'; album, 'Playing The Fool' was one of the ever BEST 'LIVE' albums, EVER! Thank You, Brother!!!
Same here for me Derek, on The Missing Piece they kind of lost the plot for me as well. "Giant For A Day" was the weakest imo. What I always respected about them is they bowed out gracefully after the attempts at being more commercial. They didn't flog a dead horse.
Great analysis my man. Gently Giant was my 1st concert ever 1980 I'm Roxy theater Hollywood 400 people Civillian tour.I'm 15 years old . I truly feel If you saw them perform this album live at such an intimate venue you would feel different about the album. Prog rock was evolving for all bands tormato, Duke etc...
Tull came out with A King Krimson Neil Jack and me, after Discipline. Saw a great interview with Derek not to long ago and he talks how civillian was one of the bands favorites they recorded in LA and he talks about how inside out is one of his favorite GG tracks. Power and the Glory and In a glass house my 2 favorite albums but for the time early 80s I still believe you would feel differently if yo saw them perform the Civillian album live.
Guy is a man after my own heart, passionate about music!
Queen st.gang! Love the organ on that album so much
Thanx for showing and for the namedrop. Got me some new subscribers so thats cool! Aqiering the taste is on My next buy. Saw that they reissued glory and glashouse. The last one im thinking of picking up the reissue but i do whant the cool cover that you showed so i have to do some research first... Thanx!
I saw the final tour civilian. Many people don't like it but I love it. No other band could do what they did live. Their last albums were ahead of the rest of the music business by 4 years.. I don't think you get what they were really about. That's all there is.
*Giant For A Day*, *Love Beach*, *Tormato*, *And Then There Were Three*: Face it: '78 was a fucking terrible year for prog. Back in '73, all these bands were putting out records I consider the best in rock history. What a difference 5 years made.
+Adrian Lackey Hemispheres came Out in '78 too, but I agree.. wasnt the best year. Though Hemispheres kicks too much ass
Zero99iGames*Hemispheres* is where I lost interest. Trees is laughably pretentious. I didn't care for the band until *Grace Under Pressure*.
Adrian Lackey Trees is my least favorable track on the album, but I adore La Villa Strangiato, aswell as Circumstances and Cygnus X-1: Hemispheres..
Strangely, GUP was hard for me to get into and I'd take Power Windows over it any day
I agreed with some parts of your post; disagreed with others.
Adrian Lackey I expected that ^^
Civilian is better than Giant for a Day imo
Playing the Fool is the only Gentle Giant album I have that I could afford
Aside from there medieval influences (largely via Kerry Minnear), there's a strong Zappa influence too I think. Did any other Euro-prog band use a clavinette so prominently? It gave them an engaging almost-funky edge that other prog bands sorely lacked.
best albums by gentle giant are the older ones but I love all of them
daniel, i agree completely! when i first heard "who can it be now" on the radio, i thought it was gg. haha!
Did you make your point about what was 'missing' in the album "The Missing Piece?" You were about to talk about it but were interrupted by the phone call. Not sure if you got back to it. I agree. "Power & Glory" & "Free Hand" were my favorites, totally awesome !! I wore out "Free Hand" during my college years in the parties I had... not many attendees knew of the band at all, so I made a point of playing it. Their polyphony in lots of ways remind me of Bach, but with different scales/modes. Not many bands could do that or even tried, not on that level of intricacy anyway. There are things by Yes that approach it from their "Fragile" album (I'm thinking of the track made by the drummer, I think it was Bill Bruford at the time).
Prog was dead by 1980. The label needed something more commercial. I happen to like Civilian. I used to play some of those tunes in a band. Lighten up Francis.
We are about the same age. Like you, in 1977 I didn't like what they were doing but now check out one tune of Civilian called Inside Out. It changed my opinion of the album but it took 30 - 40+ odd years to do so!
I like the way you refer to "watering down". It happened to so many greats. Most disgusting to me was the watering down of Gino Vannelli and Earth Wind & Fire.
Love your taste in music and expansive knowledge. I have discovered so much good stuff from your videos(Barre Phillips & Old &New Dreams of note recently). Yeah, Giant ran out of gas. What a fantastic band in their prime. Keep up the great videos.
Maravilhoso amigo. Eu, aqui no Brasil, também tenho toda a coleção, em vinil, desta genial e gigante banda.
Derek, just watched your Gentle Giant LPs video, man great job! I was/am a big GG fan since one late night around 1970 or so at age 16?, I heard a song on local Cleveland radio: 'The Advent of Panurge' I never heard anything like that up to that time. From then I was a big fan, bought every LP on THE DAY each was released. I am an audio engineer, recorded Live Concerts above the Cleveland Agora(for WMMS), recorded GG in '77 one night and met Ray, Derek, Kerry in the studio-Big Thrill for me -Ken
Ken Tomsick
Ken Tomsick
5:30 I think you meant 'Giant Steps'. Very thoughtful and insightful review. Thank you.
I enjoyed both videos on GG. My thoughts are right in line with yours. I'm glad I found your channel.
bravo pour votre grande culture musicale !!
Loved hearing the Arzachel in the background.
Nice collection Dereck! You know man one thing that makes me respect you is your honesty. If an album doesnt do it for you then you say so and explain why. Thank you for that. I am looking forward to picking up more GG and thanks to this I know which ones to go for 1st.
in the uk in the last ten years or so some live cds have been released of 70s shows i dont have them but i have heard them and they are worth getting
Best live album ever.
Top 3 for me. Acquiring, Octopus, Glass House.
It's sounds like GG even knew their time was running slowly out. I'm sure they were tired of touring and it started to be shown in their last albums. They got out in time. Or is it that the listener wasn't ready for what they were transitioning into.
If you lived in UK or Australia at the time you would probably understand Giant For A Day and Civilian. Everyone around me liked Punk I never really did but Gentle Giant Civilian and The Pretty Things Cross Talk were my Punk era. I stayed away from most Punk except The Saints. I just got it with those last 2 albums. Some songs related to events only 70s youth would understand today. Not sure how a young generation today would understand about some of the political characters mentioned in the title track Giant For A Day!. They were probably trying to prove they could do it as in I Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It? They changed every album!!! Very interesting from an American point of view because it was hard to get some albums over there. We tended to get a lot of British albums here because of our ties with the UK!!!!
That is freaking awesome!
"playing the foole" came out between "interview" & "missing piece." the 2nd compilation you held up was called "giant steps." it has the single "power & the glory" -- maybe that's the track you were looking for...? i love that one!!! the band hated it, haha.
There are some great songs on Civilian. Not great on the whole, but even Derek said that Inside Out is one of their best tunes ever.
I've listened to the album many times since making this video and my opinion has only marginally changed. I know what I like.
Great summary! Just found it.
I would also be one of the ones to fight for "Playing the Fool". One of the best live albums ever made. Especially since the advent of TH-cam.
Also, I am one of the (Probably) few who think Civilian is actually quite brilliant.
You commented that, if it were another band that made it, you might think differently.
I would urge you to listen again in that frame of mind and let the album stand on it's own.
A beautifully scathing indictment of "modern life".
❤️
I like the later albums, they don't compare to octopus and acquiring the taste, but I think they have a charm much like the latter Genesis albums do,which also don't bear much comparison to foxtrot and nursery cryme etc.
My favorite album is definitely Power and the Glory. So many iconic songs. Then again, that's probably the same thing that could be said about the first 2/3rds of their discography
dereck, our stories sound similar about discovering gg & then going sour with the last few. there are a few gems tucked away in the last 3 albums. i'm careful not to play the whole album...just a few trax that i like. the 2nd side of "missing piece" is particularly nice. "words from the wise" is good from "giant for a day" & "shadows on the street" & "inside out" from "civilian" are eerie.
I remember someone from the band saying they were starting to run out of ideas on Interview which was probably the reason they changed their sound, but you're right the results weren't very good. I really like Memories of Old Days on Missing Piece though.
Nice objective review; I enjoyed it. I value ALL giant albums; some have more to offer than others & I am partial to the "middle" Giant period 73-76 and Playing The Fool live is raw, energetic & a standout live album. Civilian is not dreadful - has some gems: "All Throught The Night," "Number One," "Underground" have the signature Giant counterpoint. "Giant Steps," not "Giant For a Day" is ompilation, which has the outtake track "Power & The Glory," (PAG) which is also on the CD re-issue of PAG
Oh! And did you ever see them in concert? My brother and I saw them at Painter's Mill outside Baltimore in 1980 and they were brilliant.
Painters mill home of Crack the Sky.
the beginning of this video i heard arzahel's queen st.gang,right?incredible..i am a biggggg arzachel and egg fan man,just great..
Maybe it's just me but it seems that Gentle Giant deserve to appear in the same row as Genesis, Yes, King Crimson and others more often than they do. Many people consider them second-rate for some reason (or so it looks to me somehow) but I've held them as one of the best prog-rock bands ever since first hearing and getting into them. Especially the first five or so albums strike a chord with me but the rest is far from bad either. Really, a truly great band.
I just listened to 'I Lost My Had' off of the album Interview and that is a great song. They sort of have that Tull/Yes/Early Crimson sound. You are exactly right regarding live LP's. I was never a fan of them. My feeling was if you liked a band that much, go to see them in concert. Maybe Get Your Ya Ya's has its moments and I love The Last Waltz but not many more. Wikipedia has about 12 live albums listed for GG? Thanks again, love your band series videos Dereck~
Rob/Boston
Free Hand is my favourite GG album . The Missing Piece is a much better album than is generally given credit for by many .
That indeed is the standout track. Thanks for commenting.
I respect your opinion on this band's later albums, because it is indeed an opinion.
but I do think that if a band's soul and motive is to produce what they feel like in the moment, whether it is due the trends or fashions, or just their imagination at a certain given time.... they should just do it.... and if that sound differs a lot from earlier stuff, even better...
I'm attracted to change.... not prog change but change whatsoever.
I like how GG became 'simpler', how Camel became pop (i can see your house from here), how PFM became 80's madness (pfm? pfm!), how genesis became what it ended up sounding like....
if bands always keep playing 239480239843 notes and giving thesis all damn time, music becomes technichal and boring
Of course bands change, people change, everything changes....but the most difficult change to accept as a music fan is when a truly brilliant band or artist simplifies their style at the expense of their distinctiveness and musicianship. That's not development that's going backwards.
What you call change, I call regression or selling out.
Dear Derek, Your assessments are spot on although I thinking Playing the Fool is one of the best ever live albums. To me the studio albums post-Free Hand really start to unwind. Haven't heard Interview in a while so will have to get back to it back to it and reconsider it though when I first bought back in 1980 or something I found it a bit of a regurgitation of much better previous works. The problem with the last albums is a really drippy sentimentality about their original sound and lyrics that have lost any wit and irony that their first stupendous works contained.
by the way, i saw the gig in New York when they were recording the LIVE CD.. so i have the film (in my head) of what was going on when i hear it..if not having seen that , i understand your point.
Didn't knew anything of this band. But after being catched by the great covers I tried your recommendation song "Aspirations" which I think sound very nice. pretty like it. So I went listening to some others songs, but unfortunately I didn't had the same feeling (yet). Maybe the feeling of the band's songs must grow a little on me. If you have some other songs of them which I need to hear in my introduction to the band, I would be glad to hear them. Tastes are obviously personal, but ok..
@SublimMedia You are most welcome!
@Afteringboard Taste is very personal and this band may not be to your liking, which is of course fine. I'm glad you gave them a try.
Great Gentle Giant review. Just heard Steven Wilson's remix of Octopus recently. Still one of my top albums ever. I agree with your assessment of their last three studio albums. Too bad. Last one terrible.
I'd heard about him signing Men Without Hats, as well as Tears For Fears and Dexy's Midnight Runners...
Agreed on most things, Derek and it's great to see another GG fan on TH-cam but Playing the Fool Live, really demonstrates that they could do this stuff live and that it wasn't all studio trickery. It's better than OK, IMO. Far better.
@soulgalore The Moles, that was a one-off by Simon Dupree if I remember correctly. Thanks!
I couldent agree with you more on missing piece
@GalaxyRover1020 Yes, thankfully!
@Paneeks1960 12 is right and I showed all of them. Tull is another fair comparison.
I cannot with Giant for a Day. Listening to that made me realize how the Yes fans that didn't like Heaven and Earth felt. in which case, sorry guys, I understand now. I do like more of Missing Piece than I don't, Playing the Fool is an essential (I find I don't like a band if I don't like them live) but frankly, I'm afraid to sit down with Civilian. I don't want to know Santa isn't real.
And to think all this started for me on this years Cruise to the Edge!
@Hopegirls4 Yeah, nice!
@soulgalore Yes, I knew of this but have never come across a copy. Do you have it?
@soulgalore That's it!
I also was disappointed with Civilian. The very end of GFAD has a strong guitar riff but the rest of the song doesn't resonate well with me. I like Two Weeks in Spain, and Words from the Wise also. Would you say most groups experience this life cycle? ie start out with their best music early on, and end with so so material, ex Led Zepp I vs In through the Out Door, etc etc with most bands
Yeah, it seems like a lot of prog bands and rock bands in general in the late 70's tried to go pop or punk. I guess Gentle Giant ended up in the same situation as Genesis and Yes. Gentle Giant couldn't really pull off a pop album though.
Those commercial Gentle Giant albums are horrid to my ears.
@dereckvon - It's funny because I'm exactly the same way about "GFAD".Got a sealed copy $1.50 many yrs. ago. I'll pull it out thinking just like you "there's gotta be something that's gonna hit me now in hindsight" etc. "Words To The Wise" starts and I think "well, it's not that bad" then bam it is that bad! I can tolerate "Civilian" much more than GFAD. I think after seeing it as a cutout for so many yrs. back in the day and it being the followup to "that" album expectations were very low
@GalaxyRover1020 Lol!
You're right , Giant For A Day and Civilian are poor album by GG's standards .The band are aware of that .
I only find Giant for a Day to be utterly worthless, but the last three lp's are disappointing.
You review Power and the Glory, before In a Glass House which is understandable as in a glass house was late to the US market, but in fact it was the other way round, From my point of view it is slow downhill ride from Acquiring the taste, but mostly an enjoyable one. Civilian
would be far better if it didn't have such a 80's drum sound.
Straight up... NOT a gentle giant fan. I just do not like the sense I get from this band that technique and ability out weight *feel*. Emotion. Letting the universe control those moments when you relax and simply fall into your ability as a musician. If music is life, then let life DICTATE your approach to music... which is improvised.
Oh my,...
@@dereckvon LOL! sorry. I was feeling *free* yesterday evening. Never mind!