ACQUIRING THE TASTE

This is another wonderful album from Gentle Giant. I like the variety of interesting sounds and songs on it. I may not be able to identify exact instruments used, but will describe what it sounds like to me. The music is very complex, so it is hard to go into detail. Here is a description of each song.

Pantagruels' Nativity - Spooky synth at the beginning that reminds me of the older Dr. Who T.V. series. Beautiful distant medieval singing from Kerry Minnear with sharp guitar and then added flute. There's a heavier guitar riff that comes in later which reminds me of Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull or Arthur Brown's Kingdom Come. The singing that accompanies this guitar segment sounds spooky. Dreamy bell keyboard sounds then a guitar solo. Heavy guitar riff and singing returns. Music settles down. Kerry's beautiful soft singing returns and it ends on a piercing guitar note.

Edge of Twilight - Soft, dreamy singing from Kerry and music with cello, keyboard and spooky horn. There's some low whisper singing in parts, drums tumbling, rolling guitar arpeggios, a drum and percussion solo with an echo or reverb sound. The soft singing returns and ends with twinkling arpeggios.

The House The Street The Room - Leads in with strong bass line and singing from Derek Shulman. It settles down with light singing and some instrument arpeggios. There's various instrumental dynamics and then settles down to light piano for a while. Guitar comes back in with a loud squeal and powerful wah solo with drums and bass. Strong singing returns then settles down with percussion and arpeggios. Song closes with light piano tinkering.

Acquiring The Taste - Note bending, weird synth instrumental solo from Kerry Minnear. It sounds like a spooky horn in there too. Again, reminds me of something out of Dr. Who.

Wreck - Leads in with bass line and then gets fuzzy with heavy guitar. Derek sings strong lead with group backing vocals. Kerry comes in the middle with some gentler singing and then flutes come in. There's some dramatic instrument parts. The main singing comes back in for a while, then fades into medieval flutes playing. The dramatic instruments and power singing returns to fade.

The Moon Is Down - Slowly fades in softly with violin and horn. The group singing reminds me of the songs 'Because' and 'Sun King' from The Beatles Abbey Road album. Bass in background with bell sounds. Powerful echo sounds, then the piano plays. Tempo picks up with an instrumental and then there's a plucky organ solo. The organ slows up and the singing returns. The song fades out with dreamy piano.

Black Cat - Soft plucky percussive instruments with a sneaky sound. Bells and flute. A soft wah along with soft mysterious singing from Phil Shulman. More sneaky sounds and singing again. Wah and violin. Plucky instruments, violin and cello. Percussion with rattle sound. Violin, then note bending. Pluckiness again and then dreamy sound. Singing returns and the music has some added cat meowing sounds before it fades out.

Plain Truth - Starts off with wah violin, which sounds like Jimi Hendrix. Drums, full music and powerful singing bursts in. Bass line, guitar enters, violin enters, sharp sound rising up, then singing returns. Bass and instruments tumble. More singing then settles down into a low violin. Soft bass comes in. Violin gets faster with a little wah, music builds and gets powerful again with vocals returning. Percussion and solo violin returns. Powerful sound comes back to close it out.

My favorite tracks are Pantagruel's Nativity and Black Cat. I give this album 4 stars because in a few songs there are segments that get a little lost. Overall album is very enjoyable and I highly recommend it. I'm looking forward to listening to more Gentle Giant albums.