GENTLE GIANT

The debut eponymous LP by this much admired band is a pretty strong by any standards but for me it seems they were still finding their way when they recorded it. The opening track "Giant" gets things off to a great start off with all guns blazing."Funny Ways" is another strong track and the only track which seemed to have found its way into their repertoire as the decade progressed.Lovely instrumentation with trumpets and violins in the background - all played by the band."Alucard" is genuinely creepy and bizarre and I must admit I love that big fat synth sound (a moog?)that dominates the sound. "Isn't it Cold and Quiet" is another pretty tune and features bassist Ray Schulman's pizzicato violin playing.Make no mistake-these guys were already wiping the floor musically speaking with a great majority of musicians collective arses at the time. "Nothing At All" is the one track I have the most problem with. I starts off really with that beautiful arpeggiated guitar riff and a beautiful vocal melody that reminds me of "Stairway to Heaven" In fact when I first heard the song I assumed they had been influenced by Led Zep until I did a quick recording date check and realized Gentle Giant's son was indeed recorded about a year before so hmmmm. The problem I have is the meandering I don't know what to call it - a musical break ? including an interminable drum solo and a bit of Lizt's Liebestraum thrown in for good measure before finally reprising the main vocal theme.But seriously -why can't they have just kept it as a reasonable length song without all that aimless dithering about? But I digress. The effectively last track ( I say effectvely because I usually stop before the rather pointless "The Queen"the actual closer) "Why Not is another engaging bluesy rocker but with a medieval tinged middle section complete with recorders that only Gentle Giant could possibly do and hinting at what they would do on later albums. In short - a strong debut but an album that really pales next to many of their later albums.

3.5 stars

Share this GENTLE GIANT review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Lupton
• Report this review (#2629154)
• Buy GENTLE GIANT music online with PA partners
• Show all GENTLE GIANT MP3/Stream
• Go to GENTLE GIANT page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Gentle Giant page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GENTLE GIANT related discussions