Im over 50 and just started listening to these guys the last few months. They were just never on my radar and you know, a lot of us get comfortable with the same bands we always knew. So glad i dove in. They are fantastic. Gone thru all their albums a few times. Just wonderful
Welcome to the unofficial Gentle Giant appreciation society. I'm in my 70s and have been listening to them since the 1970s. Of all the prog bands I've heard over the years GG are the ones that imo truly embraced and used music from the Renaissance era.
4:07 Ray Shumann plays a highly elaborate melody on the violin and at the same time sings super complex verses. It's unbelievable. This guy was a complete musician, one of the biggest I've ever seen in my life.
Well, that’s impressive enough. But when you put him with four other equally phenomenally talented musicians, you get a band like no other. I suspect that if the song required it, they could play bagpipes, euphonium, serpent, anything at all!
When they start off instrumentally I thought, "Okay, so they can't really sing it live. This is still great." Then my mind is blown and I'm devastated for the rest of the day. 6 minutes is all I need. How did anyone survive an entire concert? It's too good!
Ray Shulman deserves a statue....in 24k gold...with inlay rhinestones and a cherry on top. I mean, look at him being a total bad @$$, pulling off sick musical feats, wearing a constant smile of total enjoyment. Man, I'd be happy with just 10% of the supremeness this cat has.
I saw every band you named, and with Gabriel and when i saw Giant, it was the best live band i ever saw.....Pink Floyd Animals tour was the best show I ever saw........
Without doubt the most versatile band ever. Finished with standard rock lineup, - guitar, bass, kbdd, drums - but started with recorder, violin, cello, vibes!
Gentle Giant is absolutely mind numbing. Best live performances I have ever seen. Shifting time signatures, modes , key changes and brilliant interaction of the musicians onstage--who are all multi instrumentalists--has never been equaled.
I didn’t think they could play this live, but what a phenomenal performance! Five incredible musicians, and like everyone else says, they deserve much more acclaim than they have ever got. Absolute genius!!
Saw them a number of times in the 70's, they could reproduce anything, they recorded, live on stage, often with enhancements. One of the joys of a GG concert was watching them swap around their instruments, and of course seeing 5 men play one drum kit !!
I saw them do this live once. They didn’t do it like this, they did more like the studio version. Each of them strolled to their microphone in turn and as they got there they hit their vocal entrance. I couldn’t believe I was watching it. I’ve played rock, I’ve played Renaissance and Baroque, and that is one complex set of vocal lines, and the tempo doesn’t make it any easier. And it looked so damned casual.
This is a priceless example of a sound and development of ideas that could possibly never exist again. Everything is on the line. Rigorous and sublime.
I "borrowed" this album from a music professor in 1977 and never gave it back. Their music was at once mathematical AND emotional. I've never heard anything like it. Forty years later they still engage both my brain and my heart.
You can argue if you like the music or not (personally I think its awesome) but surely these guys were the most talented rock band on the planet when they were together?! What I wouldn’t give for a time machine!
I saw them three times in the 70s -- once in a small 400-seat club in Boston. Simply beyond description. Another time they were opening for Renaissance -- once they were done no one wanted the headliners!
And the definition of Prog is non existent. When someone asks what is prog the answer should be Gentle Giant. Outside of that, there isn't any definition.
Ray has an incredible sense of harmony. Really god damn fun to listen to his bass runs and he never repeats himself. This is the most flawless and the most beautiful piece of music that no other band will never be able to pull off.
Regarding the first part, if you listen carefully you can hear that Kerry's playing Ray's bass part on the cello, and Ray's essentially playing Kerry's keyboard part on violin.
The BEST you can get RIGHT here w/ Gentle Giant. Played this track at my wedding day in 2000 & EVERYBODY just loved it!! :) Miss these guys! Alan CK Sweet-Music producer/drummer-
Anyone else ever notice that the lyrics of most of their best songs tend to be about arguments and terrible relationships? The irony of presenting an argument in a fugue-like structure is sheer brilliance.
I was 20 when I heard them in 1976 on the Ankara Radio and waited to buy ''Official Live'' two months as a University student! Now I am 58 and still listen GG. They are great and new!
It's not just a virtuose and incredible song: any person can see a pure, honest, sensitive, original, terrific, complex, unforgettable music. Forever will be an inspiration for everyone that see music as a culture that can change concepts and lifes. This song is timeless. Please, all here must share for your friends, family this unique moment of music history.
This really is a mind blowing song and performance. They were incredibly talented these guys. All that multi-tasking and crazy counterpoint. I just shake my head and marvel at it all.
I have always been a GG fan. This song is unbelievable. So tight. I am really happy to be stuck in the 70s with music like this. The level of musicianship is on another planet. Real musicians are rare these days.
Incredible that they could pull this piece off live. With 5 vocalists and ability to play multiple instruments, I don't think there was a band that was that versatile or had that big of a sound at the time (perhaps Kansas or the jazz group Oregon). Great post!
Love your post mate. I don't trust today's music because they have that machine that makes out of tune singing sound in tune. Gentle Giant did this stuff without such trickery. They sang in tune, the most inventive harmonies and melodies in rock music history.
As much as I love the 70s music, I would go even further to say that even back in the day of Gentle Giant much simpler and low-quality music was way more popular. But not everything can stand the test of time and gain a cult following.
No matter how great the music created during the 70s by such bands like Yes, Tull, Genesis, Hatfield and the North, and a lot others was, I never listened to anything like Gentle Giant... There was not one single note that wasn't worth listening to. And listening to with great attention to the best of rewards. Great from beginning to (nearly) the end, that was Gentle Giant, although Giant for a Day, Civilian and the first side of Missing Piece were a bit below par. Anyway, although the 70s are gone and so are Gentle Giant, I have to give a shout to a recent and young band coming from Italy, Promenade of their name, who have the intricacies of Gentle Giant's works, specially their track Athletics from album Noi al dir di noi. No, they aren't Gentle Giant (and are not trying to be, either) but having such great music in the 2010s is still great news...
THIS is really great musicianship. THIS is whats missing from neoprogressive music today. I own the Free Hand album and bought it upon it's original release way back. Tracks like this are so complex I just assumed they were studio creations not to be pulled off live. I'm blown away by the calibre of musicianship show here. . to think these guys would pull this off live is nothing short of mind-boggling
If a being from a distant galaxy asked me what Progressive Rock is all about, and I only could play just one theme, this would be a serious candidate. Thank you Gentle Giant for the AMAZING music you made! In 500 hundred years from now, schools will teaching your music.
salah alawi Try Fewjar maybe. Not exactly the same actually, but also this lets-mix-as-many-kinds-of-music-in-one-song-as-possible - type. Gluttony, Problem 3 (album: Afewsides) or S.p.a.m (album: Afewsides) for example. I love them as much as Gentle Giant or Nirvana (which means a lot^^). In their making-of-vids (unfortunately in German) you can see that they will use classical instruments for their new album, too! I defenitly look forward for this piece of shit =D
TheGoldfish Certainly not everiything... but I listen to Jethro Tull since I was a child, my father loves them. So ... there are some albums in my shelf =D
My God! How beautiful! The music that introduced me to GG. It's been so long ... I remember well that I was ecstatic listening to it on the radio, on an old progressive rock show, with my eyes turned upwards, wondering if it was possible for a rock band to do something so wonderful and elaborate. Yes, it was. Gentle Giant, best band ever.
When I was learning classical music I was shocked about a ProgRock band handling so well classical themes. I am still impressed, it's a very neat counterpoint.
Free Hand...what a great album. These guys had some crazy tempos and arrangements something serious listeners appreciated. Still have the vinyl got to play it again.
I started following Gentle Giant since 1971 and wish I still could. One of the most inventive music groups of all time. The band Dream Theater also enjoyed them and their unique time signatures.
![Gentle Giant - Two weeks in Spain 1978 BBC [HQ]](/img/n.gif)
Im over 50 and just started listening to these guys the last few months. They were just never on my radar and you know, a lot of us get comfortable with the same bands we always knew. So glad i dove in. They are fantastic. Gone thru all their albums a few times. Just wonderful
Welcome to the unofficial Gentle Giant appreciation society. I'm in my 70s and have been listening to them since the 1970s. Of all the prog bands I've heard over the years GG are the ones that imo truly embraced and used music from the Renaissance era.
They were doing stuff that nobody else could dream of doing. Simply put, they were way, way ahead of their time.
4:07 Ray Shumann plays a highly elaborate melody on the violin and at the same time sings super complex verses. It's unbelievable. This guy was a complete musician, one of the biggest I've ever seen in my life.
I agree totally, BUT the melody he is playing and singing are the same. Still. What a fucking master.
And the wickeddest bass player ;a wizard!!
Absolute legend. These guys were the real deal. May he rest in peace.
Gentle Giant was one the best Prog Rock band in Rock History
Correction gentle giant is/was the greatest most epic legendary unique genius band ever.
Wait...he plays the bass, he plays the violin, he sings and he keeps wicked timing.....Kill me Lord.....
Well, that’s impressive enough. But when you put him with four other equally phenomenally talented musicians, you get a band like no other. I suspect that if the song required it, they could play bagpipes, euphonium, serpent, anything at all!
One of the most underrated bands ever that’s no one really knows about.
When they start off instrumentally I thought, "Okay, so they can't really sing it live. This is still great." Then my mind is blown and I'm devastated for the rest of the day. 6 minutes is all I need. How did anyone survive an entire concert? It's too good!
Check out Knots live. That video got me into this band with the complex vocal part :)
When I saw them live, twice, back then, I thought they'd not be able to replicate their album perfection. ... But they did!
the same here 😅
Speechless …
So much talent in this band.
Ray Schulman - Bass guitar hanging from neck.....violin in hand.... and singing his rounds...…..unique.
The GOAT! RIP Ray! I miss you!
My ultimate epic legendary genius hero in all of music RIP maestro.
It's my favorite gentle Giant song
An absolute masterpiece!
Gentle Giant is the reason I started playing the recorder in high school in the early 70s.
If I had a time machine I would go back and relive their live performances. They are absolutely incredible.
Ray Shulman deserves a statue....in 24k gold...with inlay rhinestones and a cherry on top. I mean, look at him being a total bad @$$, pulling off sick musical feats, wearing a constant smile of total enjoyment. Man, I'd be happy with just 10% of the supremeness this cat has.
Agreed, and the genius is now gone, RIP Ray.
@@jeffwolinski2659 We'll miss him. I'm so thankful we have all this music recorded, imagine if we didn't have the technology for it back then.
Speechless...How this band did not get up there with the likes of Yes, Genesis, ELP and Renaissance is criminal...
Agree
I saw every band you named, and with Gabriel and when i saw Giant, it was the best live band i ever saw.....Pink Floyd Animals tour was the best show I ever saw........
Sadly, piss-pour marketing...
Roger Parry sadly that was better for the public because we got to see them in small venues it was actually great
The level of musicianship is off the chart. I've met Gary Green a couple of times. He still rocks anywhere he plays! Super nice guy.
Without doubt the most versatile band ever. Finished with standard rock lineup, - guitar, bass, kbdd, drums - but started with recorder, violin, cello, vibes!
Gentle Giant is absolutely mind numbing. Best live performances I have ever seen. Shifting time signatures, modes , key changes and brilliant interaction of the musicians onstage--who are all multi instrumentalists--has never been equaled.
Don't forget about the counterpoint in their music, this is even more impressive than the above!
No one remotely like them! Works of genius!
For most people, this awesome music ( Band); was too much difficult to understand . Point ........👍💯🎸
It's almost human ...🙂
There has never been and there will never be a band like Gentle Giant.
Amen!
Thank God for small mercies! 😄
Fortunately .
Holy shit. The amount of talent in this band, uncanny.
Just read that Ray passed away a couple of days ago. Sad to hear, but happy with how much amazing music he created while he was here. RIP, Ray.
this is simply fantastic, no one makes music (progrissive) like this now,,, there not capably now..........hail
the greatest prog band of all time, ridiculously talented
RIP, Ray Shulman, what an amazing musician, this is my first stop on a Gentle Giant video binge after hearing the news.
The musical knowledge of this band is amazing.
that bass line at the end is just sick
I didn’t think they could play this live, but what a phenomenal performance! Five incredible musicians, and like everyone else says, they deserve much more acclaim than they have ever got. Absolute genius!!
Saw them a number of times in the 70's, they could reproduce anything, they recorded, live on stage, often with enhancements. One of the joys of a GG concert was watching them swap around their instruments, and of course seeing 5 men play one drum kit !!
Thanks to musical friends.....I found these guys 45 years ago. Unfortunately, never live.
Absolute genius. No other band could touch their technical mastery.
technical mastery, at its best borin,g for my delicate ears.
ray looks like such a badass playing the violin while singing and with a bass strapped around his shoulders.
I saw them do this live once. They didn’t do it like this, they did more like the studio version. Each of them strolled to their microphone in turn and as they got there they hit their vocal entrance. I couldn’t believe I was watching it. I’ve played rock, I’ve played Renaissance and Baroque, and that is one complex set of vocal lines, and the tempo doesn’t make it any easier. And it looked so damned casual.
We will NEVER hear music like this again.
Your are right ....most people today are unable to grasp real musicianship and artist purity and beauty!
Hold my folk and weird instruments.
I once said that a while ago, and here I am--listening to it again!
Yeah, that was bad.. Oh well.
21 years later there was this though th-cam.com/video/A5Zx-0om5N0/w-d-xo.html
"Never" is a very long time... Still, seeing as how we're almost out of it - yeah, you're probably right.
This is a priceless example of a sound and development of ideas that could possibly never exist again. Everything is on the line. Rigorous and sublime.
I "borrowed" this album from a music professor in 1977 and never gave it back. Their music was at once mathematical AND emotional. I've never heard anything like it. Forty years later they still engage both my brain and my heart.
That poor professor has been crying about it the rest of his life.
Stealing is a bad bad thing John!
Record thief. Can't tell you how many albums I loaned out and never got back. Needless to say I don't loan any more.
Diese Gruppe begleitet mich schon mein ganzes Leben. Mehr Musik geht nicht ...!
This still excites me deeply. Thank you to Wayne Morris Bryant.❤
You can argue if you like the music or not (personally I think its awesome) but surely these guys were the most talented rock band on the planet when they were together?! What I wouldn’t give for a time machine!
Oh boy, this never gets old...
I like to watch/listen to these guys everyday when i wake up... I don't know, they help me to go through with good expectations and a smile. =)
40 years on and it’s still awesome
This band is not of this earth, how magnificent, and no charts!
I saw them three times in the 70s -- once in a small 400-seat club in Boston. Simply beyond description. Another time they were opening for Renaissance -- once they were done no one wanted the headliners!
Is it just me, or does John Weathers' sweet-ass baseball outfit make the badassery of this video go through the roof or what?!
Oakland A's.
I was just going to comment on that,its not just a jersey it looks like the entire outfit. I wonder why he picked Oakland, maybe he just likes green.
@@hifijohn the name says weathers on the back. idk if it’s custom or if he got it because of the name, but it’s still a super cool fit
@@oscarbrittingham-detxemend396 and Weathers 69, no less.
One of the greatest prog bands ever! Excellent.
I agree with you they were amazing !!
What a band fantastic musicians.
One of the best bands full stop!
Incredible. Every time.
Gentle Giant was the best prog band ever-an absolute amazing group of super talented musicians that could play any instrument
And the definition of Prog is non existent. When someone asks what is prog the answer should be Gentle Giant. Outside of that, there isn't any definition.
That comment was eleven years ago and nothing has changed your comment still rings true!!
Ray has an incredible sense of harmony. Really god damn fun to listen to his bass runs and he never repeats himself. This is the most flawless and the most beautiful piece of music that no other band will never be able to pull off.
Regarding the first part, if you listen carefully you can hear that Kerry's playing Ray's bass part on the cello, and Ray's essentially playing Kerry's keyboard part on violin.
Adam W Seems natural since the two of them co-wrote most of the musical parts in most of GG’s compositons?
The greatest prog band of all time. Oh, to see them just one more time~!
I listened to the studio version and the live back to back and I felt like I was listening to two different songs. Incredible
Neo-classical turbo-charged folk influenced British acid rock
Or simply just call it Prog Rock.
Polistrumentisti eccezzionali li ho sentiti ad Ascona 35 anni fa bei tempi🏋🏼♀️🤸♀️
Ecco cosa serve imparare a suonare e ad ascoltare musica classica nelle scuole da bambini: invece di isegnarci tante minchiate……
the best genre
the frontier among all
The BEST you can get RIGHT here w/ Gentle Giant. Played this track at my wedding day in 2000 & EVERYBODY just loved it!! :) Miss these guys! Alan CK Sweet-Music producer/drummer-
Anyone else ever notice that the lyrics of most of their best songs tend to be about arguments and terrible relationships? The irony of presenting an argument in a fugue-like structure is sheer brilliance.
I saw this tour -- amazing stuff. What a privilege!
I was 20 when I heard them in 1976 on the Ankara Radio and waited to buy ''Official Live'' two months as a University student! Now I am 58 and still listen GG. They are great and new!
Nothing Else Like Them!
I was 21 1976 when i saw them live in Stockholm doing this
Such a knock-out
It's not just a virtuose and incredible song: any person can see a pure, honest, sensitive, original, terrific, complex, unforgettable music. Forever will be an inspiration for everyone that see music as a culture that can change concepts and lifes. This song is timeless. Please, all here must share for your friends, family this unique moment of music history.
This really is a mind blowing song and performance. They were incredibly talented these guys. All that multi-tasking and crazy counterpoint. I just shake my head and marvel at it all.
RIP, Ray Shulman.
😢😢😢😢😢😢
How I miss those days! Still brings me to tears....
Timeless music
one of the most criminally underated bands of all time! I'm so glad that my brother turned me on to this band.
they are absolutely the greatest most criminally underated band ever
I have always been a GG fan. This song is unbelievable. So tight. I am really happy to be stuck in the 70s with music like this. The level of musicianship is on another planet. Real musicians are rare these days.
Sheer Genius is right! I think this band was more than what most musicans could dream of doing.
The quality of this video is so superb I thought they replaced everyone with lookalikes. Majestic.
Incredible that they could pull this piece off live. With 5 vocalists and ability to play multiple instruments, I don't think there was a band that was that versatile or had that big of a sound at the time (perhaps Kansas or the jazz group Oregon). Great post!
+Thomas Dixon One of the best band ever!!!! To imagine that unimaginative hackwork today is more commercially successful is shameful
+ulfingvar1 the tripe of today doesn't deserve a comparison mate, nail hit on the head
Love your post mate. I don't trust today's music because they have that machine that makes out of tune singing sound in tune. Gentle Giant did this stuff without such trickery. They sang in tune, the most inventive harmonies and melodies in rock music history.
As much as I love the 70s music, I would go even further to say that even back in the day of Gentle Giant much simpler and low-quality music was way more popular. But not everything can stand the test of time and gain a cult following.
No matter how great the music created during the 70s by such bands like Yes, Tull, Genesis, Hatfield and the North, and a lot others was, I never listened to anything like Gentle Giant... There was not one single note that wasn't worth listening to. And listening to with great attention to the best of rewards.
Great from beginning to (nearly) the end, that was Gentle Giant, although Giant for a Day, Civilian and the first side of Missing Piece were a bit below par.
Anyway, although the 70s are gone and so are Gentle Giant, I have to give a shout to a recent and young band coming from Italy, Promenade of their name, who have the intricacies of Gentle Giant's works, specially their track Athletics from album Noi al dir di noi.
No, they aren't Gentle Giant (and are not trying to be, either) but having such great music in the 2010s is still great news...
THIS is really great musicianship. THIS is whats missing from neoprogressive music today. I own the Free Hand album and bought it upon it's original release way back. Tracks like this are so complex I just assumed they were studio creations not to be pulled off live. I'm blown away by the calibre of musicianship show here. . to think these guys would pull this off live is nothing short of mind-boggling
You should have seen Zappa.
If a being from a distant galaxy asked me what Progressive Rock is all about, and I only could play just one theme, this would be a serious candidate. Thank you Gentle Giant for the AMAZING music you made! In 500 hundred years from now, schools will teaching your music.
Yes. :-)
Ummmm - Good band - but your prediction is far-fetched. School? Teaching Gentle Giant music? The world would have to vastly change for the better.
I don't know man...according to the libtards, the planet is doomed and we've only got a decade or two left lol!
@@DecksterPenkor Ahah, guess I'm an optimist :)
Tutto l'album Free Hand dà una particolare sensazione
di freschezza e di fluidità sonora.
Quelle merveille;nous ne connaîtrons jamais plus un band comme eux
For a second I wanted to cry!! This music will never be repeated again
Such a tempo..groovy. ..what ever u name it hahahaha
salah alawi Try Fewjar maybe. Not exactly the same actually, but also this lets-mix-as-many-kinds-of-music-in-one-song-as-possible - type.
Gluttony, Problem 3 (album: Afewsides) or S.p.a.m (album: Afewsides) for example.
I love them as much as Gentle Giant or Nirvana (which means a lot^^).
In their making-of-vids (unfortunately in German) you can see that they will use classical instruments for their new album, too! I defenitly look forward for this piece of shit =D
TheGoldfish
Thanks!
Do you know some good bands maybe? Always seaching^^
TheGoldfish
Yas, love Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd.
But I will try out the other ones, thank you!
TheGoldfish Certainly not everiything... but I listen to Jethro Tull since I was a child, my father loves them. So ... there are some albums in my shelf =D
TheGoldfish
Yeah, true^^
He came home so often with a new DVD - we always watch together.
The Best of the BEST!
If early medieval minstrels had played with half the vitality of gentle giant, in the courts of their kings, the dark ages wouldn't have happened!
40 years later and I STILL get goose-bumps. SO grateful I saw them multi- times. Hail the Giant !!!!!!
I saw that show. It was amazing. They were the best live. I'm still amazed by such talent and maestra.
Unique. To be treasured.
Possibly the most incredible live performance I have ever seen... Astounding.
R.I.P. Ray Shulman ✌
So good ,so talented, so lost in the shuffle, one of the best bands ever!!!
The vocals harmonies are insane !!!
My God! How beautiful! The music that introduced me to GG. It's been so long ... I remember well that I was ecstatic listening to it on the radio, on an old progressive rock show, with my eyes turned upwards, wondering if it was possible for a rock band to do something so wonderful and elaborate.
Yes, it was. Gentle Giant, best band ever.
My all time favorite band. First time I heard them I was blown away. They were such a talented group
What is mind-blowing is how tight and seamless their ensemble playing is with the relative inefficiency of 1970's monitors!
Such talent, pure joy to hear
God I love this song. It ends with such hope and promise. It always picks me up.
One of the best bands ever!
Baby Boom tenían que ser, que enseñanzas nos dejan estos. GG lo mejor
absolutely timeless, outstanding!
Their precision and togetherness was mind boggling even by the already high standards of prog.
Wow.....so much raw talent in this band of musicians!!!!!! Have to be one of the most talented groups i've heard to date!
Great band from me youth, seen them, love them, and from Portsmouth, Awesome stuff.
Bloody amazing that they would even attempt to do this song live. Even more amazing that they did such an excellent job of it.
The Earls of Counterpoint
The fucking Earls of counterpoint!!! Thank you!
Masterpiece!!!!
Sheer Genius! A most amazing group of musicians! Saw them live once, way back... wish it had been more.
When I was learning classical music I was shocked about a ProgRock band handling so well classical themes. I am still impressed, it's a very neat counterpoint.
5:26 such an amazing counterpoint- bassline! Just an amazing band!
unbelievable. I love it
A real masterpiece. The musicians are excellent!
Free Hand...what a great album. These guys had some crazy tempos and arrangements
something serious listeners appreciated. Still have the vinyl got to play it again.
Gentle Giant pulled this off live. Brilliantly done. Spot on. Rarely will you hear a performance like this outside of the studio.
I started following Gentle Giant since 1971 and wish I still could. One of the most inventive music groups of all time. The band Dream Theater also enjoyed them and their unique time signatures.
Can you imagine any other group trying to replicate this ? Gentle Giant were perfection .