Customer Reviews

Gentle Giant - Giant on the Box

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Words fail. This is sublime noise, music, raw creativity. But it's bloody brilliant. If you are a fan of this band and never got to see them then this is a must purchase. If you saw them, like I did for the Interview tour, and just forgot how intense the experience could be, then buy this and let all those memories come flooding back.

I have to say this is one of the few music dvd's I have watched in sequence from beginning to end. There is admittedly a little filler, the Italian interview is perplexing (though you can read the English transcript at the official GG web site - http://www.blazemonger.com/GG/ ) and the photographs, while interesting - lack captions, and there is duplication between the two main features. However that is a needless quibble. The quality of sound and video are generally quite good and the selection of material is excellent, primarily from In a Glass House, Octopus and Power and the Glory.

The band is tight, powerful, extraordinarily talented and what's even better, play like they love what they're doing and take great joy in playing with one another. There is a lot of interaction between band members, who are quite emotive and self reliant in front of (well at least in the first segment) an audience that doesn't quite know what to make of them.

To sum up, worth every damn penny. I can only hope that there is more video somewhere in the vaults that covers off the next segment up to The Missing Piece. I'll book mine now, please.

I would only add to comments about this must DVD for Gentle Giant fans:
- the package contains a bonus audio CD of the German TV concert, so you get 50 min and 28 sec of listening pleasure away from the TV
- the background music to the menus is new music composed by Kerry Minnear. It's brief but quite good.

I've been a Gentle Giant fan since I first saw them backing Jethro Tull in 1972. For me, GG was the best of all the progressive rock bands from that era. Their music was full of melody and very inventive. You might find several different song styles and counter melodies in one five or six minute track, and all of them extremely beautiful and interesting. They never indulged in the excesses that some of the prog bands did at that time. Just virtuoso performances of totally unique music that could be both haunting in it's beauty, or rock your socks off. Their music styles ranged from rock to English folk, as well as baroque classical music. Jazz was definitely an influence as well as blues, and it all came together in a style that was uniquely their own. The sheer joy of making music is evident on every track of their first 8 or 9 albums. All of the other prog rock bands could get bogged down in pretentiousness or sometimes bore you with long tedious unmelodic compositions. Not Gentle Giant. There was never a wasted note.
It's been twenty four years since they disbanded, and I'd given up thinking I'd ever get to see them again. This DVD is like finding home movies of a lost loved one. The performances are from an old German TV broadcast as well as an American TV broadcast (I think from the old Don Kirshner's "In Concert" series), as well as some brief black and white Italian TV footage. The film and sound quality from 1975, though not up to todays digital standards, looks and sounds remarkably good. The camera work sometimes annoys (a blistering guitar solo, while the camera shows a face), but that's typical of far too many concert films unfortunately. The music from the American show culls a few songs from the German performance for the briefer American TV appearance. The American audience is livelier than the Germans, but the GG performances from both shows are equally excellent! It's just so great to see them again, I refuse to take away any stars for these minor imperfections. If you love Gentle Giant, and you miss seeing them perform (or worse, never saw them perform), then enjoy this gift from the past.

I have been a fan of Gentle Giant for over 25 years, so my four star rating is biased, however this does capture the band near the peak of their power (I've seen them three times live) and makes for a fascinating archival gem from the depths of the experimental 70's when rock groups were truly breaking new ground. This was produced by Kerry Minnear, the keyboard wizard, one of the writers and probably main arranger for Gentle Giant. Kerry composed some really intriguing new music for the menus that reminds one of the glory of days gone by.

There are essentially two concert films here both from 1974 with very similar sets one 50 minutes from German ZDF television where the band simply tears it up playing a screaming set of complex, powerful rock with tremendous interplay before a audience that is nearly catatonic. Weird. The second film is a half hour concert in Long Beach, CA with four tracks, all repeats of the ZDF show, but with a much more enthusiastic audience and a better vibe solo from Kerry on "Features from Octopus". The camera work is unfortunately sub-par, there are insufficient group shots, to many close-ups that don’t show instruments being played and frustratingly few shots of Gary Green riffing on his guitar. Oh well, it’s still such a treat to see this! The close-ups of John Weathers on drums reminded me of how maniacal he was in a fun and friendly sort of way…

Finally, there is a short film from Italian TV "Guitar & Drums" from "In a Glass House" that I felt was fairly interesting but unrecognizable(!) â€" some kind of jam between Gary and John. Dispensable and just 3 minutes.

The extras include an interesting interview (well it would be more interesting if nearly all of it weren't dubbed in Italian!) Still it gives a rare glimpse of the personalities of the extraordinary individuals that made up the band. Lastly there are 36 photos from Gary Green's private collection showing the lads at work in Advision studio including Phil Shulman the elder brother of the band who quit after Octopus.

All in all this is absolutely indispensable for any Gentle Giant fan as well as even casual aficionados of 70s experimental progressive rock! Like I said I'm biased and hold Gentle Giant in greater esteem than the most of the more well known prog acts of the such as Yes. In fact say no to yes and yes to Gentle Giant if you dare to escape the matrix!

I just received this DVD in the mail yesterday, and let me say that it is one of the most amazing live DVD's I have ever seen. If you are a Gentle Giant fan, you have to buy this DVD. I was not alive to see them in concert, so I was absolutely floored. The classical guitar duet in "Knots" is out of this world. Kerry Minnear on the keys will blow your mind, and John Weathers is so much fun to watch. Ray Shulman has got a great onstage personality, not to mention talent coming out his ears. Gary Green and Derek complete this phenomenal quintet. The recorder quartet in the "Advent of Panurge" is so original, quirky, and fun. GET THIS DVD!

I have been a fan of Gentle Giant for over 30 years! I first heard their albums sometime in the early 1970's and was amazed at the intricate musicianship and inventive songwriting. I never got the chance to see them live on their few tours of the US.

I finally get a chance to see the band perform live in the 'Giant On The Box' DVD.
Watching these video clips gives me (at last) a face to the music.
On these shows, one can see the human element of the band. Giving a deeper insight from the almost mythical image cast from listening to this music for many many years!

If you are a fan of Gentle Giant or a fan of great progressive rock you should see this DVD! Even the grainy '70s film quality and mixed for TV sound is not really that bad, considering the age of these clips.

I would have given this package 5 stars if not for the grandiose price! Even with the small percentage sale discount and free shipping this DVD is just too expensive for most music fans!

But, get it while you still can! This is probably as good as it gets for Gentle Giant on DVD.

This is something you should own if you merely like Gentle Giant. (Are there such people?) If, however, you see Gentle Giant as an essential component of the Cosmos, then, well, this is something you simply have to have. Your life will not be complete without it.

I didn't know Gentle Giant existed until nearly 20 years after they broke up--when I read a Bill Martin book about the progressive music of YES. Having enjoyed GG music for several years now, it was terrific to finally see the guys perform onstage in these classic films. You can't quite realize how technically proficient they were until you watch them wailing on guitars, horns, violins, cellos--you name it, they play it. Just great stuff, and not a single band from today has half the talent. GG was simply a jaw-droppingly skillful group of guys who wrote and played bold, creative progressive baroque-n-roll.

I'm sure amazon would tell you this but the domestic copy of this dvd is Much cheaper and has some interesting exrtas.Other than that enough folks have done a great job of telling you how utterly cooooooooooooooooooool the dvd is so I dont have to.

This is Gentle Giant at their peak.

The german filmed concert is what appears to be a full set with good sound, but rather fuzzy visuals that has way too many closeups for my taste. They spend way too much time on John Weathers twisted facial expressions - (maybe Jim Carey had a boot of this concert and used this for early inspiration:).
The playing is fantastic - it's a crime that these guys never really moved beyond a cult band. For some reason the audience is DEAD SILENT after the first tune (Cogs in Cogs), and only seems to get mildly enthusiastic after that. I'm not sure if they were being polite, or were just plain stunned!

The US TV footage is photographed much better, also with good sound and tight playing. There's a lot of overlap between the 2 concerts however (not surprising, since they were done about 1 year apart.), and the arrangements on the duplicated pieces pretty much the same.

Well worth getting if you are a GG fan - this isn't scraping the barrel :) by any means!