This whole album In a Glass House (1973) (hence the breaking glass sound at the intro turning into a glass percussion beat) is a real masterpiece telling the tale of a runaway in very subtle yet vibrant ways. You should carry on with it to the end. Also I highly suggest a song from the year before called THE ADVENT OF PANURGE from the album Octopus. Great reaction, L33. Best wishes to your loved ones.🙏
Thank you Robert I appreciate it so much. 🙏 I will definitely be checking out more from them, I really liked this. Subtle yet vibrant is a great set of words to describe this.
IaGH was the album I used to introduce friends to GG (way back then). It worked, because I ended up seeing all of them (as well as siblings, bandmates, etc.) at a GG show in 1977.
Gentle Giant has a very interesting history. I suggest a live version of Funny Ways to see the virtuosity of this great prog band. I'm glad your family is doing well.
GG is a true original. They were oozing with multi instrumental talent and musical virtiuosity. One of the most unique bands ever. Repeated listening is required and rewarding. Their brains were wired differently. Even their most commercial output towards the end of their career is still miles ahead of some other bands. Hail to the power and the glory of GG!
Runaway is indeed a very good way to get introduced with this unique band. Glad to see reaction to this great track. You have such a long way to go now, enjoy!
Astonishing band. “Pugwash” Weathers is an underrated drummer, and the whole band chips in on various kinds of percussion throughout their catalog. Every member was a talented multi instrumentalist. Utterly unique. You literally cannot miss from anything on GG’s first eight studio albums. You have much brilliant music to discover. (Of course, Haken took inspiration from GG!) Sorry to hear about your difficulties. I’m at least sending some good vibes!
Thank you, we really need it right now! This was so many different things at once that are unique and creative. And the vocals are so distinct that it adds the perfect amount of umph to it. Haken owe these guys a lot.
First heard them on the radio in 1970, been a huge fan ever since, and still listen to this album, and Octopus and others to this day. True musicians to a man 🎉
@@1359401 They are Fantastic and always great fun with lots of energy on stage !! I was lucky to grow up in the Classic era around Boston and seen GG in concert 5 times from 1974'-1977' and opening act on 4 of those shows for Jethro Tull, Yes, Frampton etc and they always Killed it !! 👍🎶
This is a very good starting point into the music and style of Gentle Giant. In a Glass House is about halfway through their 70's run of albums, and is square in middle of their most successful sequence of albums. "The Runaway" is a relatively accessible and easy-listening GG song. They can be very daunting for the casual rock, metal or even prog fan to get into. That opening sequence of breaking glass was all done with tape machines, pre-sequencers and samplers. Keyboard player Kerry Minnear -- who was a main writer in the band -- was heavily into Renaissance-period music, which is why there's tons of counterpoint and skipping about. Plus everyone in the band were accomplished multi-instrumentalists, which they liked to show off at every opportunity.
The live version of “Free Hand” is a must The videos on RUclips Gentle Giant was a musical influence on Kansas and their earlier Prog stuff And yep, GG was another Prog giant (lol) We were extremely spoiled musically in the 70s
@@olias056 when the “worst” music was disco and that was still played by real musicians and sung by great vocalists you knew you were living in a special musical time 😀🎵
I can totally hear Kansas in this now that you mentioned it. That's crazy. I hear Genesis too! Almost firth of fifth-y. I loved it. And yes you were. I honestly wish a musical revolution like this would happen for my generation. The closest thing we have had to this was not organic and original. Lol
@@L33Reacts Record companies took chances back then because they could Musicians couldn’t hide behind technology so they had to deliver the goods And there was so much musical competition to outdo the other band (friendly of course) that it pushed bands to their creative edge Steve Hackett mentions this re: Yes when both groups (Genesis & Yes) were in their prime Punk kinda killed the Prog scene in the late 70’s (which rebelled against what they termed excessive). While punk was a bit of fun to listen to, it didn’t hold a candle to this stuff. Then Record labels were pressured to make bands more accessible or commercial so Prog groups either had to adapt or faded into obscurity There are still some pockets of musical creativity but certainly quite a bit less than back then Records really don’t exist nowadays because of streaming so why bother unless you are an established group I’m not an old fogey either haha, but it’s real cool to see a new generation discover this golden age of music we grew up with And these Prog concerts were $8.50 a ticket back then and you sat close LOL
This was the very first GG I ever heard back in 1973 when my brother brought the album home and put it on the radiogram. At the ripe old age I was into YES, Pink Floyd and Genesis, so GG didn't sound too out there Prog was normalised in my brain. In a way that wasn't a good thing because I didn't fully appreciate just how fecking awesome the band was. I heard a bit of Rush at one point, a bit of 2112 I think, but with GG it's a piece in the complex sound collage. Sheer effin poetry.
My favorite all-time band (not far from two others: Yes and Van der Graaf Generator). Don't forget this intro was done way before computers helped in composing. Your comparison with computer music is a good one: one of the main composer of the band, Ray Shulman, bass player, later composed musics for video games in the 90'. All their albums are great especially their middle period, from this album on to the album Interview. They were all multi instrumentists.
They were one of the tightest band there was - and they did that live too, with all the different instruments. And unlike most other so-called progressive bands - GG never thought of themselves as that - they relied heavily on (different) rhythms, so then you have to be tight or else... Back in the day I´d often heard the name Gentle Giant, in the record shops their LP´s stood right after GENesis, but what the heck would they sound like? I swear, you never got the chance to hear just one little song of them on the radio. Only at one time a friend of mine recorded something that was played on the air. The name of the song was "Just the same" - and wow, what kind of music was it? Jazz-Rock with lyrics? From this first song on I was a fan of the band and today it is my most favorite one. Drummer John Weathers seemed to play in a more nondescript way than other drummers in Prog-Rock. But in fact he kept the very intricate, complicated stuff funky as no other proggers did with his off-beat style. Couldn´t praise him enough therefore. By the way - hear that bass of Ray Shulman in this song. And not only in this one. He surely was one of the best bassists around. By the way one more time - I would recommend the live version of the song "Free Hand".
I found the album used at a record store in about 1975 as a kid. It had a big old scratch right at the start. Didn't care. I found it used and felt blessed.
When it comes to musical talent and inventiveness - they're pretty unmatched. All members played multiple instruments. You should try a live recording. Glad you liked them. And after all, being a BtBaM fan, you're used to (and enjoying) music being all over the place 😁
Yeah I could honestly hear BTBAM in this. And Haken. A little genesis too. It was very different. The riffs and grooves sounded so modern. I will definitely check some live stuff out. I need to do it for Yes too.
I have been listen to them since 1973! I have seen them live in Stockholm 1976 They must be the best band ever You want to listen to them agai, right ?
The grooviest prog band of all time (Mr Class and Quality, Experience and many others). Yes, you really can dance to Gentle Giant (but not always). Check out guitarist Carl Baldassarre on RUclips highlighting some great Gentle Giant riffs.
Nice reaction to a brilliant band who use to open for Yes. Saw GG 4 times and they're better live just like Yes. Must see live version of On Reflection. 🙏🍁
If you're interested in actually seeing GG, here's a really good quality video of the song 'Free Hand': ruclips.net/video/vMrYSTzqFI8/видео.htmlsi=ukh1GwWWwQ5_i3UG. GG were known for doing differently arranged versions, of their already complexly-arranged songs, when they performed them live.
I can hear the folk roots in this. It also reminds me of Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention. I never listened to them back in the 70s, so this is new to me. It's intriguing. Not easy on the ear due to the frequent changes in rhythm and style. That vocal line is very reminiscent of The Cockroach King by Haken. Very eccentric and very English. Just had a quick listen to Octopus. It's too disjointed for me, too free-form jazzy, but the musicianship is obviously top-notch.
I'm glad you liked it! Honestly, it might be unpopular, but I don't super love this album compared to their others. It's very dense and oftentimes will change things up at a breakneck speed that's hard to keep up with. This song is about the only exception to that. That said, if you like this song, you'll love just about anything from them. If you want more, I'd recommend Advent of Panurge and Free Hand (I wouldn't recommend the live version, but most people seem to disagree with me on that, so pick your poison there lol). Definitely hear you on the Cockroach King comparison. Haken was definitely inspired by Gentle Giant, especially the songs On Reflection and Knots. On Reflection is a great choice for reaction as well; it's one of their most beloved songs. Anyway, all the best!
I will definitely take a look at some of those. I really liked what I heard and there is so much room in this sound for creative riffs and grooves. Very modern sounding. And yeah, I immediately heard Haken and BTBAM in this lol 😆
...you owe it to yourself to do a full album playthrough of _Free Hand_ esp. the Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) remastered version which has noticeable clarity + dynamic range improvements :). Or - perhaps - the fan video version of _Proclamation_ which is more interesting then the studio version + you get to see these guys from COVID lockdown times. Have fun!
Your boys Haken are highly influenced by Gentle Giant. I'm old enough to have purchased these GG recordings when they came out in the 70's. As a result, I am a huge fan of bands such as Haken who have an affinity to these fundamentals of progressive composition established by bands like Gentle Giant.
HONESTLY we older fans who know this music when it was new don't relate and often don't enjoy the references and comparisons because there was nothing to compare these bands to then. Gentle Giant have great videos that you should watch next to see how they perform Live. They were the most entertaining of ALL the Progbands on stage. I saw them twice. Unfortunately they never achieved the type of success like some others though their career did last until 1980
This whole album In a Glass House (1973) (hence the breaking glass sound at the intro turning into a glass percussion beat) is a real masterpiece telling the tale of a runaway in very subtle yet vibrant ways. You should carry on with it to the end. Also I highly suggest a song from the year before called THE ADVENT OF PANURGE from the album Octopus. Great reaction, L33. Best wishes to your loved ones.🙏
Thank you Robert I appreciate it so much. 🙏 I will definitely be checking out more from them, I really liked this. Subtle yet vibrant is a great set of words to describe this.
IaGH was the album I used to introduce friends to GG (way back then). It worked, because I ended up seeing all of them (as well as siblings, bandmates, etc.) at a GG show in 1977.
Gentle Giant has a very interesting history. I suggest a live version of Funny Ways to see the virtuosity of this great prog band. I'm glad your family is doing well.
GG is a true original. They were oozing with multi instrumental talent and musical virtiuosity. One of the most unique bands ever. Repeated listening is required and rewarding. Their brains were wired differently. Even their most commercial output towards the end of their career is still miles ahead of some other bands. Hail to the power and the glory of GG!
I've been waiting for this! Best song to be introduced to. RiP Ray Shulman ❤
I loved it!! Thank you for watching. This was so creative and different.
Runaway is indeed a very good way to get introduced with this unique band. Glad to see reaction to this great track. You have such a long way to go now, enjoy!
It was great 👍I definitely want to listen to more now lol.
Astonishing band. “Pugwash” Weathers is an underrated drummer, and the whole band chips in on various kinds of percussion throughout their catalog. Every member was a talented multi instrumentalist. Utterly unique. You literally cannot miss from anything on GG’s first eight studio albums. You have much brilliant music to discover. (Of course, Haken took inspiration from GG!)
Sorry to hear about your difficulties. I’m at least sending some good vibes!
Thank you, we really need it right now! This was so many different things at once that are unique and creative. And the vocals are so distinct that it adds the perfect amount of umph to it. Haken owe these guys a lot.
Enjoy this rabbit hole
🤯🤯🤯
Its an amazing album by a truly unique, incredible band especially live. Glad you have found this rich vein of music to mine.
Thank you! I am too! I'm getting inspired EVERY day now in so many new and unexpected ways. I love it 😀
Turn it up. Those children need to hear!
First heard them on the radio in 1970, been a huge fan ever since, and still listen to this album, and Octopus and others to this day. True musicians to a man 🎉
Gentle Giant always better "Live" like most Classic Prog !!👍🎶🎸🎹🎤🎻🥁🎷🎼
Great live or studio and greatest most epic legendary unique genius band ever
@@1359401 They are Fantastic and always great fun with lots of energy on stage !! I was lucky to grow up in the Classic era around Boston and seen GG in concert 5 times from 1974'-1977' and opening act on 4 of those shows for Jethro Tull, Yes, Frampton etc and they always Killed it !! 👍🎶
This is a very good starting point into the music and style of Gentle Giant. In a Glass House is about halfway through their 70's run of albums, and is square in middle of their most successful sequence of albums. "The Runaway" is a relatively accessible and easy-listening GG song. They can be very daunting for the casual rock, metal or even prog fan to get into. That opening sequence of breaking glass was all done with tape machines, pre-sequencers and samplers. Keyboard player Kerry Minnear -- who was a main writer in the band -- was heavily into Renaissance-period music, which is why there's tons of counterpoint and skipping about. Plus everyone in the band were accomplished multi-instrumentalists, which they liked to show off at every opportunity.
The live version of “Free Hand” is a must
The videos on RUclips
Gentle Giant was a musical influence on Kansas and their earlier Prog stuff
And yep, GG was another Prog giant (lol)
We were extremely spoiled musically in the 70s
yes, we were very blessed. There was truly something for everyone during that time.
@@olias056 when the “worst” music was disco and that was still played by real musicians and sung by great vocalists you knew you were living in a special musical time 😀🎵
I can totally hear Kansas in this now that you mentioned it. That's crazy. I hear Genesis too! Almost firth of fifth-y. I loved it.
And yes you were. I honestly wish a musical revolution like this would happen for my generation. The closest thing we have had to this was not organic and original. Lol
@@L33Reacts Record companies took chances back then because they could
Musicians couldn’t hide behind technology so they had to deliver the goods
And there was so much musical competition to outdo the other band (friendly of course) that it pushed bands to their creative edge
Steve Hackett mentions this re: Yes when both groups (Genesis & Yes) were in their prime
Punk kinda killed the Prog scene in the late 70’s (which rebelled against what they termed excessive). While punk was a bit of fun to listen to, it didn’t hold a candle to this stuff.
Then Record labels were pressured to make bands more accessible or commercial so Prog groups either had to adapt or faded into obscurity
There are still some pockets of musical creativity but certainly quite a bit less than back then
Records really don’t exist nowadays because of streaming so why bother unless you are an established group
I’m not an old fogey either haha, but it’s real cool to see a new generation discover this golden age of music we grew up with
And these Prog concerts were $8.50 a ticket back then and you sat close LOL
I hate when people say gentle giant were ahead of their time they were of their time.
Saw them do this album live back when it was released at the Free Trade Hall Manchester, England. Life long fan...
A great band… they were all multi instrumentalists. They played all of it live. Blessed to see them 5 times.
The first 8 Gentle Giant albums are just one ass kicker after another. This should be a fun rabbit hole, if you choose to pursue it further
Kerry Minnear is a master of tuned percussion. His vibraphone solo on Funny Ways live is mind blowing.
This was the very first GG I ever heard back in 1973 when my brother brought the album home and put it on the radiogram.
At the ripe old age I was into YES, Pink Floyd and Genesis, so GG didn't sound too out there Prog was normalised in my brain.
In a way that wasn't a good thing because I didn't fully appreciate just how fecking awesome the band was.
I heard a bit of Rush at one point, a bit of 2112 I think, but with GG it's a piece in the complex sound collage.
Sheer effin poetry.
Would like more from this album. I don't think this is majority voting, but my favorite song on the album is the title track "In a Glass House".
Yes and Gentle Giant are my favorites bands
They are quite similar yet very different. But I need to hear more from GG to get a true grasp of their sound.
My favorite all-time band (not far from two others: Yes and Van der Graaf Generator). Don't forget this intro was done way before computers helped in composing. Your comparison with computer music is a good one: one of the main composer of the band, Ray Shulman, bass player, later composed musics for video games in the 90'. All their albums are great especially their middle period, from this album on to the album Interview. They were all multi instrumentists.
“A lot to take in.” I’ve been listening to GG since these records were new, and still find things I hadn’t noticed quite that way before.
GENTILE GIANT, OCTOPUS. THE MISSING PIECE, I HAVE THEIR FIRST 6 VINYLS. Amazing Band.
I love how they can go from classical chamber music to Black Sabbath hardness in one song. The true meaning of prog.
They were one of the tightest band there was - and they did that live too, with all the different instruments. And unlike most other so-called progressive bands - GG never thought of themselves as that - they relied heavily on (different) rhythms, so then you have to be tight or else...
Back in the day I´d often heard the name Gentle Giant, in the record shops their LP´s stood right after GENesis, but what the heck would they sound like? I swear, you never got the chance to hear just one little song of them on the radio. Only at one time a friend of mine recorded something that was played on the air. The name of the song was "Just the same" - and wow, what kind of music was it? Jazz-Rock with lyrics? From this first song on I was a fan of the band and today it is my most favorite one.
Drummer John Weathers seemed to play in a more nondescript way than other drummers in Prog-Rock. But in fact he kept the very intricate, complicated stuff funky as no other proggers did with his off-beat style. Couldn´t praise him enough therefore.
By the way - hear that bass of Ray Shulman in this song. And not only in this one. He surely was one of the best bassists around.
By the way one more time - I would recommend the live version of the song "Free Hand".
1973 - Way ahead of their time especially for the sounds!
Dude this sounds like it could come out tomorro. Craziness lol
This album was import only in the 70's and was considered to be the holy grail of records to find back then. It has a very cool die-cut cover.
I found the album used at a record store in about 1975 as a kid. It had a big old scratch right at the start. Didn't care. I found it used and felt blessed.
The internet has killed the thrill of the hunt for records.@@leoscone4036
When it comes to musical talent and inventiveness - they're pretty unmatched.
All members played multiple instruments. You should try a live recording. Glad you liked them. And after all, being a BtBaM fan, you're used to (and enjoying) music being all over the place 😁
Yeah I could honestly hear BTBAM in this. And Haken. A little genesis too. It was very different. The riffs and grooves sounded so modern. I will definitely check some live stuff out. I need to do it for Yes too.
Another great one 😀
This is from my only Gentle Giant album, "In a Glass House", which I really like.
There’s many live shows on You Tube to watch. I saw them 5 times in Philly in the 70s and they were great live!
I saw them in Philly at the Spectrum in the 70's as well.
Wait until you hear The Piwer snd the Glory album by GG, especially Cogs in Cogs🤯💯❤
That should of said The Power and the Glory. D'oh!
I have another GG song coming out this weekend
I have been listen to them since 1973! I have seen them live in Stockholm 1976
They must be the best band ever
You want to listen to them agai, right ?
Check out their perform "On Reflection" Live at BBC Sight & Sound in 1978.
The grooviest prog band of all time (Mr Class and Quality, Experience and many others). Yes, you really can dance to Gentle Giant (but not always). Check out guitarist Carl Baldassarre on RUclips highlighting some great Gentle Giant riffs.
When I introduced Gentle Giant to a friend he's response was that 'It sounds like medieval rock music'
Haken are massively influenced by Gentle Giant. Songs like "Cockroach King" are deliberate homages to GG.
Nice reaction to a brilliant band who use to open for Yes. Saw GG 4 times and they're better live just like Yes. Must see live version of On Reflection. 🙏🍁
If you're interested in actually seeing GG, here's a really good quality video of the song 'Free Hand': ruclips.net/video/vMrYSTzqFI8/видео.htmlsi=ukh1GwWWwQ5_i3UG. GG were known for doing differently arranged versions, of their already complexly-arranged songs, when they performed them live.
Prepare yourself the journey will be awesome.
I'm ready! This was a great start!
Please listen to Playing The Game!
I'll add It to the list! Thank you 😊
This band up there with Yes. Haken would not be around without them.
Yup. That's Gentle Giant, alright.
I can hear the folk roots in this. It also reminds me of Frank Zappa and The Mothers Of Invention. I never listened to them back in the 70s, so this is new to me. It's intriguing. Not easy on the ear due to the frequent changes in rhythm and style. That vocal line is very reminiscent of The Cockroach King by Haken. Very eccentric and very English. Just had a quick listen to Octopus. It's too disjointed for me, too free-form jazzy, but the musicianship is obviously top-notch.
You will love Zappa...
Yes Lite
I'm glad you liked it! Honestly, it might be unpopular, but I don't super love this album compared to their others. It's very dense and oftentimes will change things up at a breakneck speed that's hard to keep up with. This song is about the only exception to that. That said, if you like this song, you'll love just about anything from them. If you want more, I'd recommend Advent of Panurge and Free Hand (I wouldn't recommend the live version, but most people seem to disagree with me on that, so pick your poison there lol).
Definitely hear you on the Cockroach King comparison. Haken was definitely inspired by Gentle Giant, especially the songs On Reflection and Knots. On Reflection is a great choice for reaction as well; it's one of their most beloved songs.
Anyway, all the best!
I will definitely take a look at some of those. I really liked what I heard and there is so much room in this sound for creative riffs and grooves. Very modern sounding. And yeah, I immediately heard Haken and BTBAM in this lol 😆
And thank you so much I appreciate it. We are going through a rough spot right now but it will pass.
...you owe it to yourself to do a full album playthrough of _Free Hand_ esp. the Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) remastered version which has noticeable clarity + dynamic range improvements :).
Or - perhaps - the fan video version of _Proclamation_ which is more interesting then the studio version + you get to see these guys from COVID lockdown times.
Have fun!
GG = live for the heavier versions... Very different band live from studio performance.
Your boys Haken are highly influenced by Gentle Giant. I'm old enough to have purchased these GG recordings when they came out in the 70's. As a result, I am a huge fan of bands such as Haken who have an affinity to these fundamentals of progressive composition established by bands like Gentle Giant.
Octopus by Gentle Giant
Radiohead OK COMPUTER. BIG BIG TRAIN INGENIOUS DEVICES.
"Octopus" is killer, too.
Pizza on erf.
Dont talk so must but listning
HONESTLY we older fans who know this music when it was new don't relate and often don't enjoy the references and comparisons because there was nothing to compare these bands to then. Gentle Giant have great videos that you should watch next to see how they perform Live. They were the most entertaining of ALL the Progbands on stage. I saw them twice. Unfortunately they never achieved the type of success like some others though their career did last until 1980
Well that's one way to say that... lol
Dude.
Shut up and listen.
You talked through every subtle break in the song.
Dude
Shut up and listen.
You commented through the entire video and missed every nuance of my very extensive commentary 😂😂😂
What a fucking tool you are.
@@L33Reacts if your comments were "nuanced" in any manner, they might have been acceptable.