THE MISSING PIECE

What a fitting title! And it can't be a coincidence that the ' missing piece ' happens to be part of the Gentle Giant puzzle's forehead. My guess is the band were self-aware that they had given their sound a total frontal lobotomy. I really don't mind when prog artists go 'pap' if they do it in a self respecting, inventive, or simply melodic way but this album really seems like a last ditch effort by GG to usher in some new (presumably AOR yuppie) fans and hopefully lotsa moolah too.

Sadly, they failed on all accounts to make his Frankenstein monster of an album a success. Not only had GG isolated their old fans who were lamenting the loss of all those 'tricky-dicky' signatures they used to cram in their tunes but "The Missing Piece" failed to break the top 50, much less the top 10 on the pop-slop charts. Poor poor buggers. Oh and chalk me up as a fan of their old stuff because personally, this music is frequently brain gaugingly lame. When handed the task of recording a group of simple 4/4 ballads and rockers, these modern classical composers probably scoffed at the task initially but then soon realized that pop songs aren't so easy to write after all, now are they all you hardcore proggies?

What we have here are some of the most perverted sounding and unattractive pop ditties that have ever passed through my ear canals. I mean this isn't even normal pop fare, this is smutz like POWER BALLADS, BOOGIE WOOGIE, and FUNK ROCK. An ace progressive rock band sinking to the level of the Bay City Rollers and Foreigner? Now that sounds like a brilliant comedy skit on Saterday Night Live, amiright? "I'm Turning Around" is a rocking ballad in the worst of Aerosmith traditions which includes a GIANT, GENERIC, SAPPY, SWEEPING CHORUS that will never cease to end once set in motion! First time I even checked to see if the my record had a skipping problem... that should explain enough about how much I utterly loath this song even despite it's decent verse melody. We also have some bad sleaze rock in the worst traditions of Bad Company with "Who Do You Think You Are?" Who do they think they are anyway, Steely Dan?

And unfortunately, if the music isn't totally contrived like the two atrocities I've mentioned above, the music they churn out is simply boring. Many of the songs on the second "progressive" side just totally pass me by. These anomalies include the gross flirtation between prog and disco ("Winning") and a third rate, half medieval, half AOR ditty that puts Kerry Minnear's only spot for his wonderful vocals to waste. ("As Old as You're Young".)

Thankfully, there is some good music too, so this album really isn't the biggest waste of time or money ever created. "Two Weeks in Spain" is excellent Euro-pop, with a hilariously bouncy theme that is simply fun to sing along to. I also find the universally hated "Mountain Time" to be a bit underrated with a nice riff and a cute lounge jazzy melody that resolves itself nicely. "I Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It" is a side-splittingly funny boogie/punk hybrid with Derek Shulman wailing all over the place and Gary Green catching some steam and playing a stunningly fast guitar solo. Lastly, "Memories of Old Days" is a PROG masterpiece with a great atmosphere conjured up by waves of heavenly acoustic guitar riffs and a real majestic, stately feel in the chorus. So, yea, there are means of redemption for this wretched album too.

In the end, "Missing Piece" is a real mixed bag of nastiness and boredom with some fun, catchy stuff. This isn't a bad album or anything, but it's completely unnecessary in the grand scheme of all things Gentle Giant. Stick to the classics until you buy 'em all up and you start to thirst for more GG. Just handle this one a bit more warily and I think you'll be ok.

Album Grade: C