Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Gentle Giant
Label: Vertigo Records
Released: 1970
Rating: 3.5/5
Gentle Giant rose from the ashes of the British pop act Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, led by the three Shulman brothers (Derek on vocals and bass, Phil on backing vocals and saxophone, and Ray on bass and violin). The band even had some real success on the British charts. Their single “Kites” actually cracked the UK top 10 in 1967. Even more surprising (especially considering what would grow out of them later) was the sight, back in the 60s, of legions of screaming, hysterical teenage girls chasing the band, as captured in a documentary from the time. But by the end of the 60s, things had changed radically, both in the music world and for the band members themselves, and the Shulman brothers decided to leap into far more serious, artistically demanding music that would show the world their exceptional musical talents. Once they met keyboardist Kerry Minnear, who had just finished his studies at a music academy, and guitarist Gary Green, with Martin Smith on board as their first drummer, Gentle Giant were born: without a doubt one of the weirdest and most experimental prog rock bands of the 70s, who still enjoy cult status and a ton of respect among prog fans long after splitting up. Most of their output was marked by complex arrangements, unpredictable time changes, unusual vocal harmonies, polyphony, polymeters and an incredibly colorful array of instruments (all the members except the drummer were multi-instrumentalists). Most of the material was written by the academically trained Minnear, though Ray Shulman gradually became his best pupil when it came to writing music, and the two turned into a hugely effective songwriting duo. The band’s lyrical concepts were often inspired by socially engaged philosophy, personal experiences and the works of François Rabelais, the 16th-century French author of the socially satirical novels about Gargantua and Pantagruel. The eye-popping cover hints at this too, showing the mischievous face of the band’s namesake and the protagonist of most of their lyrical concepts.
On their first album, simply called “Gentle Giant”, the band was still searching for its very own, recognizable sound. Most of the material doesn’t yet have the complexity and eclecticism that would come on later releases. At its core, the band hops between folk and hard rock elements for most of the record. Still, in a few places they already surprise with unexpected symphonic and jazz-tinged sections. I’d definitely count the opener “Giant” among those, with its unpredictable time changes and great symphonic arrangements on keys and sax. Even though it’s a hard rock composition at heart, there are plenty of classical-music flourishes and jazzy rhythms on bass and drums. After an instrumental jazz section, where you can even hear a mellotron, comes a symphonic passage that sounds absolutely majestic. Then they return to the main motif with a punchy riff and powerful rhythmic interplay. A seriously fitting start to the story. On “Funny Ways”, where they first show off their interest in folk, medieval/troubadour music, the spotlight goes to great violin passages and Derek’s charismatic (if occasionally eccentric) vocals. Suddenly the song veers into odd bluesy waters, with symphonic arrangements in the background and a decisive guitar riff. Alongside “Giant”, it’s the best thing on the album in my book. On the ominous “Alucard” (that’s “Dracula” backwards; the band was crafty and didn’t want to scare off potential fans from the “flower generation”, who were afraid of anything that smelled of negativity) you can hear a pronounced bass line on a moog synthesizer and great passages on sax and guitar. The vocals, run through an effect, deliberately create a grotesque atmosphere. The jazzy instrumental sections float the whole time somewhere between wit and schizoid weirdness.
The mellow “Isn’t It Quiet And Cold” is a pretty simple, melodic folk rocker on violin and acoustic guitar, accompanied by a light, poetic vocal. Over the rhythm you can also detect their pop/r’n’b past. Eventually the inevitable xylophone shows up, which later became one of their trademarks and which they used to effectively portray the movements of their main mascot. “Nothing At All” has a very pretty, melancholic opening melody on vocals, acoustic guitar, violin and symphonic arrangements, creating a Celtic atmosphere. Although at first it seems like a calm folk rock ballad with baroque motifs, it doesn’t last long before they carry it off into completely different waters. A classic bluesy/hard rock riff on Green’s guitar creeps in, joined by Derek’s furious vocals. The inevitable guitar solo follows and the band sounds like some hard rock outfit à la Deep Purple again. After that comes a proper cacophony of Smith’s drums and Minnear’s piano, which sweeps everything off into fully avant-garde territory. In the end, though, they wrap it up nicely with that main romantic Celtic motif. On “Why Not” they try on the hard rocker hat again, with plenty of blues elements in there. The main “culprit” is Green with his guitar riffs and closing solo, since as a guitarist the guy clearly came out of the blues. Still, there’s no shortage of pretty, melodic folk rock baroque motifs up front, plus a romantic vocal. Here they also give the first hint of the multi-part harmonies that would become their trademark over the years. The ending, with its razor-sharp exchanges between guitar and Hammond organ, is pure blues. Throughout their career, Gentle Giant would now and then remind everyone that they never forgot how to hit hard in a (hard) rock way. The closing “The Queen” is a short instrumental bluesy parody of the British anthem with occasional pauses in the timing. Another demonstration of their sense of black humor. The album also boasts pretty high-quality production for the time, handled by the legendary producer Tony Visconti (best known for producing David Bowie and The Moody Blues).
“Gentle Giant” is an extremely solid debut from a band that was only just discovering and slowly shaping its own sound, and that would make a more than noticeable leap forward in that direction with its next album. For most of the record you can feel the strong influence of hard rock, which was hugely popular and still brand new in 1970. The band could very well have developed into successful hard rockers, had their artistic ambitions and musical talent not been far bigger than the average musical frameworks and the trends of the day. In the following years, Gentle Giant would establish themselves as one of the leading forces in eclectic prog rock and produce a heap of highly innovative and varied albums. Commercial success nevertheless remained out of reach, especially on home turf, though the mischievous troubadour crew didn’t exactly lose sleep over it. Their core philosophy was captured in a line they wrote on their second album: “our central mission is to explore the frontiers of popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular”.
Line-up
Derek Shulman – vocals, backing vocals, bass guitar
Gary Green – guitar, 12-string guitar
Ray Shulman – bass guitar, violin, guitar, percussion, backing vocals
Kerry Minnear – keyboards, bass guitar, cello, backing vocals, percussion
Phil Shulman – saxophone, trumpet, backing vocals
Martin Smith – drums, percussion
Production
Tony Visconti
Track list
1. Giant (6:22)
2. Funny Ways (4:21)
3. Alucard (6:00)
4. Isn’t It Quiet And Cold? (3:51)
5. Nothing At All (9:08)
6. Why Not (5:31)
7. The Queen (1:40)
Album length: 36:57
