THE MISSING PIECE

The Missing Piece marks a change in the Gentle Giant sound. The songs here are not as thoroughly thought out as on previous releases, making this album far simpler in sound and influences. By this time, Gentle Giant had decided to try writing music with more of a pop edge to appeal more to fans of pop music and to gain more play on radio. This change in direction didn't really work well at all, and really sounds uninspired. The songs ultimately sound like boring and slightly quirk pop-rock. Better than most pop-rock, but still within the same realm. The medieval instrumentation is nearly completely gone by this point, and none of the musicianship really sticks out. Though this isn't terrible music, it certainly doesn't live up the Gentle Giant's earlier music. Unfortunately, this sound would go on to get worse in subsequent releases.