GENTLE GIANT

1970 was a pioneer prog year and Gentle Giant were progenitors of the style. The members at the time became legendary over time; Gary Green on lead guitar, 12 string guitar, Kerry Minnear on keyboard, some bass, cello, lead vocals, backing vocals, some tuned percussion, Derek Shulman on lead vocals, backing vocals, some bass, Phil Shulman on sax, trumpet, recorder, lead vocals, Ray Shulman on most bass, violin, some guitar, percussion, and Martin Smith on drums. The band reached higher heights on albums to come but this is a start in the right direction.

Gentle Giant's self titled debut opens with 'Giant' that signifies the signature sound of one of the most revered and influential artists in prog history. The album boasts some of the most beloved songs such as 'Funny Ways', 'Alucard', yes, that's Dracula backwards, and the labyrinthine lengthy 'Nothing At All'. This is a rather short album but does the job before it wears out its welcome. As an early prog album it still has some refining required, but it is nevertheless an important album for the band paving the way for all that made Green, Minnear, Smith, Shulman, Shulman and Shulman great.

You might say, this debut was a start in the right direction, but Gentle Giant was yet to show the masses how acquiring the taste of their music is so essential, and they will soon have three friends, including their record label that would become entangled in their progressive style like an octopus. Though it would be like throwing stones in a glass house, as the label and music industry would desire the power and the glory of the popular mainstream sound rather than allowing the Giant a free hand in their own style. The band gained popularity and received many an interview and found the missing piece in how to create unique and incredible music that was labelled pretentious for the sake of it. However, playing the fool, they decided on becoming nothing more than a giant for a day, complete with cardboard masks, leading them to be scraping the barrel becoming mere civilians again. Then the Giant came stumbling totally out of the woods, toppled from the beanstalk, and as he crashed to the ground, cried in horror "I lost my head! "