Gentle Giant - Live in Stokholm '75

It's been a year since I saw the reunion of Three Friends, featuring Gary Green, Kerry Minnear and Malcolm Mortimore, at Musikens hus in Gothenburg and I still have very strong memories of that wonderful gig. While there, chatting before the show, I met quite a few people who attended the '75 Stockholm show and spoke very fondly of the whole experience telling me that it would be a great honor to revisit a Gentle Giant performance almost 35 years later!

Unlike many of the British acts of their time, Gentle Giants live performances were just as notorious as their studio releases. Listening to this 2009 release of the 1975 live recording from Stockholm University's Kårhuset I can clearly see why. Not only do the band members manage to recreate the compositions in the live setting but they also elevate them to a whole new level. This was, after all, the band's golden era period where they could pretty much do no wrong and it shows on each one of these performances.

The set-list features an unexpected range of tracks mainly from the three consecutive masterpiece released by the band after the departure of Phil Shulman in 1972. These are: The Runaway/Experience from In A Glass House, Proclamation, Cogs In Cogs and So Sincere from The Power And The Glory, a loose instrumental adaptation of Plain Truth from Acquiring The Taste followed by two new tracks from the 1975 release Free Hand.

First off, let me put your worries to rest about the sound quality since this release has an excellent sound for its time. Each instrument is distinguishable from the mix and the audience participation, although present, doesn't distract from the performance even in such quiet moments like the first part of Experience. This is definitely a major improvement for us who hated the live sound featured on the bonus tracks on the remastered edition of In A Glass House. I definitely think that everyone who attended the concert will be able to fully relive the memories and nostalgia that they have for the performance by listening to this album!

The first few tracks do deviate from their studio counterparts on a few occasions but it's towards the album's second part, starting with So Sincere, that the band begins to loosen up the material and we get some truly extraordinary results. First off the 4 minute So Sincere has been expanded to an 11 minute mark by a jamming middle section followed by drum & vibraphone solo spot outro. Plus we get a vocal duet between Derek and Kerry! Plain Truth isn't really the straight forward composition that we all rememberer so well from the band's second album. Instead we get a very loose instrumental version of the track that doesn't feature a single uttered vocal line. Finally, the two Free Hand tracks have also been slightly expanded by added jam moments that definitely leave the crowd screaming for more!

Overall this is an excellent Gentle Giant live release that should have a place in every prog rock collection right next to Playing The Fool and Giant On The Box!

***** star songs: So Sincere (11:03)

**** star songs: Cogs In Cogs (3:16) Proclamation (5:33) The Runaway/Experience (10:07) Plain Truth (8:21) Free Hand (7:09) Just The Same (6:07)

GENTLE GIANT Live In Stockholm '75 music reviews and MP3(Review from progarchiv)

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Cogs In Cogs (3:30)
2. Proclamation (3:18)
3. The Runaway/Experience (10:08)
4. So Sincere (11:05)
5. Plain Truth (8:01)
6. Free Hand (7:20)
7. Just The Same (6:23)

Total Time 49:05

Line-up / Musicians

- Gary Green / electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12 string guitar, alto recorder, descant recorder, vocals, percussion
- Kerry Minnear / keyboards, cello, vibes, tenor recorder, vocals, percussion
- Derek Shulman / vocals, alto sax, descant recorder, bass, percussion
- Ray Shulman / bass, violin, acoustic guitar, descant recorder, trumpet, vocals, percussion
- John Weathers / drums, vibes, tambour, vocals, percussion

Free music - Live In Stockholm '75

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Gentle Giant - The Missing Piece (1977)

Now, it must be said, I'm inclined to love just about anything Gentle Giant ever released or even breathed on. Thus, with the following praise in mind, unprepared fans of the band's earlier work may get to this album, and a song like "I'm Turning Around," and laugh their pants off. This would be an unfortunate reaction. Okay, so there is definitely a shift in direction evident on this album -- there are less overtly "proggy" songs, more purely rocking songs, and a general lifting of the intense burden of creating "yet another insane experimental masterpiece!!!" that every album preceding seemed to bear. That said, what this album ends up doing is expressing the band's musical personalities in an especially direct fashion that will delight the true Gentle Giant fan, and they will especially treasure this music. "As Old As You're Young" is one of my favorite GG songs, with an uplifting and magical vibe that seems to me to be so essentially Kerry Minnear. "Memories of Old Days" is absolutely spellbinding, featuring layers of shimmering acoustic guitar and electric piano that fill the air with an almost palpable melancholy. "For Nobody" is a balls-out prog charger that leaves no doubt that the boys could never lose their edge. It's all the more remarkable to me that this is all contained in one album with such gems as the aforementioned ballad (!) "I'm Turning Around." If you've already been convinced of Gentle Giant's previous albums, don't entertain any doubt about this one -- there's nothing but goods to be found. GENTLE GIANT The Missing Piece music reviews and MP3 ( Review from progarchives.com)

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Two Weeks In Spain (3:00)
2. I'm Turning Around (3:54)
3. Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It (2:20)
4. Who Do You Think You Are? (3:33)
5. Mountain Time (3:19)
6. As Old As You're Young (4:19)
7. Memories Of Old Days (7:15)
8. Winning (4:12)
9. For Nobody (4:00)

Total Time: 35:52

Line-up / Musicians

- Gary Green / guitars
- Kerry Minnear / keyboards
- Derek Shulman / vocals, saxes
- Ray Shulman / bass, violin
- John Weathers / drums

GENTLE GIANT:THE MISSING PIECE

Gentle Giant - as old as you're young

Gentle Giant - Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It - with Lyrics

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Gentle Giant- Free Hand (1975)

Admittedly, many prog rock fans with otherwise excellent taste in music find Gentle Giant rather hard to get into. Their music certainly is challenging, and very varied in flavour. At times it evokes Medieval music, at other times there are a cappella vocals delivered in a quasi-"round" format, in company with passages that veer from moments of delicate beauty to "rocking out." All of these musical paths, and more, are often explored within the space of a single song. (Of course, that could be part of a generic description of progressive rock.) Gentle Giant have an inimitable style that is difficult to categorize; they must be heard to be understood. Perhaps only those with the most open musical minds will find them at all accessible. Certainly, though major players of the 70s prog scene, "Giant" never fully rose above their cult status to approach the popularity and critical acclaim of contemporaries like Genesis, Yes, ELP, Pink Floyd or Jethro Tull. (Though Gentle Giant don't really sound like any of those heavyweights, their music bears a somewhat closer resemblance to that of 'Tull, than any of the others mentioned.)

As I observed, Gentle Giant are not exactly the most approachable band in the prog universe; their music tends to invoke extreme love or hate reactions from first-time listeners. With that caveat out of the way, I would urge those who are curious about the band, or simply those who are in search of "something completely different," to start with this excellent recording. "Free Hand" encapsulates Gentle Giant's sound at the top of its form. It is not as "difficult" as "The Power and the Glory" (its excellent predecessor) or "Interview" (its good, but uneven successor), nor as commercial as later efforts.

The overall sound of the disc (if G.G. can be said to have an "overall" sound) is driven by keyboards, electric guitar, violin, and the unique "vocal stylings" of lead singer Derek Shulman and company.

The album, fittingly enough for this mold-breaking group, is loosely written around the theme of individual choice and freedom. The songs are all very good, but, to my taste, the title track, "His Last Voyage" and "Time to Kill" are particularly effective. (I still get a kick out of the sound of the "Pong" game at the beginning of the latter track: if, like me, you can remember when Pong was a cutting-edge video game -- indeed, the ONLY video game -- then you're showing your age....) Highly recommended to fans, and to those with sufficiently eclectic and diverse tastes to "get it." GENTLE GIANT Free Hand music reviews and MP3 (Review from progarchives.com)

Songs / Tracks Listing 1. Just The Same (5:34)
2. On Reflection (5:41)
3. Free Hand (6:14)
4. Time To Kill (5:08)
5. His Last Voyage (6:27)
6. Talybont (2:43)
7. Mobile (5:05)

Line-up / Musicians

- Derek Shulman / vocals, recorders, sax
- Ray Shulman / bass, violin, recorders, vocals
- Gary Green / guitars, vocals
- Kerry Minnear / keyboards, vocals
- John Weathers / percussion

GENTLE GIANT Free Hand 02 On Reflection

Gentle Giant BBC 1978 - Free Hand

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Gentle Giant - The Missing Piece (1977)

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GENTLE GIANT The Missing Piece music reviews and MP3

Gentle Giant - I'm turning around (1977)

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Gentle Giant - Interview (1976)

Gentle Giants last good album?

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GENTLE GIANT Interview music reviews and MP3

Gentle Giant, Interview (1976)

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Gentle Giant - Three Friends (1972)

There third album which exlplores more of the same territory as on the previous albums.

A slight reduction in the production quality but the music still shines.

Favourite tracks are "Prologue" and "Peel The Paint"

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Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Prologue (6:12)
2. Schooldays (7:33)
3. Working All Day (5:07)
4. Peel The Paint (7:25)
5. Mister Class And Quality? (5:51)
6. Three Friends (3:00)

Total Time: 35:08

Line-up / Musicians - Gary Green / guitars, percussion
- Kerry Minnear / keyboards, vibraphone, percussion, Moog, vocals
- Malcolm Mortimore / drums
- Derek Shulman / vocals
- Phil Schulman / sax, vocals
- Ray Shulman / bass, violin, 12 string guitar, vocals
- Assisted by: Calvin Shulman, Ray's son

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Gentle Giant - Acquiring The Taste (1971)

Second album by these masters of progressive music.

The title just about says it all. If you have it then this is essential for all lovers of adventurous flavorfull prog rock.

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Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Pantagruel's Nativity (6:50) 

2. Edge Of Twilight (3:47)

3. The House, The Street, The Room (6:01)

4. Acquiring The Taste (1:36)

5. Wreck (4:36)

6. The Moon Is Down (4:45)

7. Black Cat (3:51)

8. Plain Truth (7:36)

Total Time: 39:01

Line-up / Musicians

- Gary Green / 6 string guitar, 12 string guitar, 12 string wah-wah guitar, donkey's jawbone, cat calls, voice 

- Kerry Minnear / electric piano, organ, mellotron, vibraphone, Moog, piano, celeste, clavichord, harpsichord, tympani, maracas, lead vocals

- Derek Shulman / alto sax, clavichord, cowbell, lead vocals

- Phil Shulman / alto & tenor sax, clarinet, trumpet, piano, claves, maracas, lead vocals

- Ray Shulman / bass, violin, viola, electric violin, Spanish guitar, tambourine, 12 string guitar, organ bass pedals, skulls, vocals

- Martin Smith / drums, tambourine, gongs, side drum

- Assisted by Paul Cosh (trumpet, organ) and Tony Visconti (recorder, bass drum, triangle)

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Gentle Giant - The Power And The Glory (1974)

Another classic progressive album by "Gentle Giant" with yet more cleverly constructed songs who's intricasies are mindboggling.

Slightly more accessible maybe than some of there other albums but no less impressive.

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Songs / Tracks Listing
 1. Proclamation (6:48)
2. So Sincere (3:52)
3. Aspirations (4:41)
4. Playing the Game (6:46)
5. Cogs in Cogs (3:08)
6. No God's a Man (4:28)
7. The Face (4:12)
8. Valedictory (3:21)
9. The Power And The Glory (2:53) [bonus track, Terrapin and One Way CDs]

Total Time: 40:09

Line-up / Musicians - Gary Green / guitars
- Kerry Minnear / keyboards, cello, vocals
- Derek Shulman / vocals, saxes
- Ray Shulman / bass, violin, vocals
- John Weathers / drums, percussion, vocals

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Gentle Giant - In A Glass House (1973))

Often regarded as one of Gentle Giants very best albums and not one of there easiest to come by.
 
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Songs / Tracks Listing

1. The Runaway (7:15)
2. An Inmate's Lullaby (4:40)
3. Way of Life (7:52)
4. Experience (7:50)
5. A Reunion (2:11)
6. In a Glass House (8:26)

Total Time: 58:08

GENTLE GIANT In a Glass House music reviews and MP

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Gentle Giant - Octopus (1972)

The first album i ever heard from this band and still probably my favourite of there's. What more can be said really of this superb band whose progressive music is some of the tightest and most complex around.

GENTLE GIANT music, discography, MP3, videos and reviews

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Songs / Tracks Listing

1. The Advent Of Panurge (4:45)

2. Raconteur Troubadour (4:03)

3. A Cry For Everyone (4:06)

4. Knots (4:11)

5. The Boys In The Band (4:34)

6. Dog's Life (3:13)

7. Think Of Me With Kindness (3:31)

8. River (5:52)

Total Time: 34:15

Line-up / Musicians

- Gary Green / guitars, percussion

- Kerry Minnear / all keyboards, vibraphone, percussion, cello, Moog, lead and backing vocals

- Derek Shulman / lead vocals, alto saxophone

- Philip Shulman / saxophones, trumpet, mellophone, lead and backing vocals

- Raymond Shulman / bass violin, guitar, percussion, vocals

- John Weathers / drums, percussion, xylophone

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