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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 13:35
The first GG I heard was Nothing at All and I was absolutely floored by it. Its very true to say that pracitcally everyone one of their albums is a masterpiece (at least from the 70s). I personally recommend Octopus to start but In A Glass House is just as good.

That haunting bass on Advent of Panurge is AMAZING.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 13:04

Originally posted by Trouserpress Trouserpress wrote:

Originally posted by FishyMonkey FishyMonkey wrote:

I love GG, but they don't do anything spectacular for me..at least not on In a Glass House. Like I said in my review of that album, it's just good prog, nothing more, nothing less. It's creative, good songwriting, great usage of instruments, but there's nothing on In a Glass House that distinguishes it from other great bands.


Except a unique approach to arrangements, pushing the envelope by recording a song with just vocals and tuned percussion, mind-blowingly tight performances and a general sense of sheer craftmanship. Oh, and very memorable tunes.

Yeah, nothing special about that album at all, is there?

FishyMonkey, listen to the GG over and over and evetually it'll click and you'll go This is (one of) the greatest bands ever.

Glass House is a masterpiece.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 13:02
Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

Besides, in the case of Gentle Giant the bonus is a LIVE bonus, and I never heard them live before. I'm curious about that too. 


Live Gentle Giant is amazing. Utterly amazing. Get Playing the Fool and Giant on the Box asap and enjoy some of the most powerful, mind-boggling and entertaining live prog you will ever see/hear!

...IMO, obviously.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 13:00
Originally posted by FishyMonkey FishyMonkey wrote:

I love GG, but they don't do anything spectacular for me..at least not on In a Glass House. Like I said in my review of that album, it's just good prog, nothing more, nothing less. It's creative, good songwriting, great usage of instruments, but there's nothing on In a Glass House that distinguishes it from other great bands.


Except a unique approach to arrangements, pushing the envelope by recording a song with just vocals and tuned percussion, mind-blowingly tight performances and a general sense of sheer craftmanship. Oh, and very memorable tunes.

Yeah, nothing special about that album at all, is there?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 12:59

3 Friends, In A Glass House and Octopus...former 2 are particularly great...

Can't wait to here more!

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 12:46
I love GG, but they don't do anything spectacular for me..at least not on In a Glass House. Like I said in my review of that album, it's just good prog, nothing more, nothing less. It's creative, good songwriting, great usage of instruments, but there's nothing on In a Glass House that distinguishes it from other great bands.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 12:34
Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

Originally posted by Trouserpress Trouserpress wrote:

Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

I love Acquiring The Taste and Octopus, and I think Three Friends is very good too.

I just bought In A Glass House yesterday at an Internet shop, bonus tracks and all (together with Focus' Hamburger Concerto and Caravan's In The Land Of Grey And Pink), and I'm excited because I expect it to be very good.



Cor! Three of my favourite albums! Nice work, Moogy!

I must say I'm proud of myself too for having such a good taste . Really looking forward to hearing them. I hope I'll get them soon. I took the Gentle Giant and Caravan versions with bonus tracks. I used to buy the cheapest versions of albums, but I don't do that anymore. I don't want to be sorry afterwards, and I have heard too many cd's with great bonus tracks, so...

 

yes all three are matserpieces, Especially the focus one.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 12:32

Originally posted by Trouserpress Trouserpress wrote:

In a Glass House is the one to start with but every album from Gentle Giant to Interview is a masterpiece.

...I'm a little hurt by your Genesis comparison though!

Gentle Giant wished they were Genesis, at least 77-80 they are proof that maiking strong pop like Genesis is not as easy as it appears.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 12:10
Besides, in the case of Gentle Giant the bonus is a LIVE bonus, and I never heard them live before. I'm curious about that too. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 12:04
Originally posted by Trouserpress Trouserpress wrote:

Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

I love Acquiring The Taste and Octopus, and I think Three Friends is very good too.

I just bought In A Glass House yesterday at an Internet shop, bonus tracks and all (together with Focus' Hamburger Concerto and Caravan's In The Land Of Grey And Pink), and I'm excited because I expect it to be very good.



Cor! Three of my favourite albums! Nice work, Moogy!

I must say I'm proud of myself too for having such a good taste . Really looking forward to hearing them. I hope I'll get them soon. I took the Gentle Giant and Caravan versions with bonus tracks. I used to buy the cheapest versions of albums, but I don't do that anymore. I don't want to be sorry afterwards, and I have heard too many cd's with great bonus tracks, so...

 

 

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 10:19
Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

Originally posted by felona felona wrote:

Be warned .. you may also find their songs get stuck in your head ... I had "Free Hand" going around my head for ages ... there's something about their melodies which seem to  dig deep into the brain ... ... does anyone else think so too?

Yes, for me Pantagruel's Nativity, Black Cat and Raconteur Troubadour. No bad tunes to have in one's head  .



Ooh yeah, Gentle Giant songs are HIGHLY catchy. One of my favourite things about them is how despite being very complex and odd their work was still very memorable and brilliant to sing along to! They're full of little contradictions like that, another example being that they never "show off" and spend hours soloing despite being masters at it.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 10:15
Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

I love Acquiring The Taste and Octopus, and I think Three Friends is very good too.

I just bought In A Glass House yesterday at an Internet shop, bonus tracks and all (together with Focus' Hamburger Concerto and Caravan's In The Land Of Grey And Pink), and I'm excited because I expect it to be very good.



Cor! Three of my favourite albums! Nice work, Moogy!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:45
Originally posted by felona felona wrote:

Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

I love Acquiring The Taste and Octopus, and I think Three Friends is very good too.

I just bought In A Glass House yesterday at an Internet shop, bonus tracks and all (together with Focus' Hamburger Concerto and Caravan's In The Land Of Grey And Pink), and I'm excited because I expect it to be very good.

I have the Caravan  ... its very good & so very "english" ... Golf Girl is sooo sweet!   Please let me know how the Focus one goes ... I was wondering about getting that one ....

I'll let you know! I really like Moving Waves and Focus III. My rock encyclopedia wasn't overly excited about later albums, but on ProgArchives a lot of people were really excited about the Hamburger Concerto so I thought: I can't go wrong with that one.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:30
I say Octopus and Free Hand are their best works, but you can't put a foot wrong until around 'Interview', which isn't bad but not a patch on their earlier work. From then on, they sailed dangerously close to AOR.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:26
Originally posted by Moogtron III Moogtron III wrote:

I love Acquiring The Taste and Octopus, and I think Three Friends is very good too.

I just bought In A Glass House yesterday at an Internet shop, bonus tracks and all (together with Focus' Hamburger Concerto and Caravan's In The Land Of Grey And Pink), and I'm excited because I expect it to be very good.

I have the Caravan  ... its very good & so very "english" ... Golf Girl is sooo sweet!   Please let me know how the Focus one goes ... I was wondering about getting that one ....

I was never really sure what I was waiting for. When the moment came I was looking away ......
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:26
Octopus. Just listen to Knots. The title says it all. Very knotty voices.


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:23
Originally posted by felona felona wrote:

Be warned .. you may also find their songs get stuck in your head ... I had "Free Hand" going around my head for ages ... there's something about their melodies which seem to  dig deep into the brain ... ... does anyone else think so too?

Yes, for me Pantagruel's Nativity, Black Cat and Raconteur Troubadour. No bad tunes to have in one's head  .

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:18

Another  question ... what albums are best to get  if I really enjoy the type of harmonies & melodies such as "In Reflection" and "three friends" tracks? 

I was never really sure what I was waiting for. When the moment came I was looking away ......
The Church "After Everything Now This"
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:15

I have recently Acquired the Taste for  this wonderfully playful, funky group ... I have Glass House, Free Hand, Octopus, Three Friends with Acquiring the taste  & Power & Glory on their way... then Interview when the problems are corrected (see below)

. My fave track so far is "On Reflection" from Free Hand  - gorgeous harmonies - but the faves keep changing because there's so much complexity to take in at once ... you'll find more to discover  with each listen.

Be warned .. you may also find their songs get stuck in your head ... I had "Free Hand" going around my head for ages ... there's something about their melodies which seem to  dig deep into the brain ... ... does anyone else think so too?

Has anyone bought the defective remastered Interview disc ? ... apparently it was mastered in mono by mistake  

I was never really sure what I was waiting for. When the moment came I was looking away ......
The Church "After Everything Now This"
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 08 2005 at 09:03
In a Glass House is probably the best starting point if you liked the tracks on this site, then get Octopus and Free Hand
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