ACQUIRING THE TASTE

Rarely a band, especially a band such as Gentle Giant, is able to create an album that can truly change you. This second album of the band can be very easily considered one of the best prog rock album ever made, a masterpiece of rock music that is very, sadly underrated. In fact, "Acquiring The Taste" has to be in my opinion considered one of the greats of progressive, like "Dark Side Of The Moon", Selling England By The Pound", or "Close To The Edge".

While the first, impressive debut was just a naïve, courageous but not too quirky attempt to approach to new musical horizons, this second album is a perfect definition of experimental music, a master work that has no defect whatsoever, and can be compared only to a few albums. Dark, strange, mysterious, bizarre, epic, triumphant, "Acquiring The Taste" has a much wider set of influences, much more than the debut; from classical music, Gregorian Chants, improvisation, jazz, to medieval folk music, hard rock tastes, blues feelings, experimental music, and even some orchestral approaches (especially in the ryhtmic section). This is all thanks to the musicians, who had already proven themselves even with the debut, reaching their highest peak here. Only in the semi masterpiece "In a Glass House", or in "Free Hand", the band will be this good.

"Acquiring The Taste" is a portrait of a small town, quiet, but unnervingly tensed, weakly illuminated by a dawn sun. A mystic, cerebral, poetic tale, where all the songs flow like the chapters of a book, each song telling thousands of stories, all equally fascinating and intriguing.

From "Pantagruel's Nativity" to "Plain Truth", all of them are unpredictable, fascinating and truly masterful. The creepy and eerie "Edge Of Twilight", the alarmed "The House, The Street, The Room", to then the furtive sounds of "Black Cat", the calm, relaxed mellotron of "The Moon Is Down", or the already mentioned "Pantagruel's Nativity", all of them an essential listening.

An album that rarely finds comparison, like I previously said, an absolute masterpiece that ought to have more recognition.