10cc

Hammar - As GG are my faves as well...  what by them don't you like?  And Minnear's voice is heavenly! 

Sir Jim Garten - Maani is weird, so definitely do not buy their first album, "Gentle Giant" first.  Not all bands emerged fully formed, so to speak, with Yes and GG being prime examples.  If you want a history lesson, that's one thing... but if you want to get straight to the goods, well:

Octopus is the "standard starter" for the band, sort of like Yes' Fragile.  It contains mostly short nuggets that show off all the band's talents, and people typically respond well to it after a few listens.  The song "Knots" is an absolute masterpiece and is probably the track Danbo is being impressed by, choir-wise.  However, this album is also one of the least representative of the rest of their catalog.  In A Glass House is possibly most widely acknowledged as their high water-mark, and for good reason, so you could do no wrong in picking that one up either.  I would liken it to the status Close to the Edge has garnered.

Their most experimental album is, for my money, The Power and the Glory.  If you want to dive head first into their most brain-boggling stuff, this is the place. 

Possibly my favorite GG album is Free Hand.  This surprises a lot of people, because it is considered their most melodic and accessible album, but, musically speaking, I would say it displays them at the height of their powers.  "On Reflection" is, hands down, the most complex vocal arrangement in all of rock music!  And I will firmly stand by the title track "Free Hand" as one of the ultimate prog numbers of all time.  Complex and beautiful beyond all belief.  The following album Interview is their final masterwork, and contains a broad mix of all sides of their musical personality -- some of their most shamelessly experimental stuff, and also some of their most listenable.  And if you like grinding organ riffs the lead-off track has one of my all-time faves!

All the above albums I've listed in chronological order, but I didn't mention their first three releases, Gentle Giant, Acquiring the Taste, and Three Friends.  Like others have said, these albums are all actually equal to their later achievements, but of the three, the only one I would recommend as a possible first purchase is Three Friends.  If you want perhaps the most "easy" entry point to the band's oeuvre, this is the place.  It is melodic, relatively gentle, and honed like a shining jewel... I don't think it has ever let anyone down.  A concept album, to boot.

...

I guess that's not exactly a clear answer to your question!  Basically, I would say you will not be disappointed with any of the following of their core albums first: Three Friends, Octopus, In A Glass House, Power and the Glory, and Free Hand.

"Corbet, just PICK ONE!"

Okay!!  Well, considering earlier on this thread you recommended Brain Salad Surgery as a starter for one of our fellow progheads, and I know you like King Crimson... I'll follow your lead and say, DAMN THE TORPEDOS,

THE POWER AND THE GLORY!

...

I love this band.

Happy listening!

Corbet:

"Weird?"  Did you call me "weird?"  Them's fightin' words, pal!  (Or, at least, a fighting word...)

Radioactive Toy: Corbet is apparently two beers short of a six-pack...

Gentle Giant's first album is one of the best debut albums by any band, especially given the kind of music they play.  Indeed, I have always thought that Gentle Giant "sprang full-grown from the head of Zeus."  (In case you don't know, according to the Greek myth, the Goddess Athena literally sprang full-grown from Zeus' head.)  This is not to say that GG did not progress.  And if you read my review of Acquiring the Taste, you will see that I agree somewhat with Hammar - though it is because Acquiring the Taste is a "transition" album that I did not suggest it.

In A Glass House is almost unarguably GG's most accomplished album overall.  After that would come Octopus and Power and the Glory.  Ultimately, Corbet and I agree that you simply can't go wrong with any GG album.

That said, I'm getting worried about all the chuckleheads on these forums...

Peace.

Weird is wonderful!

Actually, I agree with both you dudes, that Acquiring is a total gem... I get odd looks from people when "Wreck" comes on, though.

And as far as The Missing Piece is concerned... I actually love that album quite a bit.  It pissed me off the first time I heard it (I almost threw it out the window), but, once I got over myself, I found it quite rewarding.  Side 2 is PERFECT all the way through, and the first side is really "fun!"

And, go ahead and throw stones at me, but I think Civilian is awesome.  Angry, rocking 80's Giant??  Like, fer sure!

Spread the gospel, my friends.

By the way, guys, uh....mmmm....how did this thread get from 10CC to GG? 

Maybe we should just start a GG thread, huh?

Peace.

I never thought I would comment Gentle Giant records from after 1977, but as this thread was originated as a 10cc discussion, no harm can be done (sorry all 10cc-lovers).

As Civilian is a huge step forward from Giant for a Day, I really want this album to be good, but I can't. Sorry. One can hear that they really try, but it's just, i don't know..., so desperate. Ok, I agree with Maani, Inside Out is nice. And Giant for a day is terrible, I laugh everytime I hear Spooky Boogie though (not that it is funny, except for the title).

No! Give me Cogs in Cogs or The Boys In the Band and I will cry of happiness...

...and yes, we should discuss this in another thread!! (how did 10cc get that popular???)

Back to the original question ''Are 10cc Prog?''. My answer -No, but they are a very good pop group.I even went out of the way to buy a compilation of them once.What do think of the lyrics on the song 'Art For Arts Sake'? It could almost be a dig at prog rock! 

BTW If we are creating sub-genre's of prog then how about ''Punk Prog''.I would put The Stranglers in there.'Nice n Sleazy' has a great Moog solo!

Jim:

I take no blame if you find ATT a little bit "difficult," since it is a "transitional" album on which there is a great deal of experimentation (I would not have recommended it as one of the first two).  Although its wonderfulness may not exactly be limited to GG fanatics, it can be an...acquired taste.  Do all of us GG fans a favor and listen to Octopus first.  It is probably more "radical" than ATT in some ways.  However, it is paradoxically also "easier" to listen to.

Have fun!

DAMN THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU..

I LOVE GENTLE GIANT..

There are sooooo many bands that would fall under this umbrella of "prog-pop".  I'm not a big fan of 10cc but XTC has always seemed to me totally overlooked for the compositional skills.

The issue I see is where to draw the line?  You have a band like A.C.T(not complaining, I love them, but they aren't very prog) on the site, but not Queen?  Do we go as far as someone like Toad the Wet Sprocket?  I mean they are just as much slanted pop as 10cc or XTC.  But, they write a lot of pop-rock songs just like 10cc and XTC.

To me though, this is just like the metal-prog that already is on the site.  99% of it isn't prog at all, at least not by any definition that I grew up thinking "prog" was.  I seriously think that Queen is 20 times more prog than say Opeth if we extend the boundaries.