The Enchantment of the Gentle Giant

Seventies Prog at its finest

One of the most interesting and rewarding bands to emerge from the progressive rock of the seventies was the UK outfit, Gentle Giant. In terms of commercial success they always remained in the shadow of their counterparts such as Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, King Crimson etc. And yet for sheer musical artistry and sophistication they were up there in a class of their own. The liner notes of the second album, Acquiring the Taste (1971) puts their position succinctly:

To give you something more substantial… at the risk of being very unpopular.

Their eclectic tastes were there from the onset in the very naming of the band as inspired by Francois Rabelais’s sixteenth century work, Gargantua and Pantagruel. It was an inspiration that would echo through some of titles of the succeeding album tracks.

In true progressive style, the band members were virtuoso multi-instrumentalists, able to swap instruments midway through live performances.

And yet their roots were from sixties pop, emerging from the ashes of Simon Dupree and the Big Sound that had scored hits with Kites and Like the Sun, Like the Fire…