Customer Reviews

Acquiring the Taste

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I first listened to this album many years ago when my older sister gave me an original vinyl record. She had bought it on the recommendation of a friend but had no idea what to make of it. I listened to it a few times, thought it rather odd but interesting then filed it away and forgot about it for over twenty years. Some months ago while unpacking from a move, it fell out of a stack of records and I set up the turntable to give it a spin for old times sake. What a revelation! I've never heard a group that has tried such an ambitious and unique mix of styles and sounds. I suppose that my maturation has helped me to appreciate what I could not quite "get" as a teenager. It certainly does not contain any radio-friendly cuts, but if you have the time to sit and listen with an open mind you will be greatly rewarded. Especially "tasty" are "Black Cat", "Pantagruel's Nativity" and "The House, The Street". I have since listened to most of the later albums by the Giant but find that they pale in comparison. Could it have been the production by Tony Visconti that makes the difference? He seems to have been the "hidden hand" behind the seminal works of some other talented groups and artists in the early 70's. Whatever the secret, Aquiring the Taste is a remarkable achievement that has held up very well over the years.

"It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being very unpopular," read the 1971 liner notes to the second album by this unique British progressive rock band. At this remove, the statement sounds combative, even defensive, and time would show that Gentle Giant indeed would have liked to have won the kind of broad acclaim and sales enjoyed by such colleagues as Yes, Genesis, and Jethro Tull. Such, alas, was not to be, but their courage was impressive at the time, and over the course of a decade and nearly a dozen albums they would achieve their aesthetic goals and record some amazing and unforgettable work.

Sporting three lead vocalists at this point and playing an aggregate of more than 30 musical instruments in studio and on stage, Gentle Giant wedded classical to rock, madrigals to blues, and simple sweet ballads to near heavy metal and complex time signatures. Theirs was a music that demanded sophisticated musical taste and concentration of its listeners as much as emotion and an urge to dance.

Some Giant fans count this album among their favorites. I find it a bit too atmospheric and meandering on certain cuts, though never boring. "Edge of Twilight" is languid, dreamy, a little ominous, with an instrumental break that moves from delicate arpeggios and feathering of the keyboard to timpani and xylophone. "Black Cat" is another sly tune with electric guitar and keyboards quietly meowing under Kerry Minnear's understated vocal.

For the title cut Minnear plays a brief (1:36) and gentle Baroque theme on calliope-like keyboards that whistle and bomp in counterpoint.

By contrast, "Plain Truth" rocks hard as well as featuring bassist Ray Shulman's wonderful electrified blues violin on the intro and breaks, though at 7:36 it's a little long. "The House, The Street, The Room" similarly features brother Derek Shulman's shouting vocals and instrumental work that ranges from dramatic silent-movie piano quavering and gentle medieval bridges, to Gary Green's heavy blues electric guitar. During the instrumental section, harmony lines get chopped up and tossed around like confetti between xylophone, pizzicato violin, trumpet, harpsichord, guitar, recorder, and piano.

The band offers a sort of tragic sea chanty in "Wreck," with climbing vocal melodies over a hard beat, and rich, flowing instrumental bridges. "Pantagruel's Nativity," drawn from the same Rabelais literary classic that would inspire the superior "The Advent of Panurge" on the fourth album, is still one of the best cuts on this one: a wooh-ing Mellotron opens under Minnear's dreamiest vocals, Green's guitar punches in briefly, the keyboard tootles interesting harmonies like a flute or a bird under the second verse, Phil Shulman comments on trumpet, then there's a heavy blues break propelled by a buzzsaw guitar, pulling back to heavenly choral vocals in a minor key, then a vibes solo, and then....

If the album has a fault, it perhaps tries to do too much in many of the cuts, and the fusings aren't always organic. I give it three stars for the uninitiated, who might find it a bit too strange and challenging; listeners familiar with the above-named bands or, say, Caravan, Gryphon, or Nektar, would more likely give it four or more.

The band would take another album or two to get it right, and then for several years everything they did was brilliant.

I love what Gentle Giant wrote on the inside of their second album, 1971's "Acquiring The Taste": "It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being very unpopular." That pretty much sums up this daring British band, never achieving big commercial success in their 10 years together but not really caring either, as long as they made great music, and on their own terms. And they did. "Acquiring The Taste" is one of Gentle Giant's finest efforts, a superb prog-rock disc. My personal favorites: "Pantagruel's Nativity" is a stunning piece, with the band mixing classical, folk, rock, mellotron, and operatic vocals into a supreme musical blend. The title track is a brief but very-cool Moog synthesiser instrumental, courtesy of keyboardist Kerry Minnear. "Wreck" is a great rocker. "Black Cat" is one of my all-time favorite GG songs, a spooky little number with excellent string decorations throughout, and the 7 1/2 minute "Plain Truth" is another favorite Gentle Giant staple. The band's boldness, musicianship, and studio experimentation is mighty impressive on this album. "Acquiring The Taste" is another terrific prog-rock offering from the terrific Gentle Giant.

A lot of GG fans seem divided on this album. I'm defiantely on the positive side of the fence, and this album is a personal favourite of mine.
It all starts off with, what may very well be, the best GG song they ever wrote, and one of my favourite songs from any band, 'Pantraguel's Nativity'. You really have to hear this song to believe it, it's that good. The bass work, guitar work & keys are all written to perfection. The vocal section in the "chorus" still sends chills down my spine...

Up next is 'Edge of Twilight', a nice little track complete with timpani and xylophone, followed by 'The House, The Street, The Room". This is the second Gentle Giant song I ever heard, and one of the stronger songs on the album. It's a rocking tune, and pretty darn catchy, yet about as far as you can get from a "pop tune"...
The title track is a rather odd little instrumental by keyboardist Kerry Minnear. It's only short, and neither adds nor subtracts from my enjoyment of the album...

'Wreck', or as I like to call it, "The Pirate Song", is an enjoyable song, and the first Gentle Giant song I learnt to play on the bass! However I must admit I haven't added many more GG songs to my repertoire... not because I don't want to, simply because I *can't*!
'The Moon is Down' is a nice quiet track, with a fantastic middle section. The last two tracks, 'Black Cat' and 'Plain Truth' never really grew on me. 'Plain Truth' in particular was a song I never really warmed to, but the other fantastic songs on the album make up for it.
As with their debut, and the album that followed this one, these probably aren't a great starting point for new commers to the GG flock. This album in particular has a very... I guess you could say... eerie tone to it that isn't really prevelant in later albums, but It's something that I personally enjoy.

Gentle Giant were one of the truly great bands from the Seventies , their music was totally indefinable . Well I suppose that is not initially true , it was sort of a mixture of Rock/Jazz/Blues/ Progressive Rock/ Folk/ Medieval/Dance/ Pop/ Heavy Metal/Fusion/Classical/Big Band/New Age/World/ and of course original Gentle Giant sound . So as you can imagine it was just a little bit difficult to find the exact pigeon hole to file them under ,listening to them, you can only conclude that they should have had their own little section so everybody could find them.
The band started when the three brothers Shulman , Derek,Ray, and Phil, got fed up with life as part of Simon Dupree and The Big Sound , who were semi-famous for having a couple of hits in the late Sixties, most notably 'Kites' from 1967 . Wishing to go onto something with higher (sic) ideals than their pop band, like wise musicians were sort out . This search started in 1969 , when of course there was an absolute abundance of very talented muso's around all having been brought up on a heavy diet of Robert Johnson, Chuck Berry,Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones , Hendrix ,Vanilla Fudge,etc and were now ready to spread their own wings . A butterfly plucks a chord in Memphis can lead to a whole musical movement in London.
Three like-minded musicians were selected. Keyboard wizard Kerry Minear was obviously going to be a very useful limb to the Giant , as he could also sing lead vocals on the more rock orientated songs , plus play the odd bass note when Ray Shulman had other duties , Martin Smith got the seat behind the bins as he was found to be a drummer that was prepared to adapt to whatever musical style the rest decided to change to , even if it was three or four times during one song . Perhaps the pick of the bunch though was guitarist Gary Green , a guitarist who could either play his axe with great feeling picking his notes with passion and subtlety, or could knock you dead by turning round and playing so fast the wallpaper would strip from your walls.
So thus was the mighty Gentle Giant born in 1969, a very apt title as there was no doubt the strength of this musical group, nor was there any doubt in their charm and wit.
The first album was released in 1970, when really the Giant was just finding it's feet, it was really after a year on the road that the Giant reached it's full maturity , making their second album 'Acquiring the Taste' the first album that was to feel like the finished item.
There are eight numbers on 'Acquiring The Taste' all of which stand up on their own , but are much better suited to listen to as a complete album , as each track runs into the next , like new chapters of a page-turner novel that you just can't wait to get to and then when the next one starts you are already intrigued as to what the next bit is going to sound like . During the recording of this album the giants used over thirty different instruments between them , Gary Green the only member of the band allowed to stick to just one instrument . They used to also take all these different instruments with them on the road as well , which must have led to some very interesting stocktaking after gigs, and also used to cause much hilarity during the concert if a musician had to swap instruments half way through a song and upon putting the first one down would make a huge pantomime of trying to find the next one before the required solo was needed .
The liner notes for 'Acquiring The Taste' are perhaps the best description of Gentle Giant's music, in their own words so to speak .
" 'Acquiring the Taste' is the second phase of sensory pleasure .If you've gorged yourself on our first album, then relish the finer flavours ( We Hope) of this our second offering. It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary music at the risk of being very unpopular. We have recorded each composition with one thought-that it should be unique, adventurous, and fascinating. It has taken every shred of our combined musical knowledge to achieve this. From the outset we have abandoned all preconceived thoughts on blatant commercialism. Instead we hope to give you something far more substantial and fulfilling. All you need to do is acquire the taste ."
It may sound a little pretentious now , but considering that this was written nearly thirty five years ago, it does at least tell you that the giants heart was into trying to create something new and interesting. The music of Gentle Giant sounds as fresh and inventive today as it did then , cutting it's own swathe through the fields of modern music . Also the Giant's music is as indescribable now as it was then. The Gentle Giant had it's own particular musical swagger about it .
I think for any body that would like to shake hands with the Giant musically this their second album is as good as any , although for a band, whose music was so complex,and who seemed to be constantly on the road in the early seventies,( Three month tours of America were common place, and any large festival in Europe with out Gentle Giant just was not complete), they were very prodigious in the studio , producing between 1970 and 1975 eight albums. Gentle Giant (1970),Acquiring The Taste(1971) Three Friends(1972) Octopus(1972) In A Glass House(1973) .The Power And The Glory((1974),Freehand ( 1975). They also released a fine live album Playing The Fool (1977). I admit that both quality and quantity dropped off after this , and time finally caught up with the Giant in 1980 when the band called it a day .
After a new burst of appreciation for the Giant in the late nineties there have been many re-releases and compilation albums released ( The best result from this is probably the double CD called 'Edge Of Twilight ' which culls most of the best tracks from the Giants six first albums , and gives you over two and a half hours of music ) Amazon now stocks over ninety Gentle Giant titles , and I'm afraid if you wish to hear some of Gentle Giants music that is where you will have to go , as still today most music shops would not know quite how to market the Gentle Giant. Remember you can always listen to snippets of the music for free by downloading the SoundBits so you know what you are getting into before pressing the ' Proceed to checkout' button.
Mott The Dog.

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I listened to this last night - the first time I'd listened to it on about 10 years (not that I don't like it, just that I'm very busy).

I was so stunned. Now, I'd heard this many times before, enough that I could play the songs in my head (you kow what I mean?). But revisiting this was a minor epiphany.

GG makes the statement that they want to stretch the potential of popular music while running the risk of being very unpopular. They really didn't care who liked their music; it was important to them to experiment, and to develop their complexities.

This freedom comes shining through this excellent album! So powerful, and so imtimate.

Give it a few listens - it WILL grow on you!

You'll find yourself coming back to this again and again!

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This second outing by Gentle Giant is much more ambitious than their debut. The musical ideas here are also much more complicated. It takes repeated listenings for the power of this album to sink in. The highlights here, though, are excellent. "Plain Truth" is probably Gentle Giant's best song. "The House, The Street..." and "The Moon is Down" are also very memorable. This is probably not the best place to start if you're new to the band (Try Octopus or Free Hand first) but certainly this is an album that all established Gentle Giant fans must have.

I can't imagine that anyone would associate the overly complicated and mechanical music that Gentle Giant created with warmth, but this recording (along with "In a Glass House") would certainly make one more inclined to do so. The first thing that I noticed about "Acquiring the Taste" is the heavy use of synthesizers (including moog and mellotron), which is much more abundant than that on "Octopus" for example. In fact, the first track on the CD ("Pantagruel's Nativity") opens with a very soft, multi-part moog synthesizer line, with really nice mellotron parts laced throughout the rest of the piece. The title track, "Acquiring the Taste" is of course THE synthesizer piece, which just showcases the moog. The second aspect of this recording that gives it warmth are the arrangements themselves, which are simultaneously complex in the prog-rock sense yet more "rock" oriented than later recordings. Although many fans may find this early effort too "simple", I actually prefer the music at this stage of their development, which is considerably less dense and complicated, to recordings like "Three Friends" or "Octopus". All in all, "Acquiring the Taste" makes for a very enjoyable listening experience. Highly recommended.

The Giant's second album gets a very nice remaster courtesy of Repertoire Records. While "Taste" still shows the band searching for their own style on a couple of tracks the overall impact of the album is impressive from the opening track "Pantagruel's Nativity" with it's layered harmonies to the closing track "Plain Truth". The CD comes in a replica of the original album packaging including the gatefold sleeve, a lyric sheet and an essay by Chris Welch on the flipside of the lyric sheet. As with the original release the lyrics are reproduced along with a band photo on the inside of the gatefold sleeve as well.

The remastered sound is terrific (although the original CD release sounded pretty good too). I didn't see any notes (as with "Tall Tale" aka "Gentle Giant" the band's first album)indicating that there was any restoration done on the second album. Evidently the original mastertape for that first album suffered some sort of damage requiring Repertoire to do some work on it prior to remastering it for CD. Highly recommended for Giant fans this set is limited to an edition of 3000 copies (not that I think it will sell out any time soon but Giant fans should snatch it up asap!).

Well, according to Gentle Giant's official website (www.blazemonger.com/gg) it's a limited edition remaster of the album done by Repertoire records (Germany). There's also limited editions of this album and "Three Friends" done in Japan by Vertigo, I think. This is the same kind of remastering job that was done for "Octopus" in Japan a few years ago (now out of print). GG's official site ranked it as the best remaster for that album.

By the way you'll find that info on the site, in the news section (on December 15th, if I remember correctly). Hope that helps...