I cannot stand Gentle Giant

Frenetic Zetetic wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: The problem for me with both Gentle Giant and Van der Graaf Generator, is I don't like the singers in either band, and if one doesn't like the singer fronting the band, then it's hard to appreciate the music of the band as a whole. Damn dude that's a really self-limiting issue to have, especially with prog! It takes time, that's all I can say. Iv've been listening to both bands for years and I can't fathom how others can't hear the excellence, lol. Understandable.

Woon Deadn wrote:   Gentle Giant is my favourite western rock band ever (while I am from the former Soviet Union), and I can only say from all Yes' works I love only Fragile, from all King Crimson I love only Lizard and the debut a bit. In general, I hate Yes' music, it hurts my nerves. But GG and VdGG are a balm to my ears.  It's all about one's brain, nerves, physiology, tastes, childhood memories, et al.  For example, GG fans used to put the album In A Glass House on the top of their tops. I do not like it. The tunes in it are too repetitive, to my body. My favourite GG tune is probably "As Old As You're Young" which is also not usual among GG's fans.

I have and love all of their recordings, with my favorites being Freehand and The Missing Piece. I know TMP is not that well liked, but it is wonderful to my ears!

Psychedelic Paul wrote: The problem for me with both Gentle Giant and Van der Graaf Generator, is I don't like the singers in either band, and if one doesn't like the singer fronting the band, then it's hard to appreciate the music of the band as a whole.

Logan wrote: Argo2112 wrote: Quoting  Logan "I prefer my GG without the VD."   Now that's funny! Well, thank you, Mike. It took over 13 years to get a laugh, but it was worth it. :)    Barbu wrote: GG, VdGG and the like is so metrosexual, an ideal listen for waxing all areas of the body. True real men are into Purple, Sabbath and beer. Purple, Sabbath, beer and t**ties, of course. Oh, and crazy redheads, whisky, bar-fights, The Allman Brothers Band, Willie Nelson, Hillary rocking suitpants, and other perversions. So Micky....

Argo2112 wrote: Quoting  Logan "I prefer my GG without the VD."   Now that's funny!

Well, thank you, Mike. It took over 13 years to get a laugh, but it was worth it. :)   

Barbu wrote: GG, VdGG and the like is so metrosexual, an ideal listen for waxing all areas of the body. True real men are into Purple, Sabbath and beer.

Purple, Sabbath, beer and t**ties, of course. Oh, and crazy redheads, whisky, bar-fights, The Allman Brothers Band, Willie Nelson, Hillary rocking suitpants, and other perversions. So Micky....

Edited by Logan - October 16 2019 at 13:09

Barbu wrote: True real men are into Purple, Sabbath and beer.

Quoting  Logan

dougmcauliffe wrote: Ok wow, here I am 3 months later. Gentle Giant is my 6th favorite band, 5th on a good day. How I cringe at my old words. So after someone suggested acquiring the taste here I tried it and really liked it, then soon after Power and the Glory clicked. At a record fair I decided to take a plunge and got every giant album from Three Friends to Free Hand. The first time Octopus graced my ears... holy moly. Incredible band, I take back all that I said.

Awesome. Who says a new pup can't learn new tricks? Oh wait, nobody says that. It's older brains that tend to be less malleable/open to new experiences and perspectives, but of course there are many who remain open-eared and open-minded. I've come across a few who also changed their minds about Gentle Giant. Sometimes it just comes down to forming an impression based on listening to the wrong music or listening to what could have been the right music but at the wrong time.

I look at my music appreciation as a journey. There's music I love now that I wouldn't have liked when I was younger, and some music I liked when I was younger that I don't really like now. Particular music has led me to other music, which has led me to other music,sometimes it was about finding those gateways; links between music forms. I think my tastes are more diverse than ever as I've been exposed to such much music, and I can appreciate music that I don't even like.

Argo2112 wrote: HackettFan wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: I've never been able to get into Gentle Giant or Van Der Graaf Generator either, so at least I know I'm not alone now amongst Prog-Rock aficionados. Of course I’ve professed dislike for Gentle Giant as well, but I’m baffled with those drawing some sort of similarity with Van der Graaf Generator. They are musical opposites to me. Again, my problem with GG is the incessant use and staccato notes or notes of short duration generally. VdGG on the other hand, noteworthy for their exceptionally long drones. If we could have merged the writing skills of both groups we might have gotten something perhaps a little more varied and presumably more artful. I'm on the other side of the fence on this one. Gentle Giant is growing on me but I don't like VDGG, maybe because of the long droning sections in many of their songs. Oh well different strokes I guess.

I started listening to VdGG and GG at about the same time, GG was the one I got into first (it was Acquiring the Taste that made me a fan). I used to say here in my early days since GG and VdGG often were compared in polls, "I prefer my GG without the VD." VD as in Van der and Venereal Disease which was never considered funny enough to get any clap, I mean clappies *groan*. I might have also said that I preferred Vander to Van der, but that's by-the-by. While GG was my favourite bands when I started visiting this site (GG and PFM, which I think are comparable in some respects), I would say that my VdGG appreciation overtook my GG appreciation. I haven't put on GG much over the last decade, but kept returning to GG. GG was very easy for me to get into when I heard it. Been listening to GG again, and I still love it, especially for the early albums.

As for why people compare the two, I often do too, yet if someone were asking for bands like VdGG, I wouldn't quickly suggest GG, or vice versa. I would describe both as Art Rock and Progressive Rock, and I might say that they both have avant-prog qualities, and I don't think they are opposites (different, sure, but not antithetical, thus they commonly share the same audience). Both have kinds of complexity, both have experimental qualities, both are quite unique, and have an eclecticism about them. Both employ dissonance and consonance, soft and hard, both can sound kind of crazy (think Way of Life by GG). Both can be very gentle and beautiful (to my ears), and then switch to jarring music. And both have some evil riffage, in that regard I've compared these two before:





I definitely hear parallels between The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other and Acquiring the Taste beyond having a certain quality in those two tracks, and Octopus and H To He....

And in sweet, sentimental or rather sorrowful songs they've done: Refugees, House with No Door, Think of Me With Kindness, Aspirations, Out of My Book etc.

While the two are dissimilar in various ways, I think they have quite a bit in common. I'd sooner compare VdGG to GG, than a great many other artists, even in PA.

HackettFan wrote: Psychedelic Paul wrote: I've never been able to get into Gentle Giant or Van Der Graaf Generator either, so at least I know I'm not alone now amongst Prog-Rock aficionados. Of course I’ve professed dislike for Gentle Giant as well, but I’m baffled with those drawing some sort of similarity with Van der Graaf Generator. They are musical opposites to me. Again, my problem with GG is the incessant use and staccato notes or notes of short duration generally. VdGG on the other hand, noteworthy for their exceptionally long drones. If we could have merged the writing skills of both groups we might have gotten something perhaps a little more varied and presumably more artful.