ACQUIRING THE TASTE

If Gentle Giant (the album) was a very good, unique and strong start, and still you can pick up some of their early influences, then Acquiring The Taste is totally original (or almost). Certainly the band made no concessions to commercialism or fashions at all. Those intricated harmonies, shifting moods, sudden tempo changes, creative instrumentation and absolute awesome vocal arrangements put the band in a league of their own. The music could be as dense and chaotic as so many groups that have decided to sound differently, no matter the costs. Unlike most of them, though, GG came up with a coherent whole. Their tunes may be very complicated, but still they are enjoyable to the ear.

One of the reasons they succeed where so many others have faiked (before and after) may be the fact they were really creative, skilled and inspired players and songwriters. The chemistry between those guys is one of those rare case when all the members are parts of a very whole: even if each one of them is a virtuoso, none seems to overshadow the others. Besides, they actually come up with SONGS, not a mere bunch of notes and nonsense lyrics. Unlike so many peers, GG knew when to be simple (Yes! I said simple in the case of a GG album!).

Production is only adequate (although the mix seems to be right). Highlights are many since the CD has no fillers, but the very progressive The Moon Is Down and the light Black Cat are both personal favorites. Pantagruel's Nativity and The House, The Street, The Room are the most well known songs from this CD, and are also very good.

Even if Acquiring The Taste is not their best and probably their least accessible, the music inside is powerful, interesting and, if you listened with atention, very rewarding. Maybe a little too intricated for the newbie, it is nevertheless one of the classic GG albums every proghead should own. Talk about originality!