Gentle Giant - Octopus (1972)
2008, Universal UICY-90782
1. The Advent of Panurge (4:44)
2. Raconteur, Troubadour (4:05)
3. A Cry for Everyone (4:08)
4. Knots (4:12)
5. The Boys in the Band (4:36)
6. Dog's Life (3:13)
7. Think of Me with Kindness (3:33)
8. River (5:52)
Total: 34:23
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
Review:
This album is full of complex arrangements, literary references, driving guitar
riffs and seventies keyboards, all done in Gentle Giant's unique style. In fact,
with the exception of "Think of Me With Kindness", the album's penultimate song,
there is only one group which could have possibly written the material on this
album. If you've heard any Gentle Giant before, you'll know what I mean.
Although this is a remarkably even album, there are still a few track that
deserve specific mention. "Raconteur Troubadour" was intended to capture the
spirit of the "medieval English troubadour" (sic.), however aside from the the
twee wassail lyrics the only way it could be considered medieval is that it
makes good background music for a game of D&D. That's not to say it's a bad
song, it's in fact a very good Gentle Giant track, it's just not at all
medieval.
"Knots" is what I like to think of as Gentle Giant's version of "We Have
Heaven". However, while I quite like the track by Yes, this is clearly the
superior song. The above mentioned "Think of Me With Kindness" is a sentimental
ballad, with a fairly straightforward but beautiful melody. Somehow it manages
to never quite cross that line which would make it a mawkish ballad for me,
though people's opinions may vary on this point.
While this is a very solid effort, there is probably a little too much reserve
on this album. Certainly there's a lot of daring in terms of harmony and
arrangement, but in spite of a few strong moments with the guitar, there's just
not enough emotion generated on this album for me. Gentle Giant fans will
strongly disagree on this point, I suspect.
In all, Octopus is one of the best albums from this seminal progressive rock
band. Anybody who likes Gentle Giant will love this album. Those who have not
yet been indoctrinated should refer to the more accessible Three Friends first.
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