Gentle Giant
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Prog Polls
Forum Description: Create polls on topics related to progressive music
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=116139
Printed Date: March 06 2025 at 15:07
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Gentle Giant
Posted By: YESESIS
Subject: Gentle Giant
Date Posted: August 16 2018 at 20:17
| It's been a while since I made a poll on here, so I figured what better one than to compare the Top 5 highest rated(by this site) studio albums from Gentle freaking Giant. A band that's one of my favorites and that I consider First Tier when it comes to prog acts. So have at it. |
Replies:
Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: August 16 2018 at 21:22
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Free Hand has always been my #1. ------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385 |
Posted By: twosteves
Date Posted: August 16 2018 at 22:09
same with me---these guys were all such amazing musicians---say this because I watched a live concert recently
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irrelevant wrote:Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: August 16 2018 at 23:02
| My favourites are the first two (actually, almost the only ones I like... though I do like a few songs from the next two albums), and as far as I remember, I liked Acquiring the taste better out of those two. |
Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 00:23
| The Power And The Glory . |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 01:43
| Favourites are their four first albums and I voted for Acquiring the Taste. But I don't know why you couldn't just include all their seven or eight first ones (or all for that matter) - which are considered their string of "classics". I know quite a few likes their debut the best. Now that some has to vote for their second or third favorite you won't really get the correct answer. |
Posted By: Hercules
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 02:27
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My frustration with GG has been that they try all sorts of weird ideas. They are probably the epitome of prog in that respect. Most of it works wonderfully (once you get the idea), but sometimes, it doesn't. All their early albums are flawed in some way. Then Free Hand arrived, which i think comes close to flawless. It's also wonderfully recorded and a delight to listen to. ------------- A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life. |
Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 02:31
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Octopus I guess why is their debut not in the poll?
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Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 02:35
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Free Hand (which was also the first album I heard from this band). ------------- 
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Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 03:23
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Not a big fan, but I do like Octopus which gets my vote. The Power & the Glory has some high points too. ------------- Ultimately bored by endless ecstasy! |
Posted By: Upbeat Tango Monday
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 05:19
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Free Hand ------------- Two random guys agreed to shake hands. Just Because. They felt like it, you know. It was an agreement of sorts...a random agreement. |
Posted By: Chaser
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 06:07
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I agree that all of their first eight studio albums, up to and including Interview, should be included in this poll. Gentle Giant and Interview are very good albums, and the other six are absolute classics. Hard to pick a best, but, if I'm forced to, then I'd probably go for Octopus ------------- Songs cast a light on you |
Posted By: digdug
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 06:45
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Three Friends is my Fave Octopus gets my vote all of the first 8 albums are great ------------- Prog On! |
Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 07:56
| As a Gentle Giant fan, it's hard for me to choose among these great albums. I will go with Octopus, their first record I owned, but all are excellent choices. |
Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 08:23
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Free Hand my other fave is, surprisingly, The Missing Piece
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Posted By: progmatic
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 08:55
Exactly my feelings. "Three Friends" and "Playing the Fool" would be my 2 GG desert island discs. ------------- PROGMATIC |
Posted By: TerLJack
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 08:55
| Freehand. But Octupus is a close second. |
Posted By: Jeffro
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 09:33
| No vote as I'm still exploring their catalog but hearing The Power And The Glory is what made me a GG fan. I couldn't believe what I was listening to. |
Posted By: frankbostick
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 09:37
| Acquiring The Taste. |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 10:34
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Not saying that my tastes indicate what is "best" (I assume that you mean "What is best for you?"), but the debut and Three Friends would be high on my list. That said, Acquiring the Taste has almost always got my vote as my favourite, and it did again. I might rank the first eight while happily ignoring the other three studio albums as: 1. Acquiring the Taste 2. Three Friends 3. Gentle Giant 4. In a Glass House 5. Octopus 6. Free Hand 7. Interview 8. The Power and the Glory |
Posted By: The.Crimson.King
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 13:09
Love all 5 of these but Acquiring the Taste get's my vote. It was probably the one that took the longest to get into, but become my definite favorite a long time ago  ------------- https://wytchcrypt.wixsite.com/mutiny-in-jonestown" rel="nofollow - Mutiny in Jonestown : Progressive Rock Since 1987 |
Posted By: Rednight
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 13:09
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It would have to be 'Glass House - in'nent it. ------------- "It just has none of the qualities of your work that I find interesting. Abandon [?] it." - Eno |
Posted By: Dopeydoc
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 15:58
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The power and the glory, but I love the others too... |
Posted By: YESESIS
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 16:33
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For everyone complaining that all the albums aren't on here, you're 'preaching to the choir' with me. I've said many times on here that I love all their albums. I think Giant for a Day! is their weakest one, but I still like it. And I like Civilian a lot, but I understand that on a prog forum.. not everyone will share that opinion. Anyway, the reason I went with just 5(the top 5 rated on this forum btw) is that I've seen it done before at least once with every album as choices and In a Glass House is the winner. So I thought, I'll do it a little differently this time and maybe get a different result. And so far it's working, we'll see what happens.
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Posted By: philipemery
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 16:40
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My first album of their's was Acquiring The Taste, and it was may favorite until recently. Octopus I think is currently my favorite. ------------- But the sun is eclipsed by the moon. -- Pink Floyd |
Posted By: Logan
Date Posted: August 17 2018 at 17:10
| I posted in an old Gentle Giant poll to appease any who question your methodology (though the bumped poll is missing the last three). It would be interesting to see how different the results after so much time has passed between these two polls and with the difference in options. It used to be that Octopus would almost always lead in these polls as I recall. |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: August 18 2018 at 11:08
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In a Glass House. I feel like this is a poll several times a year? ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |
Posted By: Saperlipopette!
Date Posted: August 18 2018 at 14:03
My almost identical top eight also happily ignoring the other three:
1. Acquiring the Taste 2. Three Friends 3. Gentle Giant 4. Octopus 5. The Power and the Glory (used to be at the bottom but now I consider the opening trio of tunes as peak wrong era-Gentle Giant for me) 6. Interview 7. In a Glass House 8. Free Hand |
Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: August 18 2018 at 14:07
The important questions must be brought forward often. ------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385 |
Posted By: irrelevant
Date Posted: August 18 2018 at 14:38
Taste is a funny thing. I plan on doing a GG refresher for some of the albums I haven't heard in a while, so this may be slightly inaccurate for me right now, but here goes: 1. Free Hand 2. Interview 3. In a Glass House 4. The Missing Piece (oh yes I feel the contrarian power lol) 5. The Power and the Glory From here it gets fuzzy, not necessarily a huge drop in quality 6. Civilian (hey it's a good rock album) 7. Acquiring the Taste 8. Three Friends 9. Octopus 10. Gentle Giant 11. Giant for a Day But I plan to find out how close this is these days for me, and possibly make some more CD purchases! ------------- https://gabebuller.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow - New album! http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385" rel="nofollow - http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=7385 |
Posted By: hellogoodbye
Date Posted: August 18 2018 at 14:56
| Acquiring the Taste is their best album for me, but Three Friends has few better songs. Not much love for the rest. |
Posted By: questionsneverknown
Date Posted: August 19 2018 at 12:47
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Went with The Power and the Glory. P&G>IGH>FH>O>AT ------------- The damage that we do is just so powerfully strong we call it love The damage that we do just goes on and on and on but not long enough. --Robyn Hitchcock |
Posted By: Dellinger
Date Posted: August 19 2018 at 21:25
Hearing "The Power and the Glory" first is what made me take longer to get to know them, and hearing Octopus made me think that I might just as well try them out. Then getting "Playing the Fool" as my first album almost made me discard the possibility of liking them completley... still I don't know why I decided to give them yet another chance... someone in the forum convinced me, so I tried all their first 4 albums and did like them (specially the first 2 ones I really liked a lot). For what I have heard, I'm not really interested at all in the albums after Octopus. |
Posted By: Man With Hat
Date Posted: August 20 2018 at 13:58
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Toss up between Octopus and Power. I'll go th former. ------------- Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect. |
Posted By: Junges
Date Posted: August 21 2018 at 02:38
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In a Glass House ------------- 
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Posted By: YESESIS
Date Posted: August 22 2018 at 20:03
Good thinking. And about Octopus that could well be, certainly one of their better(if not best) album/s. I think it's In a Glass House myself, but a really strong case can be made for Octopus as well.
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Posted By: YESESIS
Date Posted: August 22 2018 at 20:06
| Listened to The Power and The Glory the other day, and boy was that enjoyable. Probably doesn't get enough credit in their catalogue me thinks. |
Posted By: Barbu
Date Posted: August 22 2018 at 22:09
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Free Hand is my favorite but Octopus is their masterwork imo. ------------- |
Posted By: ProgMetaller2112
Date Posted: September 02 2018 at 21:47
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In a Glass House is their best work and my favorite of theirs ------------- “War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four "Ignorance and Prejudice and Fear walk Hand in Hand"- Neil Peart |
Posted By: dwill123
Date Posted: September 03 2018 at 05:06
| The Power and The Glory |
Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: September 05 2018 at 07:25
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I voted for Free Hand but could have easily pulled the trigger for Octopus, Power & Glory or Glass House. Those four tower above all others!!!
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Posted By: Chaser
Date Posted: September 05 2018 at 08:49
So you don't have the taste for the other one?  ------------- Songs cast a light on you |
Posted By: Phideaux
Date Posted: September 05 2018 at 10:10
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Very good comment, Chaser! For me, The Power And The Glory manages to capture all the fire and excitement of Gentle Giant in contained short bursts. I love every song, Cogs in Cogs and Valedictory especially. Free Hand for me is a single perfect side Octopus is amazing, but still seems primordial Now, if Three Friends had been on that list, I'd have had trouble deciding, but of those... The Power And The Glory! Glass House is incredible, but still one degree short of perfection for me.
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Posted By: lostrom
Date Posted: September 05 2018 at 20:13
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Acquiring The Taste ------------- lostrom |
Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: October 20 2018 at 02:31
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In A Glass House all day, son! ------------- "I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021 |