Beautiful piece of work. The first 2m30s could have been from a Yes album...and then it switches into typically GG territory with more complex arrangements. The mid-section instrumental with Drum/Bass/Piano and Gary`s guitar solo is pure genius. Terrific.
His Last Voyage is right up there with Aspirations as a my favorite GG ballad -evocative, beautiful and inventive. Dig those vibes too. This albums really has no missteps for me.
Talybont I have always loved this track. It is like a little medieval dance. The synth comes in and leads the melody, with the bass and drums coming on on the second run through. Then we get the guitar playing somewhat of a counter melody. We then break down for a bridhe that sort of reminds me of something Steeleye Span would do on one of their more traditional pieces. This is just a beautiful ancient dance, with a great melody. The bridge almost sounds like it could have come from Henry the viii's court. Perhaps this isn't the most striking or difficult track Gentle Giant made, but it is non-the-less still a great piece of music and in keeping with the bands high compositional water mark.
Never cared much for Talybont, I confess. Was it conceived from the same movie score project as those one or two sequences on the Under Construction box, or am I mis-remembering?
You make me appreciate a track I'd never been that fond of before! I suppose I was finding it somewhat out of place on the album. Or perhaps I don't like that synth much, doing the lead melody... Great little dance tune indeed, anyway. The last appearance I believe from the recorder on Gentle Giant albums.
Talybont sounds like GG channeling Gryphon. Not their most challenging song, but still a nice listen for those of us who enjoy Tull and Gryphon along with GG.
Yeah, Gryphon! I'm certain that played on the ancient instruments from their wonderful first album, I would dig Talybont much more.
Well written, well played but still I skip that song most of the time I listen to Free Hand. OK, but certainly not among the best moments on the album.
Talybont to me is the hidden gem on the album. The central tune is lovely-- good enough to be traditional, but they wrote it. ANd the changes it goes through are surprisingly complex, yet accessible-- before you notice it becomes full electric, with the recorder tune taken up by the synth. Like Tull's "Pine Marten's Jig," a more difficult piece than it seems. And the Gryphon comparison above is apt.
It starts off with clavinet (with echo) instead of synth, no? I like Gary's countermelody on the electric guitar, how he makes it sound like an ancient trumpet or something... using perhaps a volume pedal.
I think Talybont is the best track on the album. If I remember correctly, they wrote it for a Robin Hood film och TV-series?
Just found this amazing cover work of the amazing bass part of the title piece... It's interesting how many Youtube cover clips of Ray's bass parts there are out there, given the relative "obscurity" of Gentle Giant. The guitar parts are just as complex and challenging, yet the bass seems to somehow touch people more... or people who play music perhaps.
Mobile We start with what sounds like a somewhat traditional Irish jig or some such thing. This moves into the rock instrumentation and bounces along nicely. The traditional instruments come back in at the end of the vocal lines, and then move back into the rock instrumentation for the vocals. There are several interesting time signature changes. We get a very interesting instrumental section in the middle that is followed by the transistor radio vocal. After that we get another little instrumental section, that is again excellent. We move into the final vocal section and that leads us to the end of the song and the album. Although for me this is a weaker song on the album, it is by no means a weak song and ends the album on an up and bright musical note. Great album.
I agree. Weaker, not weak. It has the weakest melody line of the album but the instrumental break in the middle salvage that and then some. As usual, the playing is spotless. Not a bad way to close an album...
Well Mobile is a stronger closer than Valedictory was on the last album. A good song on an album with great ones.
I was a little hard on this track earlier in a post. We do see Giant "regressing" a bit to an earlier, folkier style (for the last time?), but as Mark wrote, it's still full of surprising turns, and lovely secondary melodies. I'm not wild about the grating duo fiddle section. Yet Ray's bass alone on this piece is worth the ride! And John rocks wonderfully, as usual, with great hi-hat work...
Lyrically it's GG doing their version of a rock band on the road song, wrapping up the everyday-people theme of the opening track. Instead of a complaint it's rather celebratory, so a perfect way to sign off. Also seems to pre-empt the lyrical concerns of the next album, but we'll get to that. ALso, they pull a nice "Her Majesty" thing with the drum tag at the end.
Interview Studio album by Gentle Giant Released April 23, 1976 Recorded February – March 1976 Studio Advision Studios, London Genre Progressive rock jazz rock Length 36:47 Label Chrysalis (UK) Capitol (Canada, U.S.) Producer Gentle Giant Interview (stylized ĭn′terview) is the eighth album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant. The album was released in 1976. It is a concept album conceived as a radio interview. Three of the tracks integrate brief "interview" sections which were staged in the studio. The title song has lyrics derived from the type of question and answer dialogue they had encountered while talking to the music press. This album was critically and commercially less successful than their previous album Free Hand. In addition to the usual stereo version the album was also mixed in 4-channel quadraphonic sound in 1976. The 4-channel mix was not used until 2012 when it finally appeared on DVD with encoding in multichannel LPCM, DTS and Dolby Digital surround sound formats.[2] Gary Green – electric guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4-7), acoustic guitar (tracks 5, 7), alto recorder (track 7), backing vocals Kerry Minnear – Minimoog (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7), piano (tracks 1, 4-6), Hammond organ (tracks 1, 2, 4, 6), Clavinet (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5), electric piano (tracks 1, 2, 5), synthesizer (tracks 1, 5), RMI Electra Piano (tracks 2, 7), clavichord (tracks 2, 7), marimba (track 2), percussion (track 3), lead vocals on tracks 3, 7, backing vocals Derek Shulman – lead vocals, alto saxophone (tracks 5, 6), percussion (track 3) Ray Shulman – bass guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4-7), electric violin (tracks 5, 6), violin (track 7), 12 string guitar (track 5), percussion (track 3), backing vocals John Weathers – drums, tambourine (tracks 4, 7), percussion (track 3), finger cymbal (track 1), cowbell (tracks 1, 2), cabasa (track 2), güiro (track 2), gong (track 7), backing vocals, co-lead vocals (track 1) Phil Sutcliffe – interviewer[3] (tracks 1, 3, 6, 7) Side one 1. "Interview" Derek Shulman, John Weathers 6:54 2. "Give It Back" Derek Shulman 5:12 3. "Design" Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, John Weathers 5:00 Side two 1. "Another Show" Derek Shulman 3:29 2. "Empty City" Derek Shulman 4:23 3. "Timing" Derek Shulman 4:52 4. "I Lost My Head" Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman 6:57 --------------------------------------------------------------------- Looking from the outside as a new fan it seems that from this album, predominantly, the fan base show quite a bit of discontent that grows with each following album. I personally love this album, also and find it quite intense, and certainly original. I'm not sure anyone had ever made an album like this and using this intriguing concept (though I certainly haven't heard every album ever made, so I may obviously be wrong). I find the music on here unrepentantly original and even, to a degree, abrasive. Certainly, for the most part, a lot of the folkish stylings are pretty much gone by now. To my mind that's fairly understandable though. I think about it this way. Giant had more musical stylings in one song, than a lot of bands have in an entire career, so it goes without saying that change would be required to stay fresh, otherwise the band would just be repeating themselves. Also we need to figure in to this the ever changing musical world itself. To a degree there was already starting to be a backlash against all things considered prog-rock. We had disco and punk rock bubbling up as the new big things, but they are merely pointers of a new shift in the focus of the public. From 1969 to 1975 there had been incredible growth in music and its presentation in the rock form. The whole musical community had seen, heard and absorbed new and interesting stylings from Zappa, Dylan, Beatles and the progressive music scene. Also there had been a large growth in the hard rock/heavy metal scene that sprang from bands like Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck group, Deep purple and Black Sabbath .... the days for prog-rock to be a mainstream consumable were coming to a close, or at least heading into a sustained lull. A few albums and artists managed to squeeze out some big albums over the next three or four years, but essentially the form was going to move into the underground and become more of an alternative music, than a mainstream musical force. Where did this leave Gentle Giant though? They had really only just started to taste a small portion of success with Free Hand, because essentially it would appear that their style was just too complicated for the general public to be able to absorb. I don't see Interview as a commercial album in any way whatsoever, and even folks I play it to now, seem to find it hard to figure out. Giant were to remain one of those bands that you either get, or just don't. I don't see this album as an attempt to sell more albums. I see this as a genuine attempt to show their creativity, and for me it works really well.... Anyhow, enough of my babbling .... What do you think of this album? If you were around at the time, what was the general feeling about this album at the time? Has your opinion about this album changed at all over the years, if you were around at the time? Please let us know all your thoughts and feelings regarding this album and see if we can't fins some things out. Cheers, Mark
Interview - well, a bit boring and the beginning of their downfall, but still a pretty good and solid album. Best CD edition is the 90's release on RGF/TT, the BGO twofer is also ok sound wise but is missing the final interview piece.
Here's where I break from the crowd: I think Interview is the worst GG album by some distance, and I really enjoy the three more commercial albums that followed. I mentioned earlier that every GG album is more commercial than the one before it, but Interview is the exception-- It's dense and abrasive, with absolutely none of the sublime hooks and melodies that were all over Free Hand. But it doesn't come across like any kind of artistic decision-- It simply sounds like everyone involved was in a songwriting slump. To my mind this album almost doesn't count, since Missing Piece sounds more like the obvious Free Hand followup.
For some, this is where they got off the GG train. I got off the GG train later, though I eventually came back. But I'll get to that when the appropriate album comes up for discussion. Anyway, I remember reading long ago that the band themselves felt they were starting to repeat themselves with Interview. That was in the context of trying to explain and justify their new release at the time, The Missing Piece. So I never knew if they really meant it. But for me, this was no repeat performance, even if the building blocks may have been familiar by then. I mean, for example, Give it Back? GG does reggae! But not just any reggae - it's GENTLE GIANT reggae! It's unique in their catalog and it's quite creative. I've probably heard this song cited as the most common example of Giant fans starting to lose interest, though. And Design? Sure, you had earlier songs with the multi-vocals, but were they as TWISTED as this one? This just might be the WEIRDEST Giant track ever! It's definitely ONE of them at least, and I LOVE it. I won't go on about every track here - that's not my forte anyway - but I just can't agree with the viewpoint that they were trying to become more commercial here, or that they'd become boring, or had begun treading water. No, for me, Interview is another solid Giant album.
Easy Reference Guide Gentle Giant - 1970 - Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 1 Giant Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 2 Funny Ways Gentle Giant - Album by album thread live Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 3 Alucard Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 4 Isn't It Cold And Quiet Gentle Giant - Album by album thread cartoon Gentle Giant - Album by album thread live '71 Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 5 Nothing At All Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 6 Why Not Gentle Giant - Album by album thread live Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 7 The Queen Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Acquiring The taste - 1971 - Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 1 Pantagruel's Nativity Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 2 Edge Of Twilight Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 3 The House The Street The Room Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 4 Acquiring The taste Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 5 Wreck Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 6 The Moon Is Down Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 7 Black Cat Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 8 Plain Truth Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Three Friends - 1972 - Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 1 Prologue Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 2 Schooldays Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 3 Working All Day Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 4 Peel The Paint Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 5 Mister Class and Quality Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 6 Three Friends Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Octopus - 1972 - Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 1 Advent Of Panurge Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 2 Raconteur Troubadour Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 3 A Cry For Everyone Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 4 Knots Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 5 Boys In The Band Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 6 Dog's Life Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 7 Think Of Me With Kindness Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 8 River Gentle Giant - Album by album thread In a Glass House 1973 Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 1 The Runaway Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 2 An Inmates Lullaby Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 3 Way Of Life Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 4 Experience Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 5 A Reunion Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 6 In A Glass House Gentle Giant - Album by album thread The Power And The Glory 1974 - Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 1 Proclamation Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 2 So Sincere Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 3 Aspirations Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 4 Playing the Game Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 5 Cogs In Cogs Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 6 No God's A Man Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 7 The Face Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 8 Valedictory Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Power and The Glory Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Live in 1974 Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Brussels 1974 Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Free Hand 1975 - Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 1 Just the Same Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 2 On Reflection Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 3 Free Hand Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 4 Time To Kill Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 5 His Last Voyage Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 6 Talybont Gentle Giant - Album by album thread track 7 Mobile Gentle Giant - Album by album thread Interview 1976 - Gentle Giant - Album by album thread
