FREE HAND

Free Hand is Gentle Giant's 7th studio album in my opinion the best up to date. The album is Gentle Giant in their peak, with a perfect line-up and a perfect tracklist.

The album starts with one of GG's most famous pieces, Just the Same. Finger snaps? Gentle Giant is known for their odd album beginnings, I mean, The Runaway much? Kerry enters with his piano and the first thing you can think of is The Power and the Glory's Proclamation. Thinking that the verse is in 4/4 is just insane! Most of the times people will compare what the song sounds like, but Gentle Giant sounds like nothing ever heard before, they've invented a genre, and that genre is called, Really Effing Progressive Rock!

On Reflection starts with its famous vocal polymeter: "In my way did I use you, do you think that I really abused you, on reflection now, it doesn't matter." How can you say that this is nothing short than perfect? This is my favourite in the whole Gentle Giant catalogue and I doubt that it will ever change, but go figure, things can change!

Free Hand's opening piano is a pretty well known song opening in the prog world, but then, everything fades away, and Kerry Minnear's clavinet enters with the super famous line? Pum pa pow, paloopa decku pow, pa pa palalala tiki tew daku pow, and BOOM, the song starts. "Now that my hands are free, from the ties, from the ties."

Time to Kill is, once again, a song that is special in its own unique way. Ticking clocks explode into good old Gentle Giant riffs in GG's good old 9/4ths time signature!

I won't review every song, and it is hard for me as this is in my opinion the world's most perfect album, but if that's what my readers want, that's what I'll give!

To sum it up in as few words as possible, Free Hand is a masterpiece, an album that can't be recreated, no matter how hard you try. An album of which no song could be covered perfectly, with every instrument and every note. An album that should be learnt from! An awesome part of Gentle Giant's AWESOME catalogue, and an essential addition to any Really Effing Progressive Rock music collection!

So, 5/5 for being a Gentle Giant album and being perfect.

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