Gentle Giant (band): Difference between revisions
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[[File:Gentle_Giant_6879.jpg|frame|Classic line-up. 1972-1980 Left to right - D. Shulman, R.Shulman, Green, Weathers, Minnear]]
{{quote|"It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being very unpopular. We have recorded each composition with the one thought - that it should be unique, adventurous and fascinating."|Sleeve text from the second album.}}
[[Gentle Giant]] was an English [[Progressive Rock]] band active in the 1970s. They are notable for being one of the most experimental and versatile of the prog bands of that era. All of the members were multi-instrumentalists who often switched instruments during a single song. This made up for very intricate arrangements and a [[Genre Roulette]] style of music in which one song could vary between hard rock, jazz, medieval tunes, baroque counterpoint, modernist sounds and soft ambience. Many prog-heads consider them to be one of the 'hardest' prog bands out there. In fact they are not that hard to listen to, however, since the compositions focus on catchy melodies, rhythms and clever songwriting in general. The compositions are very concise, not as long as the typical prog-fest and played almost totally clinically. ▼
Sadly, the band burned out creatively at the end of the decade and went to making pop songs - an endeavor frowned upon by the band in it's earlier stages. Their sound, however, still proved too complex to appeal to a wide audience and they disbanded in 1980. ▼
The line-up's: ▼
[[The Other Wiki]] has [[w:Gentle Giant|an extensive article]] on them.
==== 1970-72 Early line-up ====
{{quote|
Derek Shulman: Lead vocals, saxophone, recorder
Ray Shulman: Bass, violin, trumpet, recorder, vocals
Kerry Minnear: Keyboards, vibraphone, cello, recorder, vocals
Gary Green: Guitars, recorder, vocals
Martin Smith: Percussion (1970-71)
Malcolm Mortimore: Percussion (1971-72) }}
==== 1970-1980: Classic line-up: ====
{{quote|
Ray Shulman: Bass, violin, trumpet, recorder, vocals
Kerry Minnear: Keyboards, vibraphone, cello, recorder, vocals
Gary Green: Guitars, recorder, vocals
John Weathers: Percussion }}
▲They are notable for being one of the most experimental and versatile of the prog bands of that era. All of the members were multi-instrumentalists who often switched instruments during a single song. This made up for very intricate arrangements and a [[Genre Roulette]] style of music in which one song could vary between hard rock, jazz, medieval tunes, baroque counterpoint, modernist sounds and soft ambience. Many prog-heads consider them to be one of the 'hardest' prog bands out there. In fact they are not that hard to listen to, however, since the compositions focus on catchy melodies, rhythms and clever songwriting in general. The compositions are very concise, not as long as the typical prog-fest and played almost totally clinically.
▲Sadly, the band burned out creatively at the end of the decade and went to making pop songs - an endeavor frowned upon by the band in it's earlier stages. Their sound, however, still proved too complex to appeal to a wide audience and they disbanded in 1980.
▲The discography:
* ''Gentle Giant'' (1970)
* ''Acquiring the Taste'' (1971)
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* ''Civilian'' (1980)
{{creatortropes}}
* [[Album Filler]]: Arguably the last albums were made wholly of these.
* [[Album Title Drop]]
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* [[Common Time]]: Mostly [[Averted Trope|Averted]]. Sometimes played straight and sometimes [[Playing with a Trope|played with]]: Often the time signature is 4/4, but the rhythms are still incredibly complex such as in the song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIaG8a9ACYY So Sincere].
* [[Concept Album]]: FOUR of them!
* [[Design Student's Orgasm]]: The cover of their second [https://web.archive.org/web/20120805133529/http://a.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/2150/gentle_giant.jpg album] is a tounge licking a peach. [[Unfortunate Implications|It looks like something else, if one only views the front however.]] This is intentional.
* [[Doing It for the Art]]: At least at first. See the quote above.
* [[Early Installment Weirdness]]: Before forming Gentle Giant, the Shulman brothers played in a blue-eyed soul group called Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. When their [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imf3NyO27Js attempts in soul] proved commercially fruitless, they tried their hand at psychedelia (while still going under the Simon Dupree moniker) and got a Top Ten hit with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0svzLY-u7E "Kites"]. When they couldn't follow that up, they made the Beatle-esque single "We Are The Moles", this time going by The Moles. Due to the hype surrounding the anonymity of the Moles (at one point, it was speculated that [[The Beatles (band)|The Beatles]] themselves had made it), sales of the single started to pick up, but quickly petered out when Syd Barrett (yes, ''that'' [[Pink Floyd|Syd Barrett]]) spilled the beans on the project. Eventually, the Shulman brothers gave up on Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and, out of its ashes, formed Gentle Giant.
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** [[The Sixth Ranger]]: Phil Shulman
* [[Full-Circle Revolution]]: The [[Concept Album]] ''The Power And The Glory'' seems to speak of this; the first song describes an autocratic ruler asserting his authority over the people; the following songs talk of an ambitious person attempting to gain power and set things right, but the final song on the original album is a [[Ironic Echo|reprise]] of the first, with the new chorus
{{quote|
* [[Genre Roulette]]: [[Up to Eleven]]
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: Arguably the album cover for ''Acquiring The Taste'', which shows a tongue drooling over what appears to be someones buttocks. {{spoiler|It's actually a peach.}}
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* [[Studio Chatter]]: Intentional on ''Interview''
** A somewhat humorous example also occurs on the song "The Face" from ''The Power And The Glory'', when one can quite audibly hear an enthusiastic "Oh, WOW!" after a very fast electric violin solo.
* [[Uncommon Time]]: Gentle Giants music as humorously illustrated by [http://uncyclopedia.
* [[Vocal Tag Team]]: All of the members sung. In the early stages the band had three lead vocalists: Derek for the rock'y songs, Phil for the folky, dreamy songs and Kerry for thee classically-inspired ones.
* [[Word Salad Lyrics]]: ''Knots'' definitely qualifies.
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