It is the year of Foxtrot, Close To The Edge, Trilogy, Thick As A Brick and so on. Great era. When you listen to the following songs make sure that you listen to the last two songs- "Mr Class and Quality" and "Three Friends" - together. Though they are two songs they belong together and listening to them separately is not near to half the fun.
Ahhh, the G's... a band you can never revisit too soon. Wonderful, complex stuff, both music, and vocals. I've typed it before, and i'll type it again... no one does it quite like the G's.
It's a very good album and contains some of my favorite Gentle Giant songs. The next one, "School Days", is one of them. The concept of this album comes from Phil Shulman. When he left the band were unsure if they should continue. Malcolm Mortimer is a good drummer. Unfortunately his time with the band was cut short by a motorcycle accident. However, his replacement John Weathers proved to be the perfect fit for the band.
This was my first GG album and still is one of my all time favourite concept albums. The best way to listen to this album would have been two tracks at a time and despite you took another path I strongly suggest that you do this with the last two tracks. They are inseparable.
Great review... looking forward to the rest of the album! Three Friends was my first (way back in the day... lol). Mr Class and Quality is another all time fav of mine... when you get to that one I suggest tacking on Three Friends (the song) at the same time (there is no gap). I have been revisiting the GG catalog lately and and really getting into Glass House and Interview (not sure why there are the Interview haters???). Ironically Power and Glory has never made it into the top 5 for me... will have to spin it a few more times... :)
This is my favorite GG album, it seems (to me) to be the most cohesive. Mr. Class and Quality/Three Friends must be done in one sitting. You’ll see why.
This is one of my most endearing Concept Albums and nostalgic favorite for its uniqueness along with their magnificent 2nd album "Acquiring the Taste". Here GG are still evolving into their distinct signature sound yet managed to create a very mesmerizing memorable atmospheric tale of charming journey into the lives of 3 childhood friends. FIVE 🌟!!! Excellence
The vocals of Gentle Giant have held me back from being a bigger fan, but their music itself is fantastic; this one has strong King Crimson "Fracture" vibes going on in places...
This is an excellent GG album. Perhaps their most straightforward early offering. I always got the impression that they were aiming for more commercial success with this album, not by dumbing things down, but by straightening things out a little. This is often the GG album I suggest as a starting point for anyone unfamiliar with the band. I’m looking forward to the rest!
One of my favorites by Gentle Giant! Can't wait until you do "Schooldays" which is perhaps their best song. Ive also got to recommend the swedish band "Samla Mammas Manna" which is in a similar vein to Gentle Giant in terms of experimentation. React to the song Dundrets Fröjder!
Laying helpless as a baby, watching the sunlight stream through the windows, it occurs to me, that God must be a Gentle Giant! And Love and light are the Prologues! Peace to all, human & beast, it's not an ending, no not in the least. But the beginning, of a magical musical feast!
Gentle Giant might be the most under-rewarded prog band from the 70s - I say under-rewarded rather than underrated because almost any prog fan that I encounter these days rates them extremely highly. The albums sold OK in the US and Europe but never charted in the UK. This is one of their best (five or six could be said to be so) and is worth a track-by-track listen as you intend but do remember the concept. A reunion of some members to do GG material at live gigs in 2009 took the name 'Three Friends' rather than Gentle Giant. Shame I missed them then.
I saw one of those concerts and I got astonished. I was caught by surprise, for I went to the venue to see the headliner, not knowing or expecting anything of the openers. What a performance! The bass player, wow! If course, the guitar is obvious, but the bass was so inventive and exact and fast... I could believe it! And I knew Gentle Giant already! I have Octopus for years. That is to say that Three Friends almost made me forget the headliner. And now you all ask: Who was the headliner? No other than Peter Hammill himself, solo (my first and I think it will be only concert from him...) Geezz...
I think they played the full album. I checked now (seen for the first time since), this video from that concert : m.ruclips.net/video/qq_SlbgrJ4E/видео.html
This album was my first contact with Gentle Giant. I wanted the latest (then: Octopus) but it was sold out. So I bought the previous. I was not disappointed, but it is easier today! Inside the cover is drawings of the three friends while adult (spoiler alert: you were right about class). Samla Mammas Manna (later "von Zamla") was mentioned. Give them some attention! Some inspiration from Gentle Giant and Frank Zappa + some Swedish music tradition. "Circus Apparatha" is another song suggestion. My favourite is the instrumental album "Snorungarnas Symfoni" (1976) built traditionally in four pieces.
This is my favorite Gentle Giant album. All songs are smooth and well produced. The bass line at the start of the song Three Friends is simple yet brilliant.
Interesting concept, didn’t surprise me with anything not GG. Pretty good. I like them better than other bands you’ve done lately. Nuff said, they’re listening.
What a great album, loved the reaction too. I'm sure you'll really like the next song and the rest. I'm pretty sure that I saw Malcolm Mortimore in the 70's with G.T. Moore.
I know I’m a bit late, but I’m so happy your listening to this album. There are some moments on this one that I know you are gonna love and I know I’m not the first one to say this, but I would Strongly Suggest you listening to the last two tracks back to back. Either way you can never go wrong with GG
Hi Justin. Love your cheerful, glowing enthusiasm for this band (you're Like The Sun!). Wasn't a big fan of GG in the 70s, but you've really turned me on to them. Couldn't decide on what to buy so I went for the 2-CD compilation Edge Of Twilight - it's got four tracks from this album. P.S. My song ref Like The Sun is by Judie Tzuke, from another excellent 2-CD compilation Moon On A Mirrorball, recommended to me by Judie herself when I saw her live a while back.
God...I love this album! All the songs are great. My favorites are "Peel the Paint, and "Mister Class & Quality?" especially the second half of the song at about the 3:00 mark...get ready to turn up your speaker volume to full on OG. Thanks JP for starting the listen on this superb album.
I've always found Three Friends to be a curious and truly unique album in the Gentle Giant discography. This one is less experimental than the previous album Acquiring the Taste but it keeps some aspects of it and also points in the direction of the upcoming album Octopus. I find there's a bit of melancholy or nostalgia at times, especially in the choirs. Of the first four Gentle Giant albums with Phil Shulman, this is my favourite tied with Octopus.
Yeah, this might be the most direct and "heartstring-tugging" Gentle Giant album (not a group whose calling card is typically emotional fervor) and the only one that dips into the kind of Big Mellotron Energy vibe that was a major part of early prog rock. But they did it without becoming soundalikes or sacrificing any of their Gentle Giant-ness. For a long time I didn't rate it that highly in their discography, but it has really grown in stature for me over the years.
Their first album to chart in the US, reaching the dizzying heights of #197 on the BIllboard 200. Boy, did this band deserve better. This album also, I believe, sets the record for "number of Shulmans appearing on a Gentle Giant album", with Phil, Ray, and Derek augmented by the voice of Phil's son Calvin.
Justin , I really enjoy your reactions but particularly , how you embrace bands/ music from this golden era of prog . GG has always been my favourite prog band of the era . They are just so clever . This album I just keep coming back to as my fave of the GG releases , and that’s saying something ! Cannot wait until your next exploration into this timeless work . You will not be disappointed ! PS I second that advice that recommends listening to the last two tracks in succession , without a break . Please keep it coming 👍
You're going to get a lot of people saying this is their fave GG album. I personally put the trio of Octopus / Power and the Glory / In a Glass House at the top, but this comes very close behind. Let's face it -- any GG album with Phil Shulman involved was special. Malcolm Mortimore did a good job on drums, but most fans agree that John Weathers was THE drummer for GG. It was nice to see MM get a second shot when the great Three Friends project with Gary Green and Kerry Minnear happened around 2010. I REALLY hope the Shulmans get off their high horse and let those guys continue while they're all still with us.
If The Power & The Glory remains your favourite so far, then I predict Free Hand will be the one to wrestle the title away. Which doesn't mean you won't get a kick out of Three Friends, whose sole "defect" are the drums. Having discovered them with In A Glass House and working my way back, i missed John Weathers' input when i got to this one. But Schooldays, and the Mister Class & Quality/Three Friends suite are strong contenders for a Top Ten list of best GG tracks.
Great to hear you getting back to some GG. One of my favourite bands, but personally I didn't like any of their album cover designs except for Roger Dean's version of 'Octopus'.
Thought I knew this before it started. I was wrong! I've been mistaking it for another of their songs. It was fantastic. (But then it's Gentle Giant, so why would it not be?) Anyway, thanks. You've become an excellent source of new music (reason enough to subscribe, on its own.)
Most of my friends and acquaintances have emigrated (I've kept in touch with more school friends than university friends, actually; only ones I mainly lost touch with were the army friends). They add up to quite a loss to this country (and if you analysed the reasons they left, you'll find the big reason was crime. Our government isn't interested in dirty, petty stuff like dealing with crime, and it gets rid of people like my emigrated friends quite nicely. They'd have gotten used to it if they'd stuck around, though.) Let's see. One friend was the head of the biggest hospital for the criminally insane when the Messiah took over (sorry, sarcasm - and I think at heart he was a good man for all that, so you'd think I'd desist). He had a patient who assassinated the worst apartheid Prime Minister, but felt bad about it. (Because he killed another human being). The Party wanted to make a hero of him (a "news-hero" for maybe 3 minutes here and there, occasionally, when it was useful to use him so) and he wanted to just be left alone. His doctor told them they weren't allowed to use him. So he got pushed out. Went to Australia. Set up as a private psychiatrist there. Has probably found new ways to do something good with his life there. Unfortunately, not here. Crime levels would've tipped the scales thataway. (It was quite weird. There I am watching TV one day, and suddenly there's my mate talking to them on the news.) Another mate was going to work till pension at the then state-owned telecoms company, as a technician. He had to go. Ultimately ended up in Australia. (Knew someone else less well who worked as a scientist at the standards bureau. Got retrenched, and about a month later they realized only he knew how to do his job, so they asked him to come back. So he went back for a half day on Wednesdays as a consultant at something like three times what his salary had been. Not a huge amount of money, because the old government didn't believe in paying people well. Still, it was probably a stupid move on their part. And on top of that he then knew not to give too many secrets away. Don't want to cook the goose that lays the silver eggs.) In the old days, it was the guys whose disgust at the idea of being conscripted into fighting for evil generally pushed them to leave. I have a cousin who's a statistician (who referees or whatever it's called peoples doctoral theses from all over the world) who went to Australia to avoid having anything to do with the old government. Most people just took the yoke, and then malingered whenever the officers weren't watching. That's a safer level of lack of enthusiasm for that cause. (I don't feel bad about "working for King Rat" and stealing things, and generally getting up to shady business. If I was a better man, I'd have left, though. Some react by being principled, and others react by crime or drug abuse. I hear the Soviets used to get drunk on work days as a kind of resistance. I get it. I think my cousin wouldn't.) Sorry, but you put me on the thought of what's become of my school friends, and this is where that kind of thought takes me. All gone. Not quite all gone, but definitely a significant majority. I don't think it was just a matter of getting sick of this "reconciliation" stuff (not so sure what that word means, now). Just a simple matter of one day deciding that the neighbours being murdered last night is the point where enough is enough. Or maybe getting hijacked. (I have an uncle who moved to Australia who was hijacked - at gunpoint, with at least one case where his life felt like it was in the balance - THREE TIMES. This shit is out of control.) Reconciliation works pretty well between individuals without political connections. It's when it gets in the hands of the politicians that it becomes one of the things that make you wonder what's the point. But crime? Lots and lots of violent crime? That can add up to that one incident too many. You can't just avoid it like you can avoid the politicians.
Bought this 3 years ago after reading comments by Field Music fans that compared em to , oh u know, everyone in the world of music - and then, Gentle Giant; who deserved to be thought of as a band in their own new musical err, field. In the meantime, a commenter below mentioned our Jude. Do it JP. 23K subscribers is code for judie tzuKe, shirley. Start from the start or just dive in. As diverse as GG? Debatable. More beautiful. Without a Doubt! Diolch. PS: Alternatively, do yourself a favour . "Plumb" from 2012 lasts 33 mins. Do a Whole album listen of it on yer own in the car and I guarantee you'll be hooked. Fishy got a hook in his throat n all that....Oh back in the SEA .... Please don't forget the single G boys 3x3 ep ok JP? That would be careless. X
@@sylvanm4216 Maybe Justin will like the album or not... we'll see about that when the time comes ! It's not the more pop or watered-down aspect that puts me off on Giant For A Day! but the blandness of the pieces. In a pop-rock style Civilian is infinitely superior to it and even to the previous one The Missing Piece. Actually, Civilian is one of my favourites from Gentle Giant !
Coming more upto date, I'd love to see a review of one of my favourite newer bands, The Editors. They have recorded some fantastic albums, An End Has a Start and The Weight of Your Love to name a couple. Racing Rats, Bones, Escape the Nest, Honesty and Formaldehyde, great tracks.
This is certainly a top 3 Gentle Giant albums for me. Masterpiece! This song got WAY heavier live, with Weathers on drums. And the next song "Schooldays" is one of their best songs ever.
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It is the year of Foxtrot, Close To The Edge, Trilogy, Thick As A Brick and so on. Great era. When you listen to the following songs make sure that you listen to the last two songs- "Mr Class and Quality" and "Three Friends" - together. Though they are two songs they belong together and listening to them separately is not near to half the fun.
And also Octopus from GG!
Easily, my favorite year for Prog rock.
I admire your discipline to be able to stop after just one song. I couldn't do it.
I think you will love Schooldays. And yes, listen to the last two songs at the same time!
Ahhh, the G's... a band you can never revisit too soon. Wonderful, complex stuff, both music, and vocals. I've typed it before, and i'll type it again... no one does it quite like the G's.
It's a very good album and contains some of my favorite Gentle Giant songs. The next one, "School Days", is one of them. The concept of this album comes from Phil Shulman. When he left the band were unsure if they should continue.
Malcolm Mortimer is a good drummer. Unfortunately his time with the band was cut short by a motorcycle accident. However, his replacement John Weathers proved to be the perfect fit for the band.
One of my top five albums all time. Amazing. Gentle Giant is different from all the other progressive bands, mainly due to the vocal harmonies.
Definitely, love that about them
This was my first GG album and still is one of my all time favourite concept albums. The best way to listen to this album would have been two tracks at a time and despite you took another path I strongly suggest that you do this with the last two tracks. They are inseparable.
very very very very very very true
That is essential, Love the whole album
That last track is literally heaven on earth and was MADE for listening with headphones. Oh JP, you lucky dog first time listening 😁
One of the most beautiful and emotional songs in rock music. And with a very interesting time signature as well!
Great review... looking forward to the rest of the album! Three Friends was my first (way back in the day... lol). Mr Class and Quality is another all time fav of mine... when you get to that one I suggest tacking on Three Friends (the song) at the same time (there is no gap). I have been revisiting the GG catalog lately and and really getting into Glass House and Interview (not sure why there are the Interview haters???). Ironically Power and Glory has never made it into the top 5 for me... will have to spin it a few more times... :)
This is my favorite GG album, it seems (to me) to be the most cohesive.
Mr. Class and Quality/Three Friends must be done in one sitting. You’ll see why.
This is one of my most endearing Concept Albums and nostalgic favorite for its uniqueness along with their magnificent 2nd album "Acquiring the Taste". Here GG are still evolving into their distinct signature sound yet managed to create a very mesmerizing memorable atmospheric tale of charming journey into the lives of 3 childhood friends. FIVE 🌟!!! Excellence
Three friends is my favorite GG album, for decades already.
Phil Shulman on lead vocal.
The vocals of Gentle Giant have held me back from being a bigger fan, but their music itself is fantastic; this one has strong King Crimson "Fracture" vibes going on in places...
That's my opinion too, but the corals are great!
This is an excellent GG album. Perhaps their most straightforward early offering. I always got the impression that they were aiming for more commercial success with this album, not by dumbing things down, but by straightening things out a little. This is often the GG album I suggest as a starting point for anyone unfamiliar with the band. I’m looking forward to the rest!
Schooldays is insanely complicated. I'd say Giant For A Day and Civilian are far more commercial offerings. Not that that's a bad thing.
One of my favorites by Gentle Giant! Can't wait until you do "Schooldays" which is perhaps their best song. Ive also got to recommend the swedish band "Samla Mammas Manna" which is in a similar vein to Gentle Giant in terms of experimentation. React to the song Dundrets Fröjder!
There really is no other song like Schooldays in rock music. Very unique!
Samla Mammas Manna! Now there's a name I've not heard in a minute. I second the rec.
Schooldays is a great song. I love this album.
Laying helpless as a baby, watching the sunlight stream through the windows, it occurs to me, that God must be a Gentle Giant! And Love and light are the Prologues! Peace to all, human & beast, it's not an ending, no not in the least. But the beginning, of a magical musical feast!
Gentle Giant might be the most under-rewarded prog band from the 70s - I say under-rewarded rather than underrated because almost any prog fan that I encounter these days rates them extremely highly. The albums sold OK in the US and Europe but never charted in the UK. This is one of their best (five or six could be said to be so) and is worth a track-by-track listen as you intend but do remember the concept. A reunion of some members to do GG material at live gigs in 2009 took the name 'Three Friends' rather than Gentle Giant. Shame I missed them then.
I saw one of those concerts and I got astonished. I was caught by surprise, for I went to the venue to see the headliner, not knowing or expecting anything of the openers. What a performance! The bass player, wow! If course, the guitar is obvious, but the bass was so inventive and exact and fast... I could believe it! And I knew Gentle Giant already! I have Octopus for years.
That is to say that Three Friends almost made me forget the headliner.
And now you all ask:
Who was the headliner?
No other than Peter Hammill himself, solo (my first and I think it will be only concert from him...)
Geezz...
I think they played the full album.
I checked now (seen for the first time since), this video from that concert :
m.ruclips.net/video/qq_SlbgrJ4E/видео.html
This album was my first contact with Gentle Giant. I wanted the latest (then: Octopus) but it was sold out. So I bought the previous. I was not disappointed, but it is easier today! Inside the cover is drawings of the three friends while adult (spoiler alert: you were right about class).
Samla Mammas Manna (later "von Zamla") was mentioned. Give them some attention! Some inspiration from Gentle Giant and Frank Zappa + some Swedish music tradition. "Circus Apparatha" is another song suggestion. My favourite is the instrumental album "Snorungarnas Symfoni" (1976) built traditionally in four pieces.
This is my favorite Gentle Giant album. All songs are smooth and well produced. The bass line at the start of the song Three Friends is simple yet brilliant.
This is a terrific album. Can't wait till you get to Peel the Paint. That might be Gentle Giant's best song.
The Riff! The guitar solo!
My favorite album of theirs. Every song a masterpiece.
GG has been my favorite band discovery from your channel. I’m looking forward to the rest of the album .
Interesting concept, didn’t surprise me with anything not GG. Pretty good. I like them better than other bands you’ve done lately. Nuff said, they’re listening.
A good start. I look forward to hearing the rest of the album.
What a great album, loved the reaction too. I'm sure you'll really like the next song and the rest. I'm pretty sure that I saw Malcolm Mortimore in the 70's with G.T. Moore.
I know I’m a bit late, but I’m so happy your listening to this album. There are some moments on this one that I know you are gonna love and I know I’m not the first one to say this, but I would Strongly Suggest you listening to the last two tracks back to back. Either way you can never go wrong with GG
That first drum break... still so impressive...
Hi Justin. Love your cheerful, glowing enthusiasm for this band (you're Like The Sun!). Wasn't a big fan of GG in the 70s, but you've really turned me on to them. Couldn't decide on what to buy so I went for the 2-CD compilation Edge Of Twilight - it's got four tracks from this album.
P.S. My song ref Like The Sun is by Judie Tzuke, from another excellent 2-CD compilation Moon On A Mirrorball, recommended to me by Judie herself when I saw her live a while back.
Alternatively, Bring the Rain eh? Good to see the slow roll towards Tzukeville gain momentum. Far too many great songs to ignore.
@@HippoYnYGlaw Too true.
Yes more of the giant. Still watching JP. Acquiring the taste is great . Power and the glory my fav.
God...I love this album! All the songs are great. My favorites are "Peel the Paint, and "Mister Class & Quality?" especially the second half of the song at about the 3:00 mark...get ready to turn up your speaker volume to full on OG. Thanks JP for starting the listen on this superb album.
I've always found Three Friends to be a curious and truly unique album in the Gentle Giant discography. This one is less experimental than the previous album Acquiring the Taste but it keeps some aspects of it and also points in the direction of the upcoming album Octopus.
I find there's a bit of melancholy or nostalgia at times, especially in the choirs. Of the first four Gentle Giant albums with Phil Shulman, this is my favourite tied with Octopus.
Yeah, this might be the most direct and "heartstring-tugging" Gentle Giant album (not a group whose calling card is typically emotional fervor) and the only one that dips into the kind of Big Mellotron Energy vibe that was a major part of early prog rock. But they did it without becoming soundalikes or sacrificing any of their Gentle Giant-ness. For a long time I didn't rate it that highly in their discography, but it has really grown in stature for me over the years.
@@sylvanm4216 Just like you, at first I wasn't super excited about Three Friends but it quickly became one of my favourites from Gentle Giant !
Oh man, you just started with one of my favorit all time Prog Records, Schooldays to do soon!
Love your joy in digging further into the GG catalogue... Great analysis...
This is the one album of theirs that I don't know at all... I'm excited to go on the journey with you!!
Their first album to chart in the US, reaching the dizzying heights of #197 on the BIllboard 200. Boy, did this band deserve better. This album also, I believe, sets the record for "number of Shulmans appearing on a Gentle Giant album", with Phil, Ray, and Derek augmented by the voice of Phil's son Calvin.
Justin ,
I really enjoy your reactions but particularly , how you embrace bands/ music from this golden era of prog .
GG has always been my favourite prog band of the era .
They are just so clever .
This album I just keep coming back to as my fave of the GG releases , and that’s saying something !
Cannot wait until your next exploration into this timeless work . You will not be disappointed !
PS I second that advice that recommends listening to the last two tracks in succession , without a break .
Please keep it coming 👍
Yay! Hoping you cruise through this sequence of songs in an expedient fashion, because I can't wait for your next reactions to it.
Malcolm Mortimore plays the heck outa the drums too! John got the gig only after Malcom busted his leg.
You should react to the band samla mammas manna. The songs: ”Långt ner i ett kaninhål” or ”Dundrets Fröjder”.
Samlas mammas manna are great!
GG is the epitome of prog rock.
You're going to get a lot of people saying this is their fave GG album. I personally put the trio of Octopus / Power and the Glory / In a Glass House at the top, but this comes very close behind. Let's face it -- any GG album with Phil Shulman involved was special. Malcolm Mortimore did a good job on drums, but most fans agree that John Weathers was THE drummer for GG. It was nice to see MM get a second shot when the great Three Friends project with Gary Green and Kerry Minnear happened around 2010. I REALLY hope the Shulmans get off their high horse and let those guys continue while they're all still with us.
Do Samla Mammas Manna! Check out "Dundrets Frojder" or "Ingenting i din hjarna/Liten Dialektik".
Yes! Samla Mammas Manna are the best!
If The Power & The Glory remains your favourite so far, then I predict Free Hand will be the one to wrestle the title away. Which doesn't mean you won't get a kick out of Three Friends, whose sole "defect" are the drums. Having discovered them with In A Glass House and working my way back, i missed John Weathers' input when i got to this one. But Schooldays, and the Mister Class & Quality/Three Friends suite are strong contenders for a Top Ten list of best GG tracks.
I still predict that "Free Hand" will be your favorite album, when you get to it
I can’t believe they didn’t include this song in the remaster of Steven Wilson trilogy albums
Great to hear you getting back to some GG. One of my favourite bands, but personally I didn't like any of their album cover designs except for Roger Dean's version of 'Octopus'.
I thought the album cover was a picture of an elephant for so long until I looked closer and saw it was 3 people sitting.
Thought I knew this before it started. I was wrong! I've been mistaking it for another of their songs. It was fantastic. (But then it's Gentle Giant, so why would it not be?) Anyway, thanks. You've become an excellent source of new music (reason enough to subscribe, on its own.)
Most of my friends and acquaintances have emigrated (I've kept in touch with more school friends than university friends, actually; only ones I mainly lost touch with were the army friends). They add up to quite a loss to this country (and if you analysed the reasons they left, you'll find the big reason was crime. Our government isn't interested in dirty, petty stuff like dealing with crime, and it gets rid of people like my emigrated friends quite nicely. They'd have gotten used to it if they'd stuck around, though.)
Let's see. One friend was the head of the biggest hospital for the criminally insane when the Messiah took over (sorry, sarcasm - and I think at heart he was a good man for all that, so you'd think I'd desist). He had a patient who assassinated the worst apartheid Prime Minister, but felt bad about it. (Because he killed another human being). The Party wanted to make a hero of him (a "news-hero" for maybe 3 minutes here and there, occasionally, when it was useful to use him so) and he wanted to just be left alone. His doctor told them they weren't allowed to use him. So he got pushed out. Went to Australia. Set up as a private psychiatrist there. Has probably found new ways to do something good with his life there. Unfortunately, not here. Crime levels would've tipped the scales thataway. (It was quite weird. There I am watching TV one day, and suddenly there's my mate talking to them on the news.)
Another mate was going to work till pension at the then state-owned telecoms company, as a technician. He had to go. Ultimately ended up in Australia. (Knew someone else less well who worked as a scientist at the standards bureau. Got retrenched, and about a month later they realized only he knew how to do his job, so they asked him to come back. So he went back for a half day on Wednesdays as a consultant at something like three times what his salary had been. Not a huge amount of money, because the old government didn't believe in paying people well. Still, it was probably a stupid move on their part. And on top of that he then knew not to give too many secrets away. Don't want to cook the goose that lays the silver eggs.)
In the old days, it was the guys whose disgust at the idea of being conscripted into fighting for evil generally pushed them to leave. I have a cousin who's a statistician (who referees or whatever it's called peoples doctoral theses from all over the world) who went to Australia to avoid having anything to do with the old government. Most people just took the yoke, and then malingered whenever the officers weren't watching. That's a safer level of lack of enthusiasm for that cause. (I don't feel bad about "working for King Rat" and stealing things, and generally getting up to shady business. If I was a better man, I'd have left, though. Some react by being principled, and others react by crime or drug abuse. I hear the Soviets used to get drunk on work days as a kind of resistance. I get it. I think my cousin wouldn't.)
Sorry, but you put me on the thought of what's become of my school friends, and this is where that kind of thought takes me. All gone. Not quite all gone, but definitely a significant majority. I don't think it was just a matter of getting sick of this "reconciliation" stuff (not so sure what that word means, now). Just a simple matter of one day deciding that the neighbours being murdered last night is the point where enough is enough. Or maybe getting hijacked. (I have an uncle who moved to Australia who was hijacked - at gunpoint, with at least one case where his life felt like it was in the balance - THREE TIMES. This shit is out of control.) Reconciliation works pretty well between individuals without political connections. It's when it gets in the hands of the politicians that it becomes one of the things that make you wonder what's the point. But crime? Lots and lots of violent crime? That can add up to that one incident too many. You can't just avoid it like you can avoid the politicians.
Bought this 3 years ago after reading comments by Field Music fans that compared em to , oh u know, everyone in the world of music - and then, Gentle Giant; who deserved to be thought of as a band in their own new musical err, field.
In the meantime, a commenter below mentioned our Jude. Do it JP.
23K subscribers is code for judie tzuKe, shirley. Start from the start or just dive in. As diverse as GG? Debatable. More beautiful. Without a Doubt!
Diolch.
PS: Alternatively, do yourself a favour . "Plumb" from 2012 lasts 33 mins. Do a Whole album listen of it on yer own in the car and I guarantee you'll be hooked.
Fishy got a hook in his throat n all that....Oh back in the SEA ....
Please don't forget the single G boys 3x3 ep ok JP?
That would be careless.
X
GG never disappoint.
@@Katehowe3010 I can only agree with you and Giant For A Day! can attest to that.
@@a.k.1740 I suspect that Justin will actually quite like Giant for a Day if he ever gets to it....much to the chagrin of some of his viewers. 🫢
@@sylvanm4216 Maybe Justin will like the album or not... we'll see about that when the time comes !
It's not the more pop or watered-down aspect that puts me off on Giant For A Day! but the blandness of the pieces. In a pop-rock style Civilian is infinitely superior to it and even to the previous one The Missing Piece. Actually, Civilian is one of my favourites from Gentle Giant !
Gentle Giant. Always Gog approved. ;)
Great. One of the GG albums I haven't heard, yet.
Very solid underrated album from them! My personal favorite tune is “Peel the Paint”
What a nice discovery (for me😁
Coming more upto date, I'd love to see a review of one of my favourite newer bands, The Editors. They have recorded some fantastic albums, An End Has a Start and The Weight of Your Love to name a couple. Racing Rats, Bones, Escape the Nest, Honesty and Formaldehyde, great tracks.
Good ! next please Mister class and quality ? + three friends . Je me suis forcé pour t'écrire en anglais ;-)
This is certainly a top 3 Gentle Giant albums for me. Masterpiece! This song got WAY heavier live, with Weathers on drums. And the next song "Schooldays" is one of their best songs ever.
Finally!
This what when you know to much about music tuners out real good just like Robert fripp
Huh?
That makes no sense at all.
Still a little way to go to Tommy, why don't you do something for 23k subscribers - like take off your cap? 😉😇
As a big GG fan, this album (aside from Peel the Paint) doesn't work for me. I consider it an odd stumble between classics.
I consider it their crowning glory.
Are they the best band ever ? Maybe.
Absolutely the answer is yes.
Yeah more prog rock