FREE HAND

The first three songs on this album, Just The Same, On Reflection and Free Hand, all rank as some of the best songs Gentle Giant have ever recorded. It's too bad that the remainder of the album, the songs that made up side two of the vinyl LP, don't fare quite as well. While these four songs are not bad, they don't achieve the greatness that the side 1 songs have. Otherwise this album would have ranked five stars from me.

The first three songs are full of the complexity of structure that makes the best Gentle Giant a true wonder to linen to. The vocal arrangements are like no other band's, the instumental arrangements are a pieced together like a puzzle, and everything falls into place perfectly.

The second half, while having much of those same qualities, sounds rushed, and less intense than the preceding songs. Again, not bad, but none are high up on my play list.