Acquiring the Taste album by the great Gentle Giant, from 1971.
The lyrics and music are by Derek Shulman, Phil Shulman, Ray Shulman, and Kerry Minnear.
Now a classic, released after their impressive self-titled debut album, with an iconic and provocative cover and complex yet captivating compositions, counterpoints and counterpoints, unusual tempos and dissonances, splendid arrangements featuring new ideas, expressed with great refinement.
- "Pantagruel's Nativity" is a piece of extreme elegance, with a beautiful melody, a great lead guitar and vibraphone, and wind instruments that complement it beautifully.
- "Edge of Twilight" is full of tension and mystery, very dark.
- "The House, the Street, the Room" is also a great melody, with beautiful bass and vocals, and especially the guitar solo.
- Acquiring The Taste is a short interlude that introduces "Wreck," my favorite track on the album, with exceptional violin, mellotron, and clavinet. It's a piece steeped in Renaissance chamber music, very catchy, beautiful!
- "The Moon is Down" with its melancholic mood and "Black Cat" with its magnificent jazz-style strings, sweet during the vocals, dissonant during the instrumentals.
- "Plain Truth" with its bluesy atmospheres, in their own way, closes the album splendidly. A beautiful composition.
All the performances are simply extraordinary.
An essential album, a masterpiece of progressive rock.
Tracklist
1. Pantagruel's Nativity (6:50)
2. Edge of Twilight (3:47)
3. The House, the Street, the Room (6:01)
4. Acquiring the Taste (1:36)
5. Wreck (4:36)
6. The Moon Is Down (4:45)
7. Black Cat (3:51)
8. Plain Truth (7:36)
Running Time: 39:02
Line-Up
- Gary Green - 6- and 12-string electric guitars (1), 12-string wah-wah guitar (7), mandolin and bass (3), donkey jaw and cat calls (7), vocals (8)
- Kerry Minnear - piano and electric piano, Hammond organ (1-3), Mellotron (1, 5, 6), vibraphone (1, 7), xylophone (2, 3), Minimoog (1-5), celesta (3), clavichord (3), harpsichord (2, 5, 6), timpani (2), maracas and tambourine (7), cello (2, 3, 7), arrangement for string quartet (7), lead vocals (1, 2) and backing vocals
- Derek Shulman - alto saxophone (1, 6), clavichord and cowbell (3), lead vocals (3, 5, 6) and backing vocals
- Phil Shulman - alto (6) and tenor (1, 6) saxophones, clarinet (2, 3), trumpet (1, 3), piano (3), claves, maracas, lead vocals (5, 7) and backing vocals
- Ray Shulman - bass, violin and electric guitar (8), violin, viola (7), Spanish guitar (2, 3) and 12-string guitar (6), organ, bass pedals (6), Tambourine, skulls, backing vocals
- Martin Smith - drums, tambourine (1), gong and side drum (2)
With:
- Tony Visconti - tenor, soprano, and soprano recorders (3.5), bass drum and triangle (7), producer
- Paul Cosh - trumpet and organ (3)
- Chris Thomas - Moog programmer (1-5)
