THE POWER AND THE GLORY

The Giant's most complex work and one that epitomizes Art-Rock(or as the cats at progarchives call it: Eclectic Prog). It's a VERY, VERY COMPLEX AND DEEP recording that has so much going on that it takes countless listens to fully appreciate. On this effort GG went further into dissonance than on any other record and the result was an Art-Rock masterpiece.

The second cut on the album, So Sincere, is one of the genre's most technical and complex works. IMO, this cut surpases King Crimson's most challenging pieces by a long shot(ie. Larks' Tongues in Aspic Part I). Unlike KC's most eclectic work this GG composition actually makes sense and is musical. So Sincere would serve as a case study of how to use dissonance to make music that is complex, challenging yet tolerable and listenable. Not just a mish-mash of abrasive, offensive tones for the sake of creating art- rock.

The reason this record is typically rated lower than Free Hand and In A Glass House has to do with the vocals. Derek Shulman streched the boundaries of his voice to a point that makes the record a bit of a difficult listen. Don't get me wrong; the vocals aren't bad, in fact, they are over all pretty good. Just a bit over the top in some places. When I listen to this record I try to think of the voice as yet another instrument in the mix, rather than a voice that's telling the story line. If approached from that angle I believe the music makes more sense and is a lot more congruent. Perhaps a bit more reverb on the voices, putting them further back in the mix, would have made for a better recording. At times the vocals are right up in your face, wich make them overly prominent.

That being said, and vocals aside, this is easily a FIVE STAR effort by The Giant based on the music alone. It's one of the most challenging and complex recordings in the history of progressive music.