Gentle Giant: Acquiring The Taste - 1971
Many commentators have said that this was the superior album to its predecessor and, in some respects, I know what they mean (ignoring its truly dreadful cover, of course).
It is an instrumentally haunting album, full of warm, deep sounds and several passages that I really enjoy.
It dabbles in classical music, avant-garde jazz, even some slight funky bits and also some medieval sounds such as Gregorian chant in places. There are some attractive bassy bits, solid Hendrix-y guitar and powerful drums, particularly on Plain Truth, the album's heaviest track and my favourite. Pantagruel's Nativity is instrumentally excellent too.
Where it falls short, for me, is in the vocals, which are weak, let's be honest (listen to The Moon Is Down), and the awfully-contrived prog lyrics which, together with the typical changes of pace and ambience associated with the genre make it an album that serves up the worst of prog rock.
Overall, it is not really for me but I am prepared to accept the appeal and quality of many of the work's fine instrumental passages, such as the intro to Black Cat, for example. Like most proggies, these guys could play.
