I am guessing this first Classic Album will raise a few eyebrows already 😉
This is actually the first Gentle Giant album I ever heard and I immediately fell in love with it. And I said it before, albums you grow up on, tend to stick with ya and get that aura of being fantastic due to all the memories attached.
Even for the time it was rather short, but I just kept playing the LP at the time. For it´s wonderful choruses, the great use of Hammond by Kerry Minnear, the inventive guitar licks by Gary Green, and the somewhat hoarse voice of singer Derek Shulman. (and to complete the list of musicians involved: Ray Shulman played the bass, and John Weathers drummed). And a lot of singing of course.
And yes, this has little to do with their previous output. So imagine my surprise checking out albums like Octopus, Free Hand or Missing Piece. From where I was coming from (hard rock) that was not an easy task. But I grew into it and have since also developed a taste for quality symphonic music.
But this was close to perfection according to me. On it´s own I regard it a classic melodic rock album with some symphonic influences. In hindsight I understand some of the older fans as well. they thought it was a sell out and hated the band for it.
For me, I still enjoy playing this (meanwhile upgraded to CD) All Through The Night…
