THREE FRIENDS

Very typical of the eclectic Gentle Giant, their conceptualised work "Three Friends" (1972), third in the band's discography, has nothing to do with the fantastical or legendary patterns of their contemporary colleagues, there are no cosmic preachers or battles in the forests of Epping and even less topographical oceans to discover, it is the common journey through the lives of three childhood friends who travel their own path in opposite vectors and who meet again to review them.

Both the introductory and lively "Prologue", dominated by the instrumental variations of Kerry Minnear's mellotrons and hammonds backed by Ray's bass and Phil's interesting vocal developments, and the sleepy "Schooldays" and Minnear's final vibraphone solo supported by the incessant hit-hat of percussionist Malcolm Mortimore, describe in jazz mode the childhood of the three characters and their promises of eternal friendship, which the passage of time dilutes.

The approach hardens musically with the description of each of the friends: the resentful worker in "Working All Day" with Derek Shulman's gravely singing, Phil's sax and Minnear's hammond solo, the gritty artist in "Peel the Paint" with Ray Shulman's violins giving way to a frenetic and very bluesy guitar solo by Gary Green (surely the best piece on the album), and the arrogant businessman in "Mister Class and Quality?"'with Minnear once again taking centre stage with his arsenal of keyboards backing up another guitar solo from Green.

The work concludes with the song "Three Friends", with a choral melody of baroque and medieval airs, dissolving in the melancholic aroma of past times that will never return.

Less complex in its structures than its predecessor "Acquiring the Taste", although equally eclectic and academic, "Three Friends" did not achieve outstanding commercial success at the time. The passing of the years, as is often the case, has placed it in a position more in line with its outstanding contribution to the progressive genre.

Very good.

4 stars