Customer Reviews

Octopus

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Gentle Giant was a British progressive rock band that handled a multiplicity of musical styles (from rock and blues to Renaissance madrigals and jazz) and instruments (roughly 30 of them in concert) with ease. The songs were rhythmically complex, the lyrics rich and intelligent, vocal harmonies could break into four and five parts, and in concert the boys would treat fans to guitar quintets, percussion quintets, recorder quartets, a cello/violin/bass/drums combo, and acoustic guitar duels. That they toured with Yes, Jethro Tull, and Renaissance gives only a hint of where their talents lay.

The boys issued 12 albums between 1970 and 1980, roughly in an arc that ascended to this, their fourth album, and remained at peak level for the next five, descending to a bumpy close with the final three. The fervent support of longtime fans and the introduction of new, young listeners in the late 1990s has prompted the recent issue of tribute albums, out-take collections, and a number of live recordings.

_Octopus_, well loved by Giant fans, is perhaps a little on the eclectic side for the newcomer, though it sports the incredible "Advent of Panurge," with its blend of smooth keyboards and vocals punctuated by slashing passages and roaring choruses. "Raconteur Troubadour" is the rolling Renaissance cut of the album. The song that inevitably leaps out at the listener is "Knots" -- a tribute to R.D. Laing's slim volume of word game/poems, partly sung in four and five parts a capella, and alternating with playful sections of violin and xylophone. The band members' notes refer to it as "something of a musical jigsaw." Listeners unfamiliar with complex vocal styling may find it weird, but almost everyone warms to it quickly, especially with the pounding electric passages.

"A Cry for Everyone," inspired by the existential philosophy of Camus, is a fairly straight rocker; "The Boys in the Band" a blistering instrumental dash with the rare break to catch a breath. "Think of Me With Kindness" offers a tender ballad, "Dog's Life" a rueful tribute to roadies, and "River" a contemplative ramble through various musical styles.

From almost any other band, this amazing melange would merit five stars. But Gentle Giant was just starting an amazing run of albums that would push the envelope of musical and vocal innovation, and _In a Glass House_ (sadly unavailable now, but promised back), _Free Hand_ (more commercial and the best choice for a newbie), and the astounding double live _Playing the Fool_ have to rank higher.

Gentle Giant's music is, as they rightly say, an acquired taste. This gave the band a strong core of dedicated fans, but ultimately drove Gentle Giant out of existence. I have always wondered what they were thinking; you can't produce this kind of complex educated music and get any kind of commercial sucess. More accessible than Curved Air or Henry Cow, less grandiose or cosmic than Yes, Gentle Giant created a sound that no one could imitate or degrade with the exception of themselves.

Octopus is the first part of the three album high point of their spiky career, culminating in Free Hand, and then fulminating on Interview, etc. The tightness of the playing, the cohesion of the vision was never better here. The songs are projections of the players: smart, sharp, and concise. The world of 1973, even with its lack of technology, internet, and globalisation, produced so much good music based on the what the musicians themselves could do, not on drum loops, samples, and sequencers, that it makes me timesick to think about it. Here is an exellent example of has been lost.

Why this is not using the original Roger Dean cover is a mystery. American Prog covers are boring compared to the English artists on the late '60's and 70's.

Gentle Giant's fourth album has been reissued and remastered by Repertorie for CD. The remaster sounds terrific. The new version sounds better than the U.S. domestic release and is a slight improvement on the Japanese reissue that was put out in a replica of the original album sleeve a couple of years back. It's slightly warmer sounding than previous editions with quite a bit of sonic detail. Should you upgrade? To me this is the best sounding of the reissues but some people will be happy with the Japanese pressing from 2001. That edition sounds fine but for me this one wins hands down. Considering the fact that the original mastertape is well over 30 years old, that's quite an achievement. Although the person who remastered this isn't credited they've done a splendid job.

If you don't mind the fact that the carboard sleeve isn't an exact replica of the original release, then this will be the best version to buy. Since the sound (at least to me) is more important, I'm happy with this limited edition remaster. I've posted a copy of the original cover artwork for comparison purposes. Also, the lyrics that were on the inside of the original sleeve are missing in this redesign by Martyn Dean (brother of cover designer Roger Dean)but it would have been difficult to read them anyway.

They will also reissuing "Three Friends" in Marchof 2007 in a remastered edition. Hopefully that edition will not have some of the sonic sloppiness that marred the Japanese re-release from last year.

There is, however, a poster included that duplicates the original inside of the album sleeve with the original graphic (which was the cover image rendered in blue and white). Lyrics are included here (which is probably just as well as the original lyrics would have been too small to read)along with a brief essay about the band's history (similar to the other Repertorie releases).

So should you get this if you have the previous CDs? Absolutely.The remastered sound brings this album into the 21st century on a par with some of the other top notch remasters of GG's works. If you have the Japanese edition you may want to do an A-B comparison to see which you prefer but to my mind this edition wins with a warmer slightly fuller sound. This edition is limited to ONLY 3000 copies so I'd suggesting snatching this up before it goes out of print and demands the high prices that the previous edition out of Japan did when it was released bck in 2001.

Just an addition: There appears to be a flaw that occurs on "River" and "Think of Me With Kindness". According to Eroc (who remastered this) the flaws don't appear on the master he gave to the manufacturing plant so it appears that something happened during the process of transferring the master to CD for pressing. No word on a reissue at this time.

Gentle Giant's music is, as they rightly say, an acquired taste. This gave the band a strong core of dedicated fans, but ultimately drove Gentle Giant out of existence. I have always wondered what they were thinking; you can't produce this kind of complex educated music and get any kind of commercial sucess. More accessible than Curved Air or Henry Cow, less grandiose or cosmic than Yes, Gentle Giant created a sound that no one could imitate or degrade with the exception of themselves.

Octopus is the first part of the three album high point of their spiky career, culminating in Freedhand, and then fulminating on Interview, etc. The tightness of the playing, the cohesion of the vision was never better here. The songs are projections of the players: smart, sharp, and concise. The world of 1973, even with its lack of technology, internet, and globalisation, produced so much good music based on the what the musicians themselves could do, not on drum loops, samples, and sequencers, that it makes me timesick to think about it. Here is an exellent example of has been lost.

After hearing and reading fantastic things about this band, I decided to give GG a try with this album. I don't know if I reccomend following my route. My immediate reaction to Octopus was a negative one. I felt like a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle fell off a high shelf and dumped on my head. There are half a billion complex intricacies here topped off with some unique vocals which are not easily appreciated upon introduction.

I almost packed the disk off to my girlfriend's Tull loving father out in Utah.

I am so thankful that I did not follow through. To the uninitiated this music fights for your respect... when it finally "clicks" it is wonderful. I kid you not I started humming some of these melodies in my sleep and at work. I had to scan thru my iPod to figure out what I was humming.

Honestly I do not play the heck out of Octopus, but I did purchase a handful of Gentle Giant's other albums which I liked right away. To the new and curious such as myself, I don't advise starting out with Octopus.

I do think Gentle Giant is brilliant... I had no plan on becoming a fan... they won my respect fair and square.

Thank Philip Schultz. I was hoping someone else noticed the defects. VERY IRRITATING as the Columbia versions, while sounding muddier, do not have these problems.

"Acquiring the Taste" remaster also has problems. "The House" 5:21 and 5:23. "Moon is Down" 2:40 and "Plain Truth" 3:48 and 4:31.

REPUK must fix this and offer exchanges!! These albums are classics (5 stars normally).

One of the greatest progressive rock bands of all time, Gentle Giant delivered album after album of tight, intelligent and stimulating music, filled with stunning musicianship and intricate rhythms -- and boy, could they rock! I consider this effort, originally issued in 1973, to be one of their best.

For some unknown reason (Look out! The marketing monster again rears its ugly head...!) Columbia chose to replace the beautiful gatefold painting by Roger Dean with this one, depicting an octopus -- apparently dead and pickled -- floating, preserved, in a jar for viewing. The original lp sleeve was cut to match the jar's shape (which had to make it more expensive to produce), most likely in an attempt to grab the consumer's attention. Hey guys, how about letting the music do that? Hello!!

I was fortunate enough to hear this band live on 3-4 different occasions, starting in 1973, when the opened a show in Oklahoma City for the newly-reformed King Crimson. Much of their material that night came from this album. My friends and I had heard of them, but had never experienced any of their music before -- we were completely unprepared for the sonic onslaught that was laid out for the crowd that night.

Using fairly standard rock instrumentation as their foundation (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards, drums), Gentle Giant drew upon the immense talents and backgrounds of its various members to add components to their sound that other bands could only manage through recording tricks or guests in the studio. Cello, violin, vibraphone, trumpet and sax made their way into their stage act and onto their records -- influences as diverse as symphonic classical, jazz, medieval chants and baroque chamber music crept into the mix and were integrated seamlessly. Nothing ever sounded out of place.

The album begins with 'The advent of Panurge', a song-tale from the work of Rabelais, of the friendship between Gargantua and Pantagruel -- not the stuff of conventional rock lyrics. Derek Shulman's vocals, Kerry Minnnear's keyboard, Gary Green's guitar and Phil Shulman's bass enter together in a stacatto melodic line --John Weather's incredible touch on drums keeps pace. Each musician's touch is delicate, light, perfectly in tempo, intricately interweaving, leading up to the point where the band kicks in with an even tighter, more powerful rhythm. The track builds and builds until the listener wonders how they can sustain it. Stops and starts occur with machine-like synchronicity -- but never cold, always with emotion.

Next comes 'Raconteur troubador', a thematic look at the life of the wandering minstrel of the middle ages, arranged in a style that, again, complements and illustrates the story told by the lyrics. Particularly effective in this track is the use of the huge, deep hand drum. 'A cry for everyone' explodes with more standard progressive rock instrumentation, Green's guitar rhythms cutting bold swaths of power through the tune -- and there's a well-played, jarring keyboard break from Minnear here as well. 'Knots' comes from another literary source, writer/philosopher R.D.Laing -- the result is a piece so complex that the band admits in the liner notes that they do not perform it live. Lines of verse spiral around and over each other, like the 'knots' of the title, coming out together on the other end. The instrumental 'The boys in the band' gives everyone a chance to stretch out musically. 'Dog's life' is the band's backhanded tribute to their road crew, something that many bands didn't think to do. 'Think of me with kindness' is the album's gentlest track, a simple plea from a man to look at what he has done in his life in the spirit in which he intended it. The album closes with the masterfully-composed and -executed 'River' -- one of the finest tracks they ever recorded.

When this band played live, the audience was presented with such a spectacle of pure musicianship that they were unsure much of the time where to look -- everyone in the band was constantly active, and to incredible effect. The energy with which they performed was unbelivably high -- and you can hear that energy on this disc. At $10, this is an unbeliveable bargain -- I doubt that you'll ever find this much music crammed into album length at this price. Talk about 'more bang for your buck'...!

Columbia should have left the cover intact from the original UK issue. Roger Dean's painting of a powerful, menacing creature, almost threatening, was a much more accurate portrait of the music inside. Far from being dead and pickled, this band was a living, breathing entity, fully capable of picking up the listener and giving them a good shake.

Also highly recommended by this band: IN A GLASS HOUSE [*****], THREE FRIENDS [****], FREE HAND [****].

GG's first three albums had moments of brillance mixed with a number of pedestrian compositions. Octopus is the first album where the songwriting/performing comes together. This remastered edition has terrific sound (slightly warmer with a bit more depth than the US domestic version). If you're not a hardcore GG fan then I would stick with the much less expensive US version (which sounds really, really good).

The Japanese demonstrate their usual attention to detail with this reissue (something that their US counterparts could take lessons in from them). The artwork restores the original Roger Dean painting and is in a gatefold sleeve like the original release. Although I wish that the lyrics and credits could have been printed a bit larger in English (these eyes aren't what they used to be), I can't argue with the quality of sound and presentation.

One of GG's finest albums finally gets the respect that it deserves (I'd also recommend the remastered In A Glass House put out by the band themselves with live bonus tracks).

This album includes one of the greatest progressive rock songs, The Advent of Panurge. It has all the trademark Giant touches, complex acoustic intro, snarling loud guitar riff, medieval influence in the vocals and Rabelais references. Its followed by another fantastic song, Raconteur Troubadour. Any Giant fan would agree that these are two of the band's best songs, and maybe Boys in the Band as well. Some of the other pieces are a little dull, like River and Think of Me with Kindness. I think the band gets even better with its later output, although a bit more pretentious, particularly on In A Glass House and Free Hand. After the album Interview it all slides....I would have told them to include more solos and improv as all the members are up to it. Gary Green occasionally lights it up with a solo or at least a challenging riff or two, when he does the band really kicks. But if you like Gentle Giant this is one of their core albums and a must for any progressive rock fan. No one has attempted music like this for twenty five years. The US album cover is poor when compared with Roger Dean's red octopus on the imported version.

The primary purpose for paying more for a Japanese import is to enjoy it's superior sound. Particularily, when the music demands it, as is the case with 'Octopus'.... an understated masterpiece of sorts. Having just auditioned this disc only last evening I am very happy to report that my money has been well spent. The sonics here are a pleasure to listen to. The sound does justice to the often brilliant interplay of the instuments and vocals leaving one with a very satisfying listening experience.

Fork out the extra funds and experience this fine work as it should be experienced.