THREE FRIENDS

Gentle Giant had made a decent profit in the UK upon the release of Acquiring the Taste, and were whole- heartedly ready to output another effort. This time it wasn't a jab at the music industry of the seventies that the last album was based on. Around the time after 'AtT' was released, concept albums were becoming more and more hungered especially by the prog fans of the time. In fact, Thick as a Brick by Jethro Tull came out a month prior to this albums come- about. But, of course, Thick as a Brick wasn't nearly as popular until a few years later when it came back around in the prog-revival of the eighties to be more appreciated. With this album, maybe not so much. It must be taken into account that this album, or rather, this band is remarkably under-appreciated. Probably my favorite band next to The Pink Floyd. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't go unnoticed. There will always be the lovers of the unknown such as myself, and I know there's many more out there who feel the same way.

Gentle Giant always had a grip on the music industry, whether or not people noticed them or not. They had done, in a way, what the Beatles had done back in '63. They were innovators of the pop genre from their time, but where Starr, McCartney, Lennon, and Harrison had re- invented the 60's, the Shulman brothers' goal was to push the boundaries of 70's rock to a whole new and sophisticated level. This however is where we hit a barrier. Gentle Giant wasn't well-known enough to be a true spiritual successor the Beatles, even when their accomplishments were so great. At least, I think that most of their releases are wonderful, but there's always some sort of intra-band problem or dissatisfaction release that causes some sort of problem that I have. Three Friends, sadly falls into this category.

I have already mentioned the sudden fluctuation in the music industry related to the increase in popularity for conceptual music. Relating to this, Gentle Giant tried a shot at their own concept album about three childhood friends that part ways earlier in life, only to to gather again later to contribute great music as a group. Sure, maybe not a very spectacular concept but remember that Gentle Giant was still early on in the running in the race to be the most revolutionary band of the decade, but they were undeniably in first place. This album wasn't as appreciated by fans as their other releases during the first half of their existence. And it is true that I dislike it as well, but not enough to say it's only for collectors and fans. Let me explain:

Three Friends contains a lot of uneven tracks that don't go anywhere. With the large exception of the fantastic rocking 'Prologue', the pieces on here range from classical and orchestral to more clearly classic rock songs. Although I can tell that they're trying to experiment enough for this album to be artful, it never appealed to me when listening. In fact, it sounded oddly disjointed and it flows strangely. And even with the fact that it is trying to be fancy, it still falls on the musical front with lackluster, simple pieces that seem more like filler than concepts. Overall, it's pretty bland and it isn't anything I've never seen before. It registered sort of the same reaction I got from Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes by Eloy. It's nothing new for me, and if I wanted to see some great conceptual art albums, I would turn to bands that have a better proficiency for doing so. Gentle Giant never really did this again, but when they did, Interview was much better than this. A definite skip-able release.