THE POWER AND THE GLORY

Gentle Giant's The Power And The Glory is a strong tour the force of relative short songs that all have their own sound pallet. By this time the band stopped renewing itself ground up, but in stead builds further on the sound established on Octopus and Free Hand. There little left from the psychedelic influences of the first three records, in stead the band focuses on its complex staccato motifs of the many instruments that work beautifully together. Furthermore, the band still manages to never write the same song twice. The sound of album is great and to be honest, I think Steven Wilson could do little to enhance the quality of the original vinyl. Songs like the odd 'So Sincere' with its broken rhythms and down spiraling refrains and the high-tempo prog party 'Cogs in Cogs' are among fan favorites. I myself also love the opener with is playful piano groves and impressive middle section with a heavy riffs and multi-layered vocals that seems to particularly dissonant and challenging for the ear. On 'No God's a Man' the band shows itself to be a master of cadence in odd time signatures. As with most Gentle Giant albums this album won't really have a layer of depth that touches your soul, but its extremely uplifting and exciting in its own playful way.