THE MISSING PIECE

My initial reaction when I listened to this album was "My god, this is udder you-know-what. Nothing like the old Giant." The latter is pretty much true. Gentle Giant have given up being anti-establishment in an attempt to sell lots of records be big stars like Genesis. But today I decided a reassessment was in order.

The album starts with "Two Weeks in Spain" which is about office business trips. I don't really like it, but man is it catchy. Most of these songs are. In fact, a lot of these songs sound like prototypes for the bad 80's music, like "I'm Turning Around", which is a bit similar to Genesis, and "Winning", which sounds like Huey Lewis and the News (they weren't around yet, I know. Coincidentally, they were also signed to Chrysalis Records!). "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It" is a punk rock pastiche (with a keyboard solo! *GASP*) about how they made the transition to 4/4 pop songs in order to survive. This album is quite the potpourri of styles. "Mountain Time" sounds like blues rock! In my opinion, the only songs on this album that sound remotely like the old band are "As Old As You're Young", "Memories of Old Days", and "For Nobody". In fact, I think "As Old As You're Young" is the best track on the album. These songs shine like diamonds in the waste.

Overall, I liked this album a bit better than when I first heard it. For the true Gentle Giant fan however, stick with their first eight LPs. This band is probably best approached chronologically, because they modify their sound in interesting ways from album to album; after Interview they start to decline. But there are some okay songs on this. Probably for the casual fan.