Well I'll just say that Interview was a big comedown from Free Hand. There is a quote from Derek that goes something like "the album will be mixed 6 weeks after release" (paraphrasing from memory). The point being, it was a rushed affair and sounds like it. Half-finished ideas (like the title track, Timing and Design) and a failed attempt at Reggae (Give It Back) and a few songs with some of that GG magic that make this worthwhile (Another Show, Empty City, I lost My Head and to a lesser extent the title track). The interview interludes are pretty good (my favorite is the answer the inane question all at the same time with different answers). It's still recommended, just after all the previous albums have been acquired and enjoyed.
This is a frustrating track. There are interesting moments throughout -great ideas executed well, but for me the whole is not greater than the parts. I will say this song has grown on me a bit as I now can at least enjoy it while it plays (whereas before I could not make it to the 2 minute mark). The song does show some creativity and the band willing to take some chances still, so that's all for the better. I'll keep trying to get more from this one and see if it fully clicks with me.
This is a fantastic track! Yes, probably a Choral electric sitar during the middle section... The solo is prepared piano with newspaper sheets laid on the strings. I can't remember where I've read that... That sound and the notes Kerry plays are swinging and irresistible... a solo concluded with great dissonant chords... During that solo, the bass guitar is ultra simple to play ... and ultra groovy! John sings quite good during his spot... For decades I was sure this was Kerry!
Would agree, and I think it's one of the stronger tracks on the album. Charges out nicely but there really isn't much of a tune; the mumbling in the midsection doesn't carry it forward musically. Gets by on the power chords and good-humored lyrics though.
That "mumbling" from that section is actually a "whispered polyphony". Something totally constructed, as can be heard isolated in one of the clips posted earlier in the thread.
Give It Back Here the band take on the idea of a reggae feel, somewhat ... This is reggae Giant style and it has a great feel. Of course this is not some simplistic 4/4 i,iv,v with a straight reverse beat for smoking dank to. The guys suitably weirdify the beat to be 100% Giant. Opening up we have a very cool progression that sits on a cool beat. We have a more reserved vocal that comes across clearly. The arrangement is great and I absolutely love the quirky runs that sit between the vocal lines. We get some percussion come in and lead into the first instrumental break, and that section in itself is very memorable and enjoyable. The riff sounds almost like someone climbing a ladder as the percussion and the guitar take sections of the riff for themselves and play off against each other. Lyrically we seem to be getting a mixed message about success in a monetary sense, but the chorus lets us know how futile this is, as we'll just end up giving it back in the end. So yes this is a very different type of song for the band, but to me at least, it fits in the flow of the album perfectly and more importantly, the band makes it their own, as they have with everything up to this point so far. Great Track.
I've grown to appreciate GiB much more over the years. Probably the only reggae in 7/8 in the universe! Very lovely arrangement.
The musical arrangement is pretty cool. I guess it's the vocals that fail to lift this song above just another excursion into reggae. Also the complex bridge around the 2 minute mark seems a bit too much for a groovy reggae song -but this is Gentle Giant so what else are they to do? I can applaud them for spreading their wings here, even if I find the results are not terribly engaging (ALMHO).
In an alternate universe, Give It Back was a hit single. Or maybe it was Playing The Game? Or was it Who You Think You Are? If I manage to make over to there, I'll let you guys know. Anyway, I love this song. I realize it gets grief from some diehard fans crying "sell out!," but it's a terrific, fun tune and a great performance by the band.
"Inter'view" is still a highly enjoyable album, but to me it's the beginning of a decline in quality after their uniformly excellent run of the five or six albums leading up to it. Luckily it's only a slight decline. And I still like it a whole lot. Give it Back is a great tune, IMO. I love the odd time signature and I'm fine with the transition mid-song, as it's pretty much standard issue Giant. I really like Timing and Another Show, as well. This album is probably my last stop in this thread, as I find what came after to be but a pale imitation of genuine GG. Gentle Giant in 4/4? No thank you!
I like many of GG's later catchier tunes, but I must admit I really don't like this track. The tune just isn't that catchy, and the time signature works against the reggae groove-- they don't make it really swing. To me the slightly annoying up-and-down marimba bit sums up what's wrong with this track. (And there are songs later on the album that i do like!)
Hmmm... I’ve just listened to Side one of Interview for the first time, and my impression matches what many of you are saying. The sound is there, and Minnear/Weathers both have strong performances, but the songs (so far) don’t seem to be quite as realized. Many of these remind me of TPATG demos. That bright bouncing quality of Free Hand is missing. I get that they were cranking out the record to capitalize on their momentum, but I think they fell short of the mark. I’ve not yet checked out any live versions, so my feelings might change. Regarding the overall concept, I’m not 100% convinced that they nailed that either. Granted, I’m halfway through the album so I need to spin side 2 before a full evaluation. I will say that Weathers’ playing is really striking as he’s an incredible drummer. His feel, pocket and overall attack really bring the band life.
Design Again opening with some interview conversation we move into a harmonised vocal that sort of sways from side to side gently and then Kerry comes in with the lead vocal. During the second verse we get a second vocal come in with a counter melody sung by Weathers? Then we get a little percussion come into the picture, starting with what sounds like finger cymbals. We end up with a rather unusual percussion track that I believe Kerry actually put together and then we get one of Giant's multi-layered vocal sections that works very well. During a repeated phrase the dreamy swaying vocal comes back in and the percussion fades up and then back down. Kerry gives us a last verse over this section and then the percussion moves in full tribal mode and then the songs finishes with a very staccato section with the vocals and the percussion playing against each other. This is a really interesting song and although possibly not as fully realised as On Reflection, it is certainly not a failure.
Design is for me a masterpiece and perhaps my favorite track from their entire catalogue. I think the chant in the back is the whole band (minus Gary?) double-tracked. First verse has Kerry singing both the main melody (left) and the creepy monotone bass (center?). Then second verse sees a totally splendid Derek doing the counter melody on the right... Those singers man, those singers! There is polyrhythm going on in the middle section between the percussion array and the vocal fugue introduced by Derek, sort of a ritornello. Loads of fun there! John once said someone, a fan perhaps, had given him some coil spring metal thing he decided to use during this part... In the concluding part they make use of tape collage where the chant part, for instance, intervenes for a second where it don't belong - a bit like some of what's going on in the later part of the song "Free Hand", only this time done with tape splices or edits. That's very arresting, and, excepting on early Frank Zappa albums, you never hear stuff like that coming out of other mainstream prog groups. Design is entirely Kerry's composition. I can't remember where I've read this, but they were under such pressure to produce the album that Kerry would lock himself up in a seperate room in the studio then would slip the sheets he'd written one by one under the door for the other guys to learn as the work came forth! And they came up with a production like that...
From their website " These liner notes are reproduced with the kind permission of the Terrapin Trucking (UK) Ltd. Transcribed by Malcolm Smith. "Gentle Giant's newest album, Interview, is their eighth. It contains distinctive elements of the musical styles and recording techniques that the previous seven generated, and, as usual, takes their accomplishment a step further. It relies on strong themes, precision and energy." So runs the opening paragraph of the program for GG's 1976 UK tour, their last on home soil. As a summary of the album it is concise and to the point, but its matter-of-fact tone hides the intense pressure under which Interview was recorded. Barely a year into their new contract with Chrysalis, Giant were in the middle of the most hectic period of their ten year career. The success of their previous album, Free Hand, had been due in no small part to the tireless efforts of the band to promote it, including extensive tours of North America, Europe and Britain. Into this punishing schedule had to be fitted the time to write, rehearse, and record new material, and the pressure to produce a worthy follow up was considerable, both from the commercial and personal points of view. That they succeeded is a tribute to the exceptional professionalism of the band. In just four weeks, Interview was painstakingly developed from an incomplete set of basic ideas to the meticulously crafted final product. This relatively short recording time was not, in itself, unusual for Giant, The band would normally reckon to spend around three weeks recording an album, which considering the complexity of the music was far from comfortable. But Giant were never a band to choose the comfortable option - from the beginning, they had ploughed their own furrow with a determination bordering on obsession, and by the mid-seventies they were beginning to reap the rewards, especially in America and parts of Europe. Now, faced with the prospect of maintaining the buzz generated by Free Hand, Giant had booked the customary three weeks studio time to fashion a new winner. Having had just a month's break from touring in which to write and rehearse, the band entered the studio less well-prepared than they might have liked. The sessions for Interview would, in fact, stretch to four weeks, with the group having to grab studio time wherever they could to complete the album. It was, predictably, a very intense period, but keyboardist Kerry Minnear doesn't consider that was a drawback: "We needed the pressure to write - I think it's quite significant that nobody's recorded anything since the band split up, because there's not been that pressure to write, but the pressure was there on Interview and it produced results." It also produced a situation in which Kerry was stuck in a basement playback room at Advision, with only a guitar and a tape recorder for company, busily writing new material for the album, while the rest of the band pressed on with recording upstairs. Exceptionally, all the parts for one piece, Design, were written out on manuscript, taken up and distributed to the other members of the band, and the number recorded without anyone but Kerry knowing how it would all fit together. He was far from comfortable with it: "we didn't like working that way, we were a band, we worked together as a band, and this was a band album." For the most part, though, it was business as usual. Before committing anything to tape, the material would be played through live in the studio. Alterations were made, arrangements agreed upon, then the time-consuming process of actual recording began. Giant had steadily refined their approach to recording from early in their career. The utmost care was taken to achieve the exceptional clarity which characterised their albums from Octopus onwards. By the time Interview was recorded, their production techniques were well in advance of most of their contemporaries, with bassist Ray Shulman the man most responsible for shaping the band' s distinctive sound. "recording is such a laborious process" he said at the time. "If it wasn't our band, I just couldn't be there...I just couldn't stand it." He must have had a change of heart since then, because these days he makes his living as a producer with albums by Ian McCulloch, The Sundays, and The Sugercubes to his credit."
Well I can respect Design, but I just don't really enjoy listening to it. I also have a hard time with So Sincere so this should surprise no one. The interview question and answer at the beginning is my favorite part of the song.
I love Design and most of the songs on this album. One thing that's unique about Interview in the GG catalogue is how "raw" the finished recordings are presented, which I applaud. I also like how the vocals seem to be less "up front" in the mix, overall. I can see how some fans might see this album as a signal of a decline in progress, but this album is in my top two GG records of all time (tied with Acquiring The Taste).
I like how this album sounds as a whole. It comes across really good on most CD versions I think, as finding a decent UK Chrysalis vinyl pressing is a real quest... These were a lot more misses than hits by 1976.
Sorry, don't like this one either! It seems to do in a belabored way what "Knots" and "On Reflection" do so beautifully, and is a real chore to get through. Matters for me improve considerably on (most of) side two.
For me, the first three tracks of In`terview are all great GG songs, the title track being one of their best. They were touring a lot during that period and you can hear it in their playing...technically speaking they were probably at their best ever. Ray Shulman and John Weathers were just amazing on the whole album.
Another Show I love the way this song jumps out of the gate, and also the way the opening riff works as though chasing itself. Again we have Giant throwing an interesting rhythm out there and for me this works great. There is kind of a rock sound and feel to this, even though you would be hard pressed to call it a rock song in the traditional sense. I also really like the percussion that rides on the riff, it all works together to create this great off beat groove and makes this song another great one for me. Lyrically, this is a road song, pure and simple. Running through the things needed to get between shows. Another song I really like, and for me works really well musically and thematically.
"I also really like the percussion that rides on the riff" I'm not sure if this is percussion or one of Kerry's keyboard instruments - I never know the name of these... The one with that aggressive, percussive attack, perhaps the D6 Clavinet?... I like the wailing synth hook heard all over the verses. Everybody is busy, but it sounds all the while like a perfectly tuned clockwork. And that "dancing" bridge is infectious! No solos here, but for me the star of this polyryhthmic feast is John Weathers, who rides like mad all over the 10/16 riff... Apparently Derek wrote the basic tune on an acoustic guitar.
I love Another Show. The weird rhythm and bizarre descending keyboard notes are truly unique. Lyrically this one strikes pay dirt. The crunch and pressure night after night to put on a first rate show (which they almost always did) was a real grind. A highlight on the album for me.
Yea it's an awkward one ... it sounds like percussion, but could well be a keyboard sound, didn't sound like a d6, but I'm sure it more than a clavinet sound. I like it anyhow
