Missing Piece [Original recording remastered]

Gentle Giant | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 23, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 1977
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Alucard Records
• ASIN: B0032700Q2
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #67,523 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Two Weeks In Spain

2. I'm Turning Around

3. Betcha Thought We Couldn

4. Who Do You Think You Are?

5. Mountain Time

6. As Old As You're Young

7. Memories of Old Days

8. Winning

9. For Nobody

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good album, some really good songs, not definitive GG, November 7, 2003

By 

Btbp "btbp" (Tokyo / New York / Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Missing Piece (Audio CD)

Most GG fans agree this is not a "real" GG album. It certainly was the most controversial. But it is good, I'd hazard quite good, but then I don't care what anyone says. GG are an acquired taste, like scotch - the first time (albums) they are hard to swallow, but after that...

So, hearing this may make that scotch taste like beer, which is not what you want when you want a scotch. If you own any GG you should have "Free Hand", which *I* always felt was their definitive album. Get that first. (At least both albums drove my non-Prog college roommates crazy).

There are songs, which, especially if this is your 1st GG album (it wasn't mine) are easy to take (which is why the scotch-drinkers largely dislike this one). At least it got GG on the airwaves, where outside of college radio, I first heard GG with "Two Weeks In Spain" and "I'm Turning Around". I still find "As Old As You're Young" and "Old Days" infectious, it's pretty decent Celt/Folk/Prog rock. And it's hard not to like most of the rest of the album - it gets stronger and more frenetic towards the end.

Re the glitch - if it's the one I heard (keys not faded out properly for a split second) I've noticed it before but it never really bothered me, lots of bands have flaws on their recordings. But the reviewer who pointed this out may be referring to something else I couldn't pick up. If anything, I don't like the way the drum sound changes coming out of the phased acapella at the end of "For Nobody".

With this album, way back in '77 GG may have unwittingly pioneered the unfortunate trend that many of their Prog master contemporaries did by conforming to the changing musical direction of the times (ELP "Love Beach", anything by Asia, post-Going For The One, Yes, post-Seconds Out Genesis, etc.), so it kinda needs to be taken in context of the (coming) era it which it was produced.

I'd give it a healthy 3.5 stars but I don't know how to do half-points.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Gentle Giant Album Anyone Can Like, January 30, 2006

By 

Alan Caylow (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Missing Piece (Aniv) (Audio CD)

1977's "The Missing Piece" is a controversial Gentle Giant album, as it witnessed this progressive rock band simplify their intricate music into more straightforward, accessible-sounding rock. The band have said that the late-70's punk movement played a major role in this, as it rendered the band's complex art-rock of the past unfashionable, and they thought it best to change musical direction a bit and deliver some music that was more easily digestible to the masses. Hence, the radio-friendly material of "The Missing Piece." Upon hearing it for the first time, some GG fans went into shock, accusing the band of selling out. But take it from me, the criticisms of the album are absolute rubbish. I love "The Missing Piece," and I'd easily place it somewhere in the band's Top Five best works. What it all boils down to is the quality of the songs & performances, and Gentle Giant sound *terrific* on this disc. I thoroughly enjoy the band's music of the past (my personal faves include "Three Friends" and "The Power And The Glory"), but I like the fact that the band loosened up on "The Missing Piece." There's definitely a renewed vigor & energy radiating from the band on this release, and for once, they're not taking themselves too seriously. They sound like they're having a really good time on "The Missing Piece," and what's wrong with that? And the absolute bottom line is, every single song on this album is great. The bouncy "Two Weeks In Spain" is a great tune. "I'm Turning Around" is a very strong power number. "Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It," "Who Do You Think You Are?," and "Mountain Time" are all freewheeling, fun rockers. "As Old As You're Young" succeeds in capturing the "Ol' English" feel of earlier Gentle Giant, yet still manages to be a catchy song. "Memories Of Old Days" is an absolutely beautiful number, the album's secret weapon, and one of Gentle Giant's very best songs. And the concluding pair of "Winning" and "For Nobody" are both very strong. "The Missing Piece" is the Gentle Giant album that anyone can like, even that girlfriend or grandmother of yours who you never thought could ever warm up to the band's complex albums of the past. But you can definitely play this one for them. As far as I'm concerned, "The Missing Piece" IS a Gentle Giant classic.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Gentle Giant loses themselves., December 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Missing Piece (Audio CD)

The opening track, "Two Weeks in Spain", is bad. Really bad. It's a bouncy pop song that sounds totally ludicrous today. "I'm Turning Around", the second track, is a nice FM radio-friendly commercial piece that suggests _Duke_-era Genesis. It lacks the complexity one usually expects from Gentle Giant, though. Then there is the third song on this album.

"Betcha Thought We Couldn't Do It". Whatever made Gentle Giant decide to make an attempt at recording a punk song? As with "Two Weeks in Spain", "Betcha Thought..." today sounds unintentionally funny in its naivety. It doesn't sound a bit like the Clash, the Sex Pistols or any other great punk band; what it sounds like is somebody without a clue trying to be "punk rock singer" and cash in on the latest fad. Gentle Giant really should have stuck with what they did best - progressive rock.

The rest of the album varies in quality, but does contain some tracks that are up to par with classic Gentle Giant. Songs like "Who Do You Think You Are", "As Old As You're Young", and "Memories of Old Days" could just as easily have been on _Interview_ or _Free Hand_. Unfortunately, this album is so cluttered with the bad punk attempts and some very commercial songs that it is obvious that Gentle Giant was, during the recording of this album, in the process of losing themselves. Their last two albums would confirm this suspicion greatly.