PRETENTIOUS FOR THE SAKE OF IT

"Pretentious For The Sake Of It" is a compilation album from Gentle Giant which was released in 1977. This is a Vertigo compilation that includes tracks released on their first six studio albums. So, it has tracks from their eponymous debut, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth albums, "Gentle Giant" of 1970, "Acquiring The Taste" of 1971, "Three Friends" of 1972, "Octopus" of 1972, "In A Glass House" of 1973 and "The Power And The Glory" of 1974, respectivelly.

"Pretentious For The Sake Of It" is similar to "Giant Steps?The First Five Years 1970-1975", released two years before. Still, the selection of the songs is a bit different, despite both are focused on the same first six studio albums of them.

"Pretentious For The Sake Of It" has fourteen tracks. "Nothing At All" is from "Gentle Giant". It's an atypical Gentle Giant's track that has everything we can expect from this band. It begins as a soft and nice acoustic ballad with some melancholic harmonies. It grows as a heavy rock song. The song ends, as initially, as a soft beautiful acoustic ballad. "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 an influence of the medieval music. "Edge Of Twilight" is from "Acquiring The Taste". It's one of the most avant-garde tracks on that album. It's a dark music with a short vocal line, nice to hear and with a good explorative musical work. "Schooldays" is from "Three Friends". It's a nice track with experimental vocal and musical passages. It's a song with the use of several musical instruments at the same time. It has a beautiful piano work. It represents one of the best performances of Kerry Minnear. Phil Shulman sings wonderfully doing one of his best vocal moments in the group. "Pantagruel's Nativity" is from "Acquiring The Taste". It's one of my favourite tracks on that album. It became a classic Gentle Giant's track. It's a song with a nice melody. It has beautiful keyboards well combined with a powerful and great guitar work. What is most impressive here is the use of so many instruments such as saxes, vibraphone, celesta, harpsichord, tympani, trumpet, clarinet, in only one song. "The Adventure Of Panurge" is from "Octopus". It's a track influenced by jazz, full of energy, with varied melodies and different singing styles. It's apparently a chaotic song where all instruments seem to be played in different directions. What is most impressive is that in the end we have a song with an excellent harmony. "Raconteur Troubadour" is from "Octopus". It's a track with some medieval influences, although it explores different types of music. It's a song where the violins and cellos reign and guide the music. It's a song with great vocals and it's well supported by an excellent keyboard work. "Knots" is from "Octopus". It's the less accessible track on that album and is one of the most complex and intricate songs by them. It's an avant-garde song that explores a cappella, by the four vocalists of the band. This song is a perfect example how great and astonishing is the vocal work of this band. It's difficult to hear, but it's a great piece of music. "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. "An Inmate's Lullaby" is from "In A Glass House". It's an avant-garde strange song especially performed by drums, xylophone and vocals. It's probably the most experimental song on that album. It isn't particularly melodic and we need some time to be used to it. "Proclamation" is from "The Power And The Glory". It's one of the two lengthiest tracks on that album and it's a brilliant opening track. It's a song with the typical Gentle Giant's relatively complex musical arrangements, with great melody. This is one of my favourite themes from them. "So Sincere" is from "The Power And The Glory". It's a complex and dissonant song. It's an experimental and avant-garde song with some jazz influences. We may be able to say that is a rather exquisite song. "Cogs In Cogs" is from "The Power And The Glory". It's the smallest track on that album. It's an excellent heartfelt ballad quiet and with complex multi-part vocal harmonies. It's a track with an intricate orchestral arrangement. "Valedictory" is from "The Power And The Glory". It's the reprise of the the first song on that album. It's a more rock version, heavy, dissonant, and a bit darker than "Proclamation". This isn't surprising, because its lyrics reflect the opposite idea of that song.

Conclusion: This is another good compilation of Gentle Giant. It covers songs from their first six studio albums, which comprising their golden musical era. The selection of the tracks is good. Still, the first six studio albums of Gentle Giant are so great that is indifferent the selection of the songs. Those albums are all great and well representatives. From "Gentle Giant" we have two songs, from "Acquiring The Taste" two songs, from "Three Friends" one song, from "Octopus" three songs, from "In A Glass House" two songs and from "The Power And The Glory" four songs. It has all what a compilation of them must have. However, I need to write something about the name of this compilation. Its name represents the proof of the great humour of Gentle Giant. Many of us know that Gentle Giant's music was often wrongly referred too much elitist and pretentious. So, its title is a statement to all who called their music too much pretentious.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

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