Label: Chrysalis Records
Release date: 8/26/1977
Production: Gentle Giant
Album length: 36.28 min
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 7.5/10
“The Missing Piece” marked the beginning of the decline of Gentle Giant as a constructive prog rock band, one that had wowed people in the past with unique, unpredictable sonic experiments that crossed and fused all kinds of genre boundaries. In the turbulent days of rock music, when prog was losing popularity and new styles like punk, disco and new wave were on the rise, Chrysalis trapped them in a corner by demanding more compact songs, if not outright radio hits. Going against their experimentalist musical philosophy, which was never short on sarcasm aimed at the music industry, the band decided to keep pace with the “new times” and turn into a melodic hard rock/pop band with only rare reminders of their experimental past. Gentle Giant were always outstanding musicians who could play whatever they felt like, whatever the genre, but in their new role as a “pop” band they felt incredibly boxed in, and you can feel it throughout the whole album.
On “The Missing Piece” they delivered half the dose of their usual artistic abilities. The result of this dramatic sonic shift was tighter songs with a big emphasis on melody and catchy choruses. Their trademark troubadour arrangements, jazzy-avant-garde improvisations, dissonant vocal harmonies and mischievous rhythmic patterns all gave way to simpler, more direct melodies on “The Missing Piece”. With a bunch of melodic rock and ballad-ish moments they did reach out to a less demanding audience, but for most of the album you can tell that not everyone in the band had their whole heart in it. Still, they kept their typical roguish humor in the lyrics, and above all their knack for unabashed self-irony. Even at the expense of a forced artistic “lobotomy”.
Artistic self-restraint never produced dazzling results. Even so, they managed to pull off a few good ones where their old prog rock magic and unbridled experimentalism briefly spring back to life. The first half of the album has plenty of mediocre songs way below their usual artistic norms, while the second half brings a noticeable improvement and in places brings back memories of the golden years. It often feels like the arrangements of some songs were left half-finished, which the rather sterile production only makes worse. The opening hard rock experiment “Two Weeks in Spain” falls into this category, a veritable embodiment of sacred simplicity and lack of inspiration compared to their usual songwriting and instrumental standards. Their priceless virtuoso talents are present the whole time, through Derek’s charismatic vocals, Green’s punchy guitar phrases, Ray’s versatile bass work, Minnear’s bouncy keyboards and Weathers’ varied percussion, but they just can’t manage to build a convincing atmosphere.
One of the better moments is “I’m Turning Around”, a solid power ballad where Derek’s excellent singing comes to the front, backed by mighty guitar phrases and hypnotic Hammond organ accompaniment. The title and the message of the song reflect some open sarcasm about the change in musical style. The bizarre punk experiment “Betcha Thought We Couldn’t Do It”, which they probably found hugely fun while making it, is best forgotten. At least the title is more than fitting, since nobody could have imagined they’d ever create such a self-parody. “Who Do You Think You Are?” is an exceptionally average hard rocker with a sleepy central melody, built from Green’s recognizable blues passages and funky rhythms. “Mountain Time” is in a similarly boring vein, once again using clichéd blues mannerisms on piano and guitar, and they come off as rather forced. Well, at least Derek proved he wouldn’t be a bad blues singer… sad.
Things improve noticeably in the second half of the album with “As Old As You’re Young”. This interesting song revives some of the old Gentle Giant magic, with the good old roguish rhythmic mannerisms, troubadour arrangements and the “little angel” Minnear on lead vocals. They even manage to work an interesting folk rock motif into the middle section, while the handoff between Kerry’s and Derek’s vocals is also executed brilliantly. The romantic-nostalgic folk rock epic “Memories Of Old Days” is easily the best thing on the whole album, one that can still bring a tear to the eye of any sincere fan of the band today. With Derek’s melancholic singing and majestic pastoral-Celtic arrangements on acoustic guitar and keyboards, they conjure up a magical atmosphere in which the legend of the friendly giant briefly comes alive again. On “Winning”, where avant-garde rhythmic inserts flourish, their experimental nature unexpectedly bursts out at full force. The refined closing passage into an ethereal oriental motif is especially impressive. With its playful harmonies and scattered rhythms, the closing “For Nobody” could sit on any classic Gentle Giant album, which says a lot about how good it is.
“The Missing Piece” as the opening act of a painful pop era, one in which Gentle Giant slowly fell apart and lost their artistic identity, doesn’t come off badly as a whole, but it’s way below their usual artistic standards. Contrary to the label’s wishes, it brought them no hits, which, given the overall songwriting and instrumental straitjacket, was hardly a surprise. Artistic self-restraint and a forced transformation into a pop band seem at odds with common sense today. Back then, though, they sadly didn’t have much choice if they didn’t want to sink into total obscurity. Loyal fans will be able to appreciate the album’s rare bright spots, and Gentle Giant had (not yet) hit the bottom of their career with it, while everyone else is better off steering clear, since it can give a totally wrong picture of the real qualities of this legendary band.
Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Two Weeks In Spain
2. I’m Turning Around
3. Betcha Thought We Couldn’t Do It
4. Who Do You Think You Are?
5. Mountain Time
6. As Old As You’re Young
7. Memories Of Old Days
8. Winning
9. For Nobody
Lineup:
Derek Shulman – vocals, keyboards
Gary Green – electric and acoustic guitar, backing vocals
Kerry Minnear – keyboards, backing vocals
Ray Shulman – bass guitar, violin, backing vocals
John Weathers – drums, percussion
