THREE FRIENDS

Three Friends is one of those albums one gets out and listens to it once and it's just OK, and one listens to it a few more times, and it is as outstanding as any album of the genre. It's a tribute to this band that such a simple concept can produce such meaningful music ( no magic, Tolkein references, etc., just humanistic relationships). Anyhow, we all know that GG is all about music, and letting the music control the emotion, and not the opposite, and this album truly demonstrates that. Schooldays is one of my favorite Giant tunes, and I feel it has the strongest form of any of their songs. The shape of the song is just about perfect; not one dull or meaningless moment in the song. The use of simple "schooldays" musical cliches and developing them is simply genius. Peel the Paint has one of the best guitar/ drum solos of that time. Alot of people complain about the drumming on this album. It's much different than Weather's style, of course, which I think is the reason for the complaints. Mortimore's style is jazzier, and I feel it colors the sound of GG beautifully. If I have any complaint, some of the transitions on the songs are a little abrupt, but that's nitpicking. Perfectly blended vocals and exceptional instrumental playing (especially Minnear) mark this album.