CIVILIAN

I got a vinyl copy of this album from a friend who was lucky enough to buy a GG album I didn't already have. Normally I might have skipped on the last three GG albums because of the fact I already own the big GG8 (their first eight studio albums) and Playing the Fool Live. The reputation of the their last three effort is like that of the later Genesis albums: Great musicians who start to record pop-music in order to survive the ugly eighties. Some of the band-members didn't like the material at all and this album became the last Gentle Giant effort.

This record had not real surprises for me. There are six pop-songs and two interesting tracks for people who like progressive music. Some of the pop-songs are nice. Convenience (Clean And Easy) has some interesting parts and an up-tempo feel I like. Furthermore the fast key parts are interesting. Some other pop tracks are plain boring or too simple.

The two track that might be of interest to the fans of the early Gentle Giant period are Shadows on the Streets and Inside Out. The first one is a very gentle piano track that has a strong emotional feel and some beautiful musicianship. The latter of the two is an impressive atmospheric rock track with Queen-like vocal harmonies that give it a spacey feel. Both tracks are enjoyable at least.

Conclusion. This is pop-rock record. For it's genre it might be actually quit good, but for the fans this is a real pity. No complexity, no silly time signatures, no epics, little great musicianship and no experimentation can be found on the record. But then again, it's a nice pop-record. I'll give it two stars because of the two nice tracks it has. Recommended to curious hard-core fans and people who like crossover-prog.

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