History Music / GentleGiant

The line-up's:

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The cover of their second [[http://a.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/2150/gentle_giant.jpg album]] is a tounge licking a peach. [[UnfortunateImplications It looks like something else, if one only views the front however.]] This is intentional.
* DoingItForTheArt: At least at first. See the quote above.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly
* NewSoundAlbum: Though every album has a certain continuity, they vary things up quite a bit.
* NoHitWonder: Which isn't ''entirely'' unheard of in ProgressiveRock, but still.
* NonAppearingTitle

* SelfTitledAlbum

* WordSaladLyrics: "Knots" definitely qualifies.

* UncommonTime: Gentle Giants music as humorously illustrated by [[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ggnotation.jpg this picture]]
* VocalTagTeam: All of the members sung. In the early stages the band had three lead vocalists: Derek for the rock'y songs, Phil for the folky, dreamy songs and Kerry for thee classically-inspired ones.

Sadly, the band burned out creatively at the end of the decade and went to making pop songs - an endeavor frowned upon by the band in it's earlier stages. Their sound, however, still proved too complex to appeal to a wide audience and they disbanded in 1980.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The album cover for ''Acquiring The Taste'', which shows a tongue drooling over what appears to be someones buttocks. [[spoiler: It's actually a peach.]]

* FiveManBand:
** TheHero: Derek Shulman
** TheLancer: Ray Shulman
** TheSmartGuy: Kerry Minnear (the most classically trained member of the group)
** TheBigGuy: John Weathers (just look at him drumming)
** TheChick: Gary Green
** TheSixthRanger: Phil Shulman

* AlbumFiller: Arguably the last albums were made wholly of these.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Arguably the album cover for ''Acquiring The Taste'', which shows a tongue drooling over what appears to be someones buttocks. [[spoiler: It's actually a peach.]]

* EpicRocking: Surprisingly [[AvertedTrope averted]]. Their compositions manage to encompass much more in less time, it seems.
** They tended to mix things up live and play extended {{medley}}s however.

->"It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being very unpopular. We have recorded each composition with the one thought - that it should be unique, adventurous and fascinating."\\
--Sleeve text from the second album.

* StudioChatter: Intentional on ''Interview''

* WordSaladLyrics: ''Knots'' definitely qualifies.

** TheSmartGuy: John Weathers (He wears glasses)
** TheBigGuy: Gary Green (In the music his guitar solos makes him to be this)
** TheChick: Kerry Minnear (Because of his high-pitched, feminine vocals)

They are notable for being one of the most experimental and versatile of the prog bands of that era. All of the members were multi-instrumentalists who often switched instruments during a single song. This made up for very intricate arrangements and a GenreRoulette style of music in which one song could vary between hard rock, jazz, medieval tunes, baroque counterpoint, modernist sounds and soft ambience. Many prog-heads consider them to be one of the 'hardest' prog bands out there. In fact they are not that hard to listen to, however, since the compositions focus on catchy melodies, rhythms and clever songwriting in general. The compositions are very concise, not as long as the typical prog-fest and played almost totally clinically.

--> Martin Smith: Percussion (1970-71)
--> Malcolm Mortimore: Percussion (1971-72)

--> John Weathers: Percussion

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Before forming Gentle Giant, the Shulman brothers played in a blue-eyed soul group called Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. When their [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imf3NyO27Js attempts in soul]] proved commercially fruitless, they tried their hand at psychedelia (while still going under the Simon Dupree moniker) and got a Top Ten hit [[with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0svzLY-u7E "Kites"]]. When they couldn't follow that up, they made the Beatle-esque single "We Are The Moles", this time going by The Moles. Due to the hype surrounding the anonymity of the Moles (at one point, it was speculated that Music/TheBeatles themselves had made it), sales of the single started to pick up, but quickly petered out when Syd Barrett (yes, ''that'' [[Music/PinkFloyd Syd Barrett]]) spilled the beans on the project. Eventually, the Shulman brothers gave up on Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and, out of its ashes, formed Gentle Giant.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Before forming Gentle Giant, the Shulman brothers played in a blue-eyed soul group called Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. When their [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imf3NyO27Js attempts in soul]] proved commercially fruitless, they tried their hand at psychedelia (while still going under the Simon Dupree moniker) and got a Top Ten hit with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0svzLY-u7E "Kites"]]. When they couldn't follow that up, they made the Beatle-esque single "We Are The Moles", this time going by The Moles. Due to the hype surrounding the anonymity of the Moles (at one point, it was speculated that Music/TheBeatles themselves had made it), sales of the single started to pick up, but quickly petered out when Syd Barrett (yes, ''that'' [[Music/PinkFloyd Syd Barrett]]) spilled the beans on the project. Eventually, the Shulman brothers gave up on Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and, out of its ashes, formed Gentle Giant.

* EarlyInstallmentWierdness: Before forming Gentle Giant, the Shulman brothers played in a blue-eyed soul group called Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. When their [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Imf3NyO27Js attempts in soul]] proved commercially fruitless, they tried their hand at psychedelia (while still going under the Simon Dupree moniker) and got a Top Ten hit with http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0svzLY-u7E "Kites"]]. When they couldn't follow that up, they made the Beatle-esque single "We Are The Moles", this time going by The Moles. Due to the hype surrounding the anonymity of the Moles (at one point, it was speculated that Music/TheBeatles themselves had made it), sales of the single started to pick up, but quickly petered out when Syd Barrett (yes, ''that'' [[Music/PinkFloyd Syd Barrett]]) spilled the beans on the project. Eventually, the Shulman brothers gave up on Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and, out of its ashes, formed Gentle Giant.

[[caption-width-right:330:Classic line-up. 1972-1980 Right to left - D. Shulman, R.Shulman, Green, Weathers, Minnear]]

* DeadHorseGenre: Well... it's [[ProgressiveRock prog]].

* EpicRiff: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu6fmx-xn9A This]] certainly qualifies.

** A somewhat humorous example also occurs on the song "The Face" from ''The Power And The Glory'', when one can faintly hear an enthusiastic "Oh, YEAH!" after a very fast electric violin solo.

!!!1970-1972: Classic line-up:

* AccidentalNightmareFuel: The vocal bridge of "Pantagruel's Nativity".

* TearJerker: "The Moon Is Down", "Think Of Me With Kindness", "His Last Voyage"

* FaceOfTheBand: An odd literal example. John Weathers looks oddly like the Giant pictured on the [[http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/118/cover_7271617102008.jpg cover]] of the eponymous album, yet he joined 2 years later. This image is usually associated with the band in general.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: They were most popular in Italy.

Gentle Giant was an English ProgressiveRock band active in the 70s.

Gentle Giant was an english ProgressiveRock band active in the 70s.