GIANT STEPS... THE FIRST FIVE YEARS 1970-1975

"Giant Steps?The First Five Years 1970-1975" is a compilation album of Gentle Giant and was released in 1975. This is a Vertigo compilation and, as the name indicates, this is a compilation with some of the tracks from their first six studio albums. So, it has tracks from their eponymous debut, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth albums, "Gentle Giant", "Acquiring The Taste", "Three Friends", "Octopus", "In A Glass House" and "The Power And The Glory", respectivelly.

"Giant Steps?The First Five Years 1970-1975" is a compilation with extensive linear notes including interviews with the band's members. The selection is a bit different from the selection on their compilation "Pretentious For The Sake Of It", released in 1977, despite both compilations are only focused on the same first six studio albums from Gentle Giant.

"Giant Steps?The First Five Years 1970-1975" has fifteen tracks. "Giant" is from "Gentle Giant". It's a classic Gentle Giant's song, very dynamic and creative. I love the way the guitar is played and the great keyboard work of Kerry Minnear. It represents one of the best moments on that album. "Alucard" is from "Gentle Giant". "Alucard" is, if you haven't noticed already, "Dracula" spelled in the backwards. It's an atypical song because is more a hard rock song. It's relatively complex and has interesting and good instrumental passages with disturbing vocals. "Nothing At All" is from "Gentle Giant". It's a surprising track. It's an atypical Gentle Giant's track that has practically everything we can expect from this band. It begins as a soft and nice acoustic ballad with some melancholic harmonies. Sudenly, it grows as a heavy rock song. Finally, the song ends, as initially, a soft and beautiful acoustic ballad. "Plain Truth" is from "Acquiring The Taste". It's a solid rock track with the typical Gentle Giant's guitar work and good vocal harmonies. It's probably the most accessible track on that album, the less complex and the most traditional. Still, it's a solid closer for that album. "Prologue" is from "Three Friends". It's a song that progresses nicely with great individualperformances, especially with great and strong keyboard riffs and an excellent bass line. It's one of the best songs on that album. "A Cry For Everyone" is from "Octopus". It's an energetic song with an excellent melody, stunning vocals, a great guitar riff and a great keyboard work. It became a legendary and classic Gentle Giants' song. "Why Not?" is from "Gentle Giant". It's a heavy rock song, a bit dark and frantic with some calm and nice passages. It has a clear influence of the medieval music. "Peel The Paint" is from "Three Friends". It's a track inspired by the classical music, in the beginning, that starts very slow and delicate, but that suddenly develops into a more intense and dense, with a heavy rock format. It has a heavy rock part that reminds me Deep Purple. "Mister Class And Quality?" is from "Three Friends". It's a good song. It's probably the simplest song on that album. It has a nice melody and some interesting musical breaks. It's a rock song, with some good moments, great keyboards, a good bass line and a good drum work. "River" is from "Octopus". It's a strange, melodic and fascinating track. It's a rock song that flows progressively by different themes. It's very experimental and uses a lot of studio effects like moving the sound from speaker to speaker. "The Face" is from "The Power And The Glory". It's a song with a great instrumental section. It's, probably the most spectacular and creative song on that album. It's a great example of the creative genius of the band. "The Runway" is from "In A Glass House". It has a surprising start where the band seems to break some glasses. It's a great melodic song with rich varieties of styles and textures. It's at the same time complex and creative. "The Power And The Glory" is from "The Power And The Glory". Still, it isn't an ordinary track of that album. It's a bonus track, only available on certain editions of that album. It wasn't originally released on that album because it wasn't written when the album was released. It's a good short song with the classic Gentle Giant's sound, but it's less complex than the typical works of them. "Playing The Game" is from "The Power And The Glory". It's a dynamic and relatively complex theme. It's a multi-faceted pure prog song, in the Gentle Giant's vein. "In A Glass House" is from "In A Glass House". It's an excellent composition with great harmony. The chorus performed by the four singers is of superior quality. It has also a hard rock section with a memorable guitar riff, in the second part of the song. This is a great track that closes magnificently that amazing album.

Conclusion: "Giant Steps?The First Five Years 1970-1975" is a good compilation of Gentle Giant. It covers songs from their first six studio albums, which is in general considered their golden musical era. In relation to the selection of tracks, I've nothing negative to say. The first six studio albums of Gentle Giant are so great that is indifferent the choice of the songs. Those are represented with four songs from "Gentle Giant", one song from "Acquiring The Taste", three songs from "Three Friends", two songs from "Octopus", two songs from "In A Glass House" and three songs from "The Power And The Glory". "Giant Steps?The First Five Years 1970-1975" represents what a compilation must be of a prog band. All songs are great, progressive and well representative of that musical era. I'm going to rate it with 3 stars.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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