I cannot stand Gentle Giant

Their use of counterpoint, syncopation, and melody - often simultaneously - sounds like cacophony to most people. Perhaps I got lucky starting with Gorguts and Captain Beefheart; my ears were plenty in shape for the Giant then!

 

 

I have nothing but the most intense pity for you

 

It's a shame ... if anything within the first 5 or 6 GG albums, is a bunch of facts that you will never give attention to or some credit for their inventiveness.

1. Gary Green has been on record, specifying that in the early days, they never wrote anything down ... they just played. So the next time you listen, recognize that this is NOT ABOUT A SONG, but whatever comes out in the music ... similar to Gayle Ebbett specifying in his band that they might start with an A or a B, but will likely end up with a X, or Z ... which means, in case you don't know, that this is about the feel and the sound of the music ... not what you want ... you want hits ... GG is not for you, and many of us here will probably say bad things like ... good riddance! I would rather try to explain this for you, if you have the ears for it, but the music is throwing you off already ... and I doubt that any of our words will help!

2. The incredible musicianship of each member of the band, ought to at the very least, allow you an inch or two of ... yeah ... that's really good and tight ... and they were better in concert, even though most of the videos if it all have sync issues, and sound awful ... which doesn't help the band a whole lot. The show I got to see, their encore was 25 to 30 minutes long, and in that time all 6 band members played all instruments ... all 6 played drums, bass, guitar ... you name it ... so, when it comes to musicianship, I seriously doubt many bands can even stand up to the socks in these guys.

3. I have my doubts that you have actually listened to GG ... you played a few seconds, it didn't click and you tried another spot, same thing, and you decided it's not for you. You will NEVER, EVER, get an appreciation for a lot of the music in the 20th century, almost all of which was anti-melody and used a broken down orchestra (that too, but it means different combinations, not the usual!) to create different moods and ideas in music ... witness BERNARD HERRMAN and how his different use of an orchestra created some amazing sounds for so many fantasy films in the 50's and eventually many of the films for Hitchcock ... however, I am not sure that you can even consider a good listen to these things ... in some cases, the music is down right scary and weird ... and you already specified that's not your click. You want your metal, melodic, and not "anti-music".

4. Music listening, and appreciation, required one let go of ideas and tastes. If you study (take a music appreciation course in school!) some of this for the last 500 years, you will find nothing but the development of music from 2 or 3 instruments, to 150 and then the deconstruction of an orchestra to various weird combinations, that were most clear and represented with Stokowsky, who used to microphone special sections of the orchestra, in order to give that section a wider/larger role in its piece. It was perfect for a few films, and specially FANTASIA. 

5. At the time, there was a lot of "anti-film" (French, started in the 50's probably with Godard), "anti-theater" (English and American, with actors controlling the highlights ... think Stellllllllllllllllaaaaa (Brando) or Olivier doing his words of Shakespeare, making a set of words more important than the whole play!), "anti-literature" as exemplified by a lot of writers doing significantly different things, and the Americans probably had a lot to say bout that, but the French scene was also important.

The "anti-music" was more centered on the classical de-construction of music and it sounding weird and off beat and specially off key. It created a lot of strange things, in England and France ... many of which are now considered historical, since the folks involved were not exactly street urchins, but really well educated musicians that DID KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING!

The thing that bothers me the most is how far behind the rock music scene was compared to many of these ... we're talking anywhere from 10 to 20 years ... and of course, now we could say that many listeners, some 50 or 60 years later, have made this even worse.

I, myself, am not the great GG fan ... but I have their first 7 albums ... because the musicianship of it all makes 5 or 6 of the bands in PA's top ten sound like high school bands! With the simplistic of music and sound possible being considered "important" ... which if 500 years of history is an example ... that's backwards!

have some heart ... do some serious listening ... it's not crap ... but really special stuff and the only one of its kind. many have tried to copy it and pay tribute to it ... but if you don't have it inside your heart and at the tip of your fingers, the copy just will not be as good. I don't dislike SB, but I would not put it in the same sentence as GG, either ... they did not grow up to be a special band on their own ... they grew up to love other bands ... how social and American this is ... you try to make sure that the fans love you and they think you are cool. Sorry SB ... I have GG in my collection, not SB (only 2 CD's!).

I believe he was addressing the OP not you personally.