Gotta admit Dan, I never heard of them untill i saw your post. Been checking them out on youtube.

I am not overly knowledgeable, but Steven Wilson has remixed The Power and the Glory as well as Octopus. I was always partial to their live album Playing the Fool.

Blooby

It's Gentle.... I don't think Gentile Giant would get too many Barmitzvah gigs!

Super ironic as the band was formed by the Shulman brothers!

They started off as Simon Dupree and The Big Sound who had a UK psychedelic hit with Kites.

[Edited on 12/22/2015 by Shavian]

Any of their first few albums:
Gentle Giant (1st album)
Acquiring The Taste
Three Friends
Octopus
In A Glass House

Those are the ones that got me hooked.

The Power & The Glory and Free Hand are really good, too.

Their double-live album Playing The Fool is good, but after hearing a couple of bootlegs from that same era, it seemed like there was a lot of studio sweetening done in post-production.

I'm really not familiar with them at all, except that I did see them way back in 1972. I was 17.

They were really, REALLY a progressive art-rock outfit, more progressive than Yes or Jethro Tull. Very serious musicians and I'm not surprised from that one night that they never really caught on with the public. I found them a bit hard to listen to.

I also felt very sorry for them that night. It was a very strange bill: Black Sabbath, Gentle Giant and Captain Beyond at The Hollywood Bowl. Gentle Giant just did not "fit" in that bill, but when you think about it, how many bills WOULD they have fit into? That show taught me that you always get to a show on time and catch the opening act because Captain Beyond blew EVERYONE away. They did their first record from start to finish, a 45 minute set. If you've heard it, I don't need to say anything more.

Then Gentle Giant came out and laid their very complex progressive art rock on the crowd. Most of us sat there and listened respectfully. But of course there were a few assh*le Sabbath-heads who had to ruin it. They were laughing, screaming and booing. Someone actually threw a cherry bomb up on stage. At that point one of the Gentle Giant band members actually said into the mike in his very heavy English accent, "Bloody disrespectful bast*rds", and I didn't blame him one bit. It was sad.

And it got worse. Sabbath played for 45 minutes and left the stage, no encore. Of course the crowd was pissed. Someone came out and announced, "I'm sorry. Tony Iommi is vomiting backstage." I found out later that Iommi had a nervous breakdown that evening. Not really surprising when you consider how ruthlessly they were being pushed at that time, early on in their career.

So Captain Beyond by far was the highlight of the evening. Glad I caught them; there are very few alive who can say that they saw them.

[Edited on 12/22/2015 by robslob]

Agreed. I have 2 of their discs, "Octopus" and the King Biscuit show. Very quirky, very eccentric, very prog. They do a lot with vocals that sound sort of like cloister monks gone loco; different people singing in different tempos, interlocking. Even more "eccentric Brit" than Jethro Tull,by far really. Tull had a bluesy streak. No blues in Gentle Giant.

I listen to them periodically to challenge my way of thinking about music. Good for your head. I don't love them, but i respect them.

Missing Piece is pretty good

It's Gentle.... I don't think Gentile Giant would get too many Barmitzvah gigs!
[Edited on 12/22/2015 by Shavian]

Now that was funny.

Neal Morse was quite influenced by them, especially their a cappella parts.

Blooby

They do a lot with vocals that sound sort of like cloister monks gone loco

Well said. I immediately got very drowsy listening to them. Obviously very good musicians though.

Yeah sometimes my thumbs get in the way ..thanks for the info..and suggestions! Merry Christmas all!

I re-listened to Octopus this morning. It is a good album; i bet the remaster adds a lot of clarity.

Some very impressive ensemble playing. It is not a big soloing album as much as it is cool interlocking musicianship, very tight.

The vocals do make me think of the minstrel in Monty Python and the Holy Grail singing "Brave Sir Robin."

Worth noting that the songs are not long by prog rock standards but ARE so dense musically thst they can feel more expansive than the clock says.

if you get one Gentle Giant record : "Free Hand" . Very weird and phenomenal group, saw them a few times in the 70's, always very impressed. Lol love that descrip of the Capn Beyond/Giant/Sabbath fiasco, classic 70's SNAFU haha????. They weren't such oddballs at the time, back in the progrock era there were other prog bands that Gentle Giant fit could work with, all those prog bands, tull, Yes , Genesis, Crimson, Nektar, ad nauseum.... the guitar player, Gary Greene, fantastic!

I never heard about the name Gentile Giant. I just hear it hear. So, I look at net about it and found out that Gentile Giant was british band during 70's to 80's. That's why I never knew this band.