ALBUM REVIEW: Gentle Giant - Octopus

    Few progressive rock outfits are as colorful and quirky as Gentle Giant has proven to be. Last time we checked in on the group, their 1971 album Acquiring the Taste did wonders in showcasing Gentle Giant's musical virtuosity of every member while also providing some certifiably mind-bending progressive rock moments, complex and layered even by the towering standards of the genre's technical barrier. While I perhaps wasn't fully acquired with the group from their second album, I was still certainly able to recognize their immense skill, and eagerly awaited for more from the group to grace my ears. Well, in 1972 they released two album; Octopus was the second of those two, and I'm sure someday I'll get back to listening to Three Friends (the first 1972 album), but that's not tantamount at the moment. What is tantamount is just how spectacular their sea-bearing monster of an album is, featuring the very same musical variation and colors that made Acquiring the Taste as fascinating as it was, while also being far more consistent in quality. The resulting fruits of this album's labor is a progressive album with plenty of variety and a surprising amount of brevity and restraint for the genre - if any prog album could be short, sweet, and to the point, it's very likely to be this one. Octopus is an eight-song marvel, and one of the most fascinating progressive rock albums I've heard in recent memory.

    One of the immediate things that struck me with this album in comparison to Acquiring the Taste was just how much it reminded me of other prog outfits at points - not in a rip-off sense, far from it, but more in the ways they incorporated certain sounds. The focus on medieval stylings on songs like "Raconteur Troubadour" drew to mind groups like Genesis and Jethro Tull in its sound, as did the truly fantastic album opener "The Advent of Panurge", but more on that later. Other moments drew to mind imagery from the Mothers of Invention like the off-kilter rhythms and moments of "The Boys in the Band", and a moment like "Dog's Life" brings to mind imagery of Yes tracks that serve as a Steve Howe show-off. It's a bold pushing through of genres (did I mention the classical influence throughout?), but one that not only holds true to progressive rock, but also one that keeps the distinctive voice of Gentle Giant - while I draw comparisons to plenty of other prog groups, the music maintains a certain complexity and style that's distinct to the group. The best example of this is in the group's vocalists that feature on the album. Whether it's Kerry Minnear's gentle vocals on "Think of Me With Kindness" or the powerful Derek Shulman vocals on "A Cry for Everyone", GG's vocals standout throughout the album, some parts gentle and other parts desperate. This is all without mentioning the fantastic instrumental performances throughout, best displayed on tracks like the all instrumental "The Boys in the Band" or the climactic album closer in "The River" - it all makes for one of the genre's most textured releases, and even compared to the eccentricities of Acquiring the Taste, it stands a head above.

     It helps that the album, moment for moment, is also an improvement on Acquiring the Taste, and showcases some of the best from the group yet. I feel that I may have already leveled enough praise at the opening "Advent of Panurge", but I will continue regardless - what a powerful start! Interesting structure and inventive playing meshes well with the song's chaotic energy, also serving as a great spiritual successor to "Pantagruel's Nativity" that began Acquiring the Taste. Both make great opening moments, but for my money "Panurge" is one of the group's strongest numbers. The previously mentioned "Raconteur Troubadour" and the side-closing "Knots" both have fascinating influence from sea shanty songs, with the latter containing the classic cacophony of sounds and textures that is almost certainly a staple of Gentle Giant at this point - both prove interesting lists, that's for sure. "Dog's Life" is a lovely, chamber folk-y track which proves a sweet moment during the album's second half. "Think of Me With Kindness" is a surprisingly pop-y moment from the album, but one of the enduring moments if there ever was one. It's reminiscent not so much of progressive rock as it is an art pop song, but I'm not one for complaining when the material is still this good. There's also the powerful closer with "River", an off-kilter progressive number with some of the group's most attention-grabbing playing on the record yet. It's a fantastical way to close out the record, grand in sound and style. The album carries us through all of these moments with amazing brevity, too; in a genre where side-long songs are a norm, no song goes over 6 minutes on this 34-minute album. I gotta respect a progressive album with some restraint.

    The early 1970s gave way to the blossoming of progressive rock, but its albums like Octopus that show how the genre became so great in the first place. Endlessly creative musical textures mesh together with top-tier musicianship to create a very colorful encapsulation of the genre. Gentle Giant have grown a remarkable amount in the year after the already impressive Acquiring the Taste; at the end of that review, I remarked that I may still have some acquiring to do myself when it came to the band. Well, I've certainly got the taste for them on Octopus, which isn't solely an improvement on their previous album, but one that boldly pushes forward for the group into even more creative territory; it's an eight-songed album, stretching to various musical flavors throughout, all with the beating heart of progressive rock at the center of it. Octopus? fitting name in that respect.

RATING: ✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯✯

Listen to Octopus.