ACQUIRING THE TASTE

At the early stages of their career Gentle Giant worked more as a studio band than a live act, focusing on writing material and developing further their style.In late-March 1971, after some live dates in the UK, the band plays outside the island for the first time in a 10-days tour next to Colloseum, mainly in West Germany.By their return they finished the recordings of their sophomore album ''Acquiring the taste'' at the Advision Studios in London.The album was released in mid-July for the UK market and a couple of weeks later marked the first ever US product for Gentle Giant, as the album was released in the USA on Mercury Records.

The hard work in the studio translated into a stunning, full-blown Progressive Rock album, where the bluesy and Classic Rock vibes of the previous release have totally evaporated and have given their place to a magnificent mix of Classical Music, Jazz and Folk, performed on rock instrumentation.The band has put up series of outstanding, extremely tight arrangements, where the mighty Mellotron meets the rural flutes, where the depressive strings meet the energy of electric guitars, where the dreamy horns meet the symphonic side of music.Moreover Gentle Giant have fully developed their genuine polyphonic harmonies with strong connections to the Medieval trobadours or the Gregorian chants.Musicianship is simply outstanding, passing from orchestral underlines with perfect use of analog keyboards and strings to jazzy interludes with horns and sax in evidence and folky soundscapes with emphasis on acoustic strings and flutes.Intelligent enough, the band never abandoned its rockin' roots and all tracks contain impressive drumming, throbbing bass lines and scratching electric guitar-power next to the familiar sound of the Hammond organ.The result was a shocking album, full of original ideas, complex structures and solid performances, all together mixed in incredible music arrangements.

No question, this is a Progressive Rock classic.Intricate, adventurous, delicate and genuine, worked carefully till' the last detail.Label this one as a masterpiece of music in general...4.5 stars upgraded.