Howling At The Moon - The Punk Panther's Album Reviews

  Gentle Giant were part of the late sixties-early seventies prog rock explosion that gave the world King Crimson, Jethro Tull, Caravan, Yes, Colosseum, Van Der Graaf Generator and Genesis amongst others and they generated a cult following, without ever really making it.  They had previous in that the three Shulman brothers who made up three-quarters of the band had been the founders of Simon Dupree and The Big Sound who had a big hit in 1967 with Kites. Like so many psychedelic rockers, they ended up as proggies.   This was their first album, one whose grotesque, leprechaun cover I recall seeing as I flipped through sleeves in the seventies record shops. It was produced by David Bowie/T. Tex producer Tony Visconti, which came as a surprise to me, I have to say.  Giant Funny Ways Alucard Isn't It Quiet And Cold? Nothing At All Why Not? The Queen As with many prog rock groups, Gentle Giant were classically influenced, their sound featuring a lot of neo-classical keyboards.  This sou

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 accep