History Music / GentleGiant

* BaitAndSwitch: ''Acquiring the Taste'' has a cover that appear from the front to be a tongue licking two flesh-colored cheeks, but the back reveals that it's just a flesh-colored peach.

* ChristianRock: After the group disbanded, Kerry Minnear, a Methodist convert, tried to make a career in this genre.

* UncommonTime: As humorously illustrated by [[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ggnotation.jpg this picture]]

* ''Giant for a Day'' (1978)

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 its 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 someone's buttocks. [[spoiler: It's actually a [[BaitAndSwitch peach.]]]]

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The cover of ''[[http://a.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/2150/gentle_giant.jpg Acquiring the Taste]]''. [[UnfortunateImplications It looks like something else, if one only views the front however.]] This is intentional.

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The cover of ''[[http://a.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/2150/gentle_giant.jpg Acquiring the Taste]]'' is a tongue licking [[spoiler: a peach.]] [[UnfortunateImplications It looks like something else, if one only views the front however.]] This is intentional.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The album cover for ''Acquiring the Taste'', which shows a tongue drooling over someone's buttocks. [[spoiler: It's actually a peach.]]

Discography:

* BookEnds: ''In A Glass House'' begins and ends with the sound of breaking glass. ''The Power and the Glory'' begins with the song "Proclamation" and ends with "Valedictory", a song [[DarkReprise based off of the same tune but on distorted guitars instead of keyboards]], as well as an overall darker mood.
* BreakUpSong: ''Free Hand''

* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The cover of their second [[http://a.onionstatic.com/images/articles/article/2150/gentle_giant.jpg album]] is a tongue licking [[spoiler:a peach.]] [[UnfortunateImplications It looks like something else, if one only views the front however.]] This is intentional.
* 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.

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

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. This is not to say, however, that the band was dry or unemotional. It was noted by one fan that what made this band different from many other progressive rock bands was their almost punkish energy while playing and clear enthusiasm for the music they were performing live. (Just see their Website/YouTube videos for clear examples)

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 its earlier stages. Their sound, however, still proved too complex to appeal to a wide audience and they disbanded in 1980.

The discography:

* AlbumFiller: The last three albums were made wholly of these.

* LoveNostalgiaSong: "Think Of Me With Kindness" from ''Octopus''.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The album cover for ''Acquiring the Taste'', which shows a tongue drooling over what appears to be someone's buttocks. [[spoiler: It's actually a peach.]]
* GratuitousPanning: Required so that the listener may keep up with different simultaneous lines in the music.
* HappilyMarried: Most of the band these days. Phil Shulman left the band to keep it so.
* LargeHam: Derek Shulman's stage performance may come off as this.
* LoveNostalgiaSong: ''Think Of Me With Kindness'' from ''Octopus''

--Sleeve text from the second album, ''Acquiring the Taste''.

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

* MinimalisticCoverArt: ''The Missing Piece''

* PunBasedTitle: The fourth album Octopus is a work consisting of eight tracks: an octa - opus.
* RockOpera: ''The Power And The Glory'' is an unusual one at that. It speaks of government corruption.
* RockstarSong: Most of the songs from the concept album ''Interview'' deal with rockstardom.
* SanitySlippageSong: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWTEKTcajg8 An Inmates Lullaby]] is about a man in a mental hospital.

** A somewhat humorous example also occurs on the song "The Face" from ''The Power And The Glory'', when one can quite audibly hear an enthusiastic "Oh, WOW!" after a very fast electric violin solo.
* UncommonTime: Gentle Giant's 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 the classically-inspired ones.

--> Derek Shulman: Lead vocals, saxophone, recorder

--> Gary Green: Guitars, recorder, vocals
--> Martin Smith: Drums (1970–71)
--> Malcolm Mortimore: Drums (1971–72)

--> Gary Green: Guitars, recorder, vocals
--> John Weathers: Drums, percussion, vibraphone, vocals

* BaitAndSwitch: ''Acquiring the Taste'' has a cover that appear from the front to be a tongue between two flesh-coloured cheeks, but the back reveals that it's just a flesh-coloured peach.

* BookEnds: ''In A Glass House'' begins and ends with the sound of breaking glass. ''The Power And The Glory'' begins with the song "Proclamation" and ends with "Valedictory", a song [[DarkReprise based off of the same tune but on distorted guitars instead of keyboards]], as well as an overall darker mood.

* FullCircleRevolution: The [[ConceptAlbum Concept Album]] ''The Power And The Glory'' seems to speak of this; the first song describes an autocratic ruler asserting his authority over the people; the following songs talk of an ambitious person attempting to gain power and set things right, but the final song on the original album is a [[IronicEcho reprise]] of the first, with the new chorus "Things must stay, there must be no change; anyway, time to rearrange"

* LargeHam: Derek Shulmans stage performance may come off as this.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: 1-5.

->''"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."''\\

-->Kerry Minnear: Keyboards, vibraphone, cello, recorder, vocals

-->Kerry Minnear: Keyboards, vibraphone, cello, recorder, 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. This is not to say, however, that the band was dry or unemotional. It was noted by one fan that what made this band different from many other progressive rock bands was their almost punkish energy while playing and clear enthusiasm for the music they were performing live. (Just see their Youtube videos for clear examples of that)

!!! '''''The Missing Trope'''':

The line-ups:
!!!1970–72 Early line-up

* ''Three Friends''(1972)

!!This band contains examples of the following tropes

[[quoteright:280:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gentle_Giant_6879.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:280:The classic lineup. Left to right - Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman, Gary Green, John Weathers, Kerry Minnear]]

* FullCircleRevolution: The [[ConceptAlbum Concept Album]] ''The Power And The Glory'' seems to speak of this; the first song describes an autocratic ruler asserting his authority over the people; the following songs talk of an ambitious person attempting to gain power and set things right, but the final song on the original album is a [[IronicEcho reprise]] of the first, with the new chorus
->"Things must stay, there must be no change; anyway, time to rearrange"

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

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gentle_Giant_6879.jpeg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:The classic lineup. Left to right - Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman, Gary Green, John Weathers, Kerry Minnear]]

[[caption-width-right:330:The classic lineup. Left to right - Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman, Gary Green, John Weathers, Kerry Minnear]]

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

!!!1970-72 Early line-up

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

!!!1972-1980: Classic line-up:

* BreakUpSong: ''Free Hand''
* CanonDiscontinuity: Fans generally disregard the last three albums.

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

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Early on, they were very blues-influenced, but later had mediaeval and classical influences as well. Later albums included reggae-, new wave- and punk-tinged songs.

* SomethingSomethingLeonardBernstein: The band has polyphonic songs in which multiple lyrical lines are sung simultaneously. Makes following the lyrics almost impossible.

----

* ConceptAlbum: FOUR of them!

!!!1970-1980: Classic line-up:

* NonAppearingTitle: "Alucard", "Pantagruel's Nativity", "Prologue", "The Advent of Panurge", "Knots", "An Inmate's Lullaby", "A Reunion", "Proclamation", "Valedictory", "Mobile", "Interview", "Design", "Empty City" and all the {{instrumental}}s.