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┌────────┐
────┤ Info ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Artist | Gentle Giant
Title | Octopus
Genre | Progressive Rock
Source | Vinyl
Label | Alucard Rip | 12.28.2015
Catalog | ALUGGV054 Time | 33:49
Bitrate | 226kbps Size | 55.08mb
Freq | 48.0kHz Encoder | Lame 3.98.4
┌────────┐
────┤ Tracks ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
A1. The Advent Of Panurge 04:39
A2. Raconteur, Troubadour 04:01
A3. A Cry For Everyone 04:04
A4. Knots 04:05
B1. The Boys In The Band 04:30
B2. Dog's Life 03:11
B3. Think Of Me With Kindness 03:31
B4. River 05:48
┌────────┐
────┤ Notes ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Gentle Giant's early work was always intent on pushing the
limits of popular music, "at the risk of being very
unpopular" (as their second album Acquiring the Taste states
in its booklet). Indeed, every album the band released had
revealed new musical avenues to explore. The band could go
from folk, hard rock, progressive rock, blues, you name it.
After three excellent records under their belts already,
Gentle Giant released a gem of an album that's a bit
overlooked these days: 1972's Octopus.
Octopus is an album that explores plenty of new themes and
ideas not present in Gentle Giant's early work, but puts them
in a much more concise package. This brings some extra perks
and flaws for the record, but overall the sense of direction
makes the album triumph in the end. The shorter songs mean
that the band can concentrate and focus their efforts more,
thus eliminating some of their occasionally overbearing
segments from the first three albums.
That's not to say the experimentation isn't still there; take
"Knots" as an example in this case. The song begins with an
acappella section that seems disjointed yet works quite
effectively. Then the band come together slowly to eventually
clash instruments for a Queen-esque climax, overdubbed vocals
and all. Then the next bridge leads into the Yes-styled
chorus, overall making for quite a diverse listen. Other
examples of their experimental side here include the
Medieval-inspired "Raconteur Troubadour" and the
instrumentally diverse "Dog's Life."
Indeed, the band experiment and flirt with very different
styles, but as I said above, this album is much more
accessible; This is especially seen in the song lengths, no
song even reaching six minutes. Also, there are more hard-
rocking songs than before, like the powerful opener "Advent
of Panurge" and "A Cry for Everyone." "Advent of Panurge"
especially has a powerful chorus, balanced out by
keyboard/organ interludes to give a good contrasting feel to
the song. "A Cry for Everyone" starts out in a more
straightforward fashion, with traditional guitar and drums
doing the average 4/4 time signature before developing into a
more normal GG track.
Octopus remains one of the finest early Gentle Giant albums,
if a little short by other prog albums' standards. The songs
are more concise and focused, and that certainly doesn't take
away from the quality of the music within. This album's
recommended for any prog fan, or even fans of classic rock in
general.
┌────────┐
────┤ Group ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
└────────┘
Happy New Year!