Wednesday, April 18, 2007

GENTLE GIANT - Gentle Giant


Gentle Giant was a British progressive rock band, one of the most experimental of the 1970s. Textually inspired by philosophy, personal events and the works of François Rabelais, the group's compositional purpose was to "expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular." Their style bore similarity to King Crimson and Yes, who were active from generally the same time.Gentle Giant was formed by Derek, Ray and Phil Shulman in 1970 after they dissolved their soul/pop band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in 1969. The brothers joined with Gary Green, Kerry Minnear, and a succession of drummers to produce a series of twelve albums throughout the 1970s, finally dissolving quietly in 1980.
Their earlier albums were more eclectic and experimental than the later ones. By 1974, as they started to gather an American following, they simplified their songs (which, compared to other rock artists at the time, were still very complex) to gain a wider audience. Free Hand reached the Top 50 in the U.S.
By 1977, as the fashion trends in the music market shifted toward punk and New Wave, the band shifted toward a more commercial sound. In 1979, the band relocated to America to record their twelfth and most mainstream album, Civilian, after which the group disbanded.

Tracks
1. Giant (6:22)
2. Funny Ways (4:21)
3. Alucard (6:00)
4. Isn't It Quiet And Cold? (3:51)
5. Nothing At All (9:08)
6. Why Not (5:31)
7. The Queen (1:40)

LINK:
h!!p://www.megaupload.com/?d=X3JH65LP

Please leave a comment

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

special thanks for not using rapidshare

Anonymous said...

this is a great album, brings back some good memories of 1970-71. great blog. thanx. jo

Salvador said...

Excellent debut album of one of 70s prog pioneers. Again many thanks for this great blog.