Rushman14 Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 Let's hear from you GG fans. I believe they peaked with Free Hand so I picked it, but I think Three Friends through Interview are all classic albums. http://www.blazemonger.com/GG/pix/fh.gif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fledgehog Posted March 23, 2007 Share Posted March 23, 2007 I have yet to own any GG albums...what would you reccomend me getting first (give say 2 or 3 titles) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted March 23, 2007 Author Share Posted March 23, 2007 QUOTE (fledgehog @ Mar 23 2007, 03:09 PM)I have yet to own any GG albums...what would you reccomend me getting first (give say 2 or 3 titles) I would definitely start with "The Power and The Glory" and "Free Hand". They just re-released them as 25th anniversary remasters. If you're a prog rocker, you can't go wrong. If you like those, then get "Interview" & "In A Glass House" next. Three Friends and Octopus are also great but didn't get the remaster treatment (i think its a copyright issue). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted April 14, 2008 Author Share Posted April 14, 2008 I did this poll a year ago but didnt get many responses so i thought I would bring this thread back from the dead. Rock the vote! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRocinanteKid Posted April 14, 2008 Share Posted April 14, 2008 Haven't got them all, especially the most recent stuff on this poll but I went with Octopus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadwing2112 Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Octopus for me. Since the older albums don't have the remaster yet you can find them pretty cheap on amazon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted April 15, 2008 Share Posted April 15, 2008 Why is this a poll for me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted April 15, 2008 Author Share Posted April 15, 2008 QUOTE (Finbar @ Apr 14 2008, 07:37 PM) Why is this a poll for me? I dont remember, I created this thread over a year ago. Maybe cuz you were doing alot of polls at the time? or you were complaining about polls? beats me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finbar Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 QUOTE (Rushman14 @ Apr 15 2008, 12:23 PM) QUOTE (Finbar @ Apr 14 2008, 07:37 PM) Why is this a poll for me? I dont remember, I created this thread over a year ago. Maybe cuz you were doing alot of polls at the time? or you were complaining about polls? beats me. Over a year ago? Ohhhh... I think I'd made a Gentle Giant thread asking which album to buy next... I still only have Octopus. Love it, though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 QUOTE (Finbar @ Apr 15 2008, 10:25 PM) QUOTE (Rushman14 @ Apr 15 2008, 12:23 PM) QUOTE (Finbar @ Apr 14 2008, 07:37 PM) Why is this a poll for me? I dont remember, I created this thread over a year ago. Maybe cuz you were doing alot of polls at the time? or you were complaining about polls? beats me. Over a year ago? Ohhhh... I think I'd made a Gentle Giant thread asking which album to buy next... I still only have Octopus. Love it, though! you still only have Octopus? Do i need to hook you up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted September 28, 2010 Author Share Posted September 28, 2010 Wow I did this poll over 3 years ago. Didnt get much response at the time so I thought I'd give it another shot. Clearly there are some GG fans out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelocator Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 THIS is the absolute peak for the band right here... IN A GLASS HOUSE THE POWER AND THE GLORY FREE HAND I picked 'Power', but it could have just as easily been 'And The Glory', or even, 'Glass Houses' or '52nd Street'...The trio is just awesome...Not to say that there isn't great material at the start of the catalog...but, it is to say that there's only dregs at the end...Imagine this band trying to transition to the 80's...Holy Christ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 I always found Gentle Giant a difficult band to get into, much like Van der Graff Generator, although of course both bands sounds nothing alike. The only one that really grabbed me immediately was ironically the first one I got of theirs many years ago, Three Friends. Other than that, every once in awhile I pull out my Gentle Giant collection and listen again and get a little more into them, but I haven't fallen in love with complete albums of theirs yet. It's great stuff and I know I will eventually, but it's not always an easy band IMHO... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColdFireYYZ Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 I only have Octopus, which I haven't listen to yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelocator Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 Oh, man oh man...I would have never thunk that 'Interview' would be winning this thing...Yet again, all of maybe SIX people here have voted in this poll, total...LOL...Nah, I can't picture many RUSH fans being into this VERY QUIRKY, Super Dissonant band from the UK... This band is mostly for hardcore Prog-heads alone, and even with us - only once in the bluest of moons. In many ways, Gentle Giant reminds me alot of a 70's version of PRIMUS. Many points of comparison between these two insano units. Them, and 40 year old, single malt, Scotch Whisky, tons of similarities. There's a bunch of 'dissonant', and pretty much - all out discordant things going in the music of GG which go right ahead and irreverently violate every known written law of 'music theory'...Yet it all somehow works when the elements are all fused...It is no mistake at all that one of their album titles is called 'Aquiring The Taste'...GG are definitely an acquired taste that takes a bunch of work getting into and first. The music is EXTREMELY demanding on the listener when you're first getting into them...You will first compare them to YES, as do most folks...But, their songs are nowhere as long on average as those of YES...and GG's music tends to be even more complex, yet in different ways than Yes...The consensus seems to be this - Only to be Taken in Small Doses, Spaced far Apart...Put it this way, I got into Gentle Giant at the same exact time that I first began exploring both Genesis and Jethro Tull... At first, I was exploring each of the three bands equally...I really thought that I would go on to appreciate all three groups equally...But, my brief tryst with GG would soon end, after only obtaining Four of the band's 11 studio releases...whereas, with both Genesis and Tull, I went on to acquire all of each bands' work from inception, up to 1982...It's not that I ran out money at 1982, I just don't care for anything that either band did after '82...The only 'formerly-Prog' bands that I follow after that date are YES and RUSH. Nowadays, I rarely listen to them...Yet, I still haven't ceased playing them totally...They're FAR from being an accessible act, so I tend to gravitate towards the titles I feel to be their most accesible fare...Actually, I don't think that's right at all...There are NO accessible GG titles at all...None...lol. So, in lieu of that, I believe the best ones to be are the Core Five 'Middle' selections...If YOU are ever up to checking out this band, definitely pass on the first three and last three offerings and take your pick from the middle five recordings... For some reason, and this might be totally subjective to my experience, but I feel that 'In A Glass House' and 'Power and The Glory' are probably the BEST place to start...Those two, and maybe throw in 'Octupus' as an alternate, mainly because this was the album that broke the band...Broke them big to their tiny, but strong following...If any or all of these three albums don't do it for ya, then it's highly likely that you are done with GG, and you'll never cue up this band ever again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUSHHEAD666 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 QUOTE (Rushman14 @ Mar 23 2007, 03:00 PM) Let's hear from you GG fans. I believe they peaked with Free Hand so I picked it, but I think Three Friends through Interview are all classic albums. http://www.blazemonger.com/GG/pix/fh.gif Tough call, great poll. I have all of their albums. Not a surprise eh? I will have to sleep on this one. Maybe I will have to get into a Gentle Giant mode. I'm sure my wife will go nuts. LOL! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micgtr71 Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 I love Octopus, but I went with In a Glass House. Great record! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchetaxe&saw Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 I went with Octopus. Love that album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelocator Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 I have the crappy American version of 'Octopus'...Ya know, the one with the squid in the small jar...like a little dingy calamari...I had purhased it already when I eventually came upon the original Roger Dean, double gatefold edtion from Japan...The price saddened me deeply. But the cover art made me rejoice...This is a faded shot of a cover that has deep, rich colors when new. http://www.minilps.net/images/stories/shop_image/product/OCTOPUSUNFOLD.jpg I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention one other, amazing Prog title that is tailor made for the Gentle Giant fan...This following band, Gnidrolog, had a very short, two-album run in the early 70's...But, their second effort, 'Lady Lake' is of equal stature to the best of what GG had to offer...Really great recording that shouldn't be missed by the GG fanbase...I'm actually able to listen to this album more than I can the average GG title... http://www.covershut.com/covers/Gnidrolog---Lady-Lake-Front-Cover-23069.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchetaxe&saw Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 QUOTE (thelocator @ Sep 28 2010, 11:27 AM) I have the crappy American version of 'Octopus'...Ya know, the one with the squid in the small jar...like a little dingy calamari...I had purhased it already when I eventually came upon the original Roger Dean, double gatefold edtion from Japan...The price saddened me deeply. But the cover art made me rejoice...This is a faded shot of a cover that has deep, rich colors when new. http://www.minilps.net/images/stories/shop_image/product/OCTOPUSUNFOLD.jpg I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention one other, amazing Prog title that is tailor made for the Gentle Giant fan...This following band, Gnidrolog, had a very short, two-album run in the early 70's...But, their second effort, 'Lady Lake' is of equal stature to the best of what GG had to offer...Really great recording that shouldn't be missed by the GG fanbase...I'm actually able to listen to this album more than I can the average GG title... http://www.covershut.com/covers/Gnidrolog---Lady-Lake-Front-Cover-23069.jpg My money is on the swan. He's sassy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushgoober Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 QUOTE (thelocator @ Sep 27 2010, 11:06 PM) Oh, man oh man...I would have never thunk that 'Interview' would be winning this thing...Yet again, all of maybe SIX people here have voted in this poll, total...LOL...Nah, I can't picture many RUSH fans being into this VERY QUIRKY, Super Dissonant band from the UK... This band is mostly for hardcore Prog-heads alone, and even with us - only once in the bluest of moons. In many ways, Gentle Giant reminds me alot of a 70's version of PRIMUS. Many points of comparison between these two insano units. Them, and 40 year old, single malt, Scotch Whisky, tons of similarities. There's a bunch of 'dissonant', and pretty much - all out discordant things going in the music of GG which go right ahead and irreverently violate every known written law of 'music theory'...Yet it all somehow works when the elements are all fused...It is no mistake at all that one of their album titles is called 'Aquiring The Taste'...GG are definitely an acquired taste that takes a bunch of work getting into and first. The music is EXTREMELY demanding on the listener when you're first getting into them...You will first compare them to YES, as do most folks...But, their songs are nowhere as long on average as those of YES...and GG's music tends to be even more complex, yet in different ways than Yes...The consensus seems to be this - Only to be Taken in Small Doses, Spaced far Apart...Put it this way, I got into Gentle Giant at the same exact time that I first began exploring both Genesis and Jethro Tull... At first, I was exploring each of the three bands equally...I really thought that I would go on to appreciate all three groups equally...But, my brief tryst with GG would soon end, after only obtaining Four of the band's 11 studio releases...whereas, with both Genesis and Tull, I went on to acquire all of each bands' work from inception, up to 1982...It's not that I ran out money at 1982, I just don't care for anything that either band did after '82...The only 'formerly-Prog' bands that I follow after that date are YES and RUSH. Nowadays, I rarely listen to them...Yet, I still haven't ceased playing them totally...They're FAR from being an accessible act, so I tend to gravitate towards the titles I feel to be their most accesible fare...Actually, I don't think that's right at all...There are NO accessible GG titles at all...None...lol. So, in lieu of that, I believe the best ones to be are the Core Five 'Middle' selections...If YOU are ever up to checking out this band, definitely pass on the first three and last three offerings and take your pick from the middle five recordings... For some reason, and this might be totally subjective to my experience, but I feel that 'In A Glass House' and 'Power and The Glory' are probably the BEST place to start...Those two, and maybe throw in 'Octupus' as an alternate, mainly because this was the album that broke the band...Broke them big to their tiny, but strong following...If any or all of these three albums don't do it for ya, then it's highly likely that you are done with GG, and you'll never cue up this band ever again. Gentle Giant definitely are a tough band to really get into, and yet I haven't given up on them. Some would question my sanity why I would keep trying over and over to get into a band or albums that I don't fall in love with after a few listens. Well, it's because obviously I do see something there. There are albums where I had to be really persistent to get into, but it's because I saw the potential, I saw the quality there that I knew I just had to acclimate myself to. Some albums are a love affair from the first listen, and others take time. Some of my favorite albums - Tales from Topographic, Lizard, Trout Mask Replica, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, etc., I had to really work at before I could appreciate the genius of it. That's kind of what it was like for me with prog in the beginning. When I first started hearing the hardcore stuff I didn't fully get it, but I just kind of knew that I would get it eventually if I stuck with it (as opposed to a lot of genres that I hated initially and knew there was nothing there for me). I knew there was something there for me that I wasn't ready for yet, but that I would get there. The same goes for me with Gentle Giant. One place where Gentle Giant really recently clicked for me is on their live album, Playing the Fool. I had heard the album Octopus a few times and enjoyed it sporadically and to a degree. Once I heard the 15 1/5 minute live track "Excerpts From Octopus," it really clicked and I realized that I really did love a lot of Octopus. I'll play that live track on my show sometime soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rushman14 Posted September 28, 2010 Author Share Posted September 28, 2010 QUOTE (thelocator @ Sep 28 2010, 04:27 AM) I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention one other, amazing Prog title that is tailor made for the Gentle Giant fan...This following band, Gnidrolog, had a very short, two-album run in the early 70's...But, their second effort, 'Lady Lake' is of equal stature to the best of what GG had to offer...Really great recording that shouldn't be missed by the GG fanbase...I'm actually able to listen to this album more than I can the average GG title... http://www.covershut.com/covers/Gnidrolog---Lady-Lake-Front-Cover-23069.jpg nice I'm gonna check that out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchetaxe&saw Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 QUOTE (Rushman14 @ Sep 28 2010, 04:46 PM) QUOTE (thelocator @ Sep 28 2010, 04:27 AM) I'd be totally remiss if I didn't mention one other, amazing Prog title that is tailor made for the Gentle Giant fan...This following band, Gnidrolog, had a very short, two-album run in the early 70's...But, their second effort, 'Lady Lake' is of equal stature to the best of what GG had to offer...Really great recording that shouldn't be missed by the GG fanbase...I'm actually able to listen to this album more than I can the average GG title... http://www.covershut.com/covers/Gnidrolog---Lady-Lake-Front-Cover-23069.jpg nice I'm gonna check that out! I ordered it....very intrigued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thelocator Posted September 28, 2010 Share Posted September 28, 2010 QUOTE (Hatchetaxe&saw @ Sep 28 2010, 01:08 PM)I ordered it....very intrigued. Good man...Good choice...I think that Goob below here either has it on his want list or indeed owns it as well...Tell me what you think of that one, and if yer indeed interested, then there are about a dozen other titles in the 'obscurity' column, other names that I could pass along to you...It's great discovering stuff that only a small segment of people know about, even back then, such a small following. QUOTE (rushgoober @ Sep 28 2010, 08:47 AM)Gentle Giant definitely are a tough band to really get into, and yet I haven't given up on them. Some would question my sanity why I would keep trying over and over to get into a band or albums that I don't fall in love with after a few listens. Well, it's because obviously I do see something there. There are albums where I had to be really persistent to get into, but it's because I saw the potential, I saw the quality there that I knew I just had to acclimate myself to. Some albums are a love affair from the first listen, and others take time. Some of my favorite albums - Tales from Topographic, Lizard, Trout Mask Replica, The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, etc., I had to really work at before I could appreciate the genius of it. That's kind of what it was like for me with prog in the beginning. When I first started hearing the hardcore stuff I didn't fully get it, but I just kind of knew that I would get it eventually if I stuck with it (as opposed to a lot of genres that I hated initially and knew there was nothing there for me). I knew there was something there for me that I wasn't ready for yet, but that I would get there. The same goes for me with Gentle Giant. One place where Gentle Giant really recently clicked for me is on their live album, Playing the Fool. I had heard the album Octopus a few times and enjoyed it sporadically and to a degree. Once I heard the 15 1/5 minute live track "Excerpts From Octopus," it really clicked and I realized that I really did love a lot of Octopus. I'll play that live track on my show sometime soon... You talk about how it was with you at first when encountering some of the more obcure, esoteric stuff in the very beginning. Tell me if your experience in that realm closely approximates my own. I find that my transition from the more mainstream titles of Yes, Rush, Kansas, Pink Floyd, etc. to the deep, seldomly tread backwood roads of Progressive Rock took at least a decade or more to occur. Anyone's involvement with the more 'extreme' forms of music can easily be likened to drug addiction...The more you get used to the easier accessiblity and simplicity of the more mainstream titles, the more that you'll need something 'stronger', something more 'challenging' to get your mind off just the same as it did a year earlier with the simplistic stuff... This phenomena can definitely be seen with fans of Prog, but it is even much more readily apparent with fans of Heavy Metal, as they need more and more extreme versions of the same basic 'form' for them to get off...Same premise with Jazz...It pertains to all complex forms, and the type of person who needs intellectual stimulation like this in the first place. It's all about the 'novelty' of the arrangements and how they challenge the listener's intellect...Now, I've gone and compared listening to music to some form of mental illness...And, maybe it is...Maybe it can be 'abused' and lead to a form of addiction...But, at the same time, I can also tell you that it's true that I can easily pick out the dull bulbs in the room by which forms of music they are 'naturally' attracted to, and how easily that 'thirst', that 'fix' is satiated for them. I've found, and I'm sure everyone else can relate to this which follows to at least some degree...I've found that the first initial exposure to some title, some specific album that you're presently unfamilar with, that first run is doing something to tear down a 'defense' or natural proclivity you have right away to dismiss it, offhand...But, the effect, the process of breaking down that wall takes some time...You hear a more obscure album title for the first time, something more 'musical' than you're normally used to, and, at first, you think it is absolutely dreadful...Your very first exposure to the title has returned '0' results... But, that schitt is working on homeboy on the subconscious level, off while you're doing a million other things...That music is literally still working its way through the synapses of your brain...You've just literally ingested something and its making its way through your system, kid. You get home later the next day, and find that you have nothing 'new' to listen to other than this very esoteric and obscure, musically demanding title that's sitting on the stereo cabinet...You give it a second try now, some 48 to 72 hours later. Seemingly, out of nowhere, your defenses have already dropped at least to some small degree, and your nowhere as reticent as you were only a day or few back...You've listened to the album a second time, and now your opinion is that it's 'not terrible'...Play this scenario out over the course of weeks, months or even years for some of the more 'stubborn' recordings, and you find yourself embracing whole, entire sub-genres of music that you'd never think you'd ever have any interest in, or any inclination to be able to fully comprehend...The mind evolves this way...by tiny, incremental leaps. And, soon you find yourself deep in titles you would have sneered out only a few year back...Funny, right? 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Hatchetaxe&saw Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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