Review: Gentle Giant – Octopus (1972)

Octopus is Gentle Giant’s fourth studio album and the last one the band made with founding member Phil Shulman.

Octopus is Gentle Giant’s most balanced and successful album. With this album, it feels like the intricate building blocks of the band finally fell into place seamlessly. Much of the credit must go to the band’s new drummer John Weathers, whose playing seems to be the glue that made the final fusion happen. John Weathers is a rocking drummer and he plays the complex songs as straightforwardly as possible, which, perhaps somewhat paradoxically, was just the right thing to do. With Weathers, Gentle Giant sound as sophisticated as before, but there’s a new muscularity to the sound and the band sound convincing at last, even on the rocking songs on the album, a good example being Octopus’ ”A Cry For Everyone”.

Although Weathers brought a more rocking approach, the band did not compromise on complexity in their compositions on Octopus. Perhaps quite the opposite. For example, the appropriately twisted ”Knots”, composed by Kerry Minnear, is probably the band’s most complex song and one of the most challenging four minutes of progressive rock in general. The modern madrigal in question would probably provide quite a lot to chew on for anyone with a knowledge of music theory who wanted to dissect the song on a theoretical level. I’m not up to it myself, but it says a lot about the Octopus album that for all its complexity, the atmosphere remains somehow warm, human and approachable throughout. The same cannot be said of all the band’s future albums.

Along with ”Knots”, one of the album’s highlights is ”The Advent Of Panurge”, which starts with a gentle polyphonic song and soon turns into an addictively swinging, slightly mystical track. That song is a good example of how Weathers builds a solid groove on the base of a song on which the rest of the song can be build, no matter how complex, without the elaborate structure collapsing.

After ”Panurge” Octopus continues with ”Racounter Troubador”, a very elaborately arranged song with a strong medieval feel. The members of Gentle Giant play probably close to thirty different instruments together on the album and most of them can be heard on this one track alone. Still, ”Troubador” sounds effortless and far from forced. A truly amazing song!

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Read also: Review: Yes – Close To The Edge (1972)

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Octopus doesn’t have any weak or even mediocre songs and each of them deserves its own introduction, but for now I’ll limit myself to just a couple of songs.

The first of these is one of Gentle Giant’s simplest songs, ”Think Of Me With” Kindness”. It’s a very beautiful song with a delicate opening sung beautifully by Kerry Minnear. Towards the end the song turns into a grander anthem in a lovely way. This song would have benefited from a more subtle drumming, though.

The last mention goes to ”Dog’s Life” which shows that GG also has a sense of humour. ”Dog’s Life” is a funny (and maybe a bit mean-spirited?) song about roudies where they are compared humorously to dogs. Accompanied by cello and violin and a crumhorn-like buzz (which is perhaps a Renaissance-era regal organ), the song includes the following lines:

He doesn’t care for his hair or his teeth
And if the truth were known he’s a bit of a thief
Innocently lies, and it’s showing
Who’d imagine he’s man’s best friend
Knowing he’s your friend in the end

What might the band’s roadies have thought of the feedback from their employers?

The cover art on Gentle Giant’s previous albums had been a bit clunky, but this time the band got the cover design by progressive rock’s court artist Roger Dean. Dean’s dramatic octopus painting is one of the most striking things you’ll ever see on the band’s covers. Amazingly, however, a completely different cover was used in the USA.

Octopus is the pinnacle of Gentle Giant’s production. Never before, and never since, has the band sounded so accessible and warm without having to make any compromises to their complex and highly original style. Octopus is a masterpiece and its influence has resonated far more widely over the decades than mere sales figures would suggest.

Best songs: ’The Advent Of Panurge’, ’Racounter, Troubador, ’Knots’ ’Think Of Me With Kindness’ and ’River’

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Author: JANNE YLIRUUSI

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Tracks

1. ”The Advent of Panurge” Minnear Kerry Minnear (verses), Derek Shulman (chorus), Phil Shulman (bridge) 4:41
2. ”Raconteur Troubadour” Minnear Derek Shulman 4:01
3. ”A Cry for Everyone” R. Shulman Derek Shulman 4:04
4. ”Knots” Minnear Phil Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman (in order of appearance) 4:11
5. No. Title Writer(s) Lead vocals Length
6. ”The Boys in the Band” R. Shulman (instrumental) 4:34
7. ”Dog’s Life” R. Shulman Phil Shulman 3:11
8. ”Think of Me with Kindness” Minnear Kerry Minnear 3:34
9. ”River” R. Shulman Derek Shulman (verses), Phil Shulman (bridge) 5:53

Muusikot

Gary Green: electric guitar (1, 3, 4, 5, 8), percussion Kerry Minnear: piano (1-5, 7, 8), Hammond organ (1-5, 7, 8), Minimoog (1, 3, 5, 8), electric piano (2, 4, 8), Mellotron (2, 7, 8), clavinet (1), harpsichord (4), regal (6), vibraphone (4, 8), cello (2, 6), percussion, lead vocals (1, 4, 7), backing vocals Derek Shulman: principal vocals (1-4, 8), alto saxophone (5) Phil Shulman: trumpet (tracks 1, 2), tenor sax (4, 5), mellophone (7), lead vocals (1, 4, 6, 8), backing vocals Ray Shulman: bass guitar, violin (2, 5, 6), viola (6), electric violin (4, 8), acoustic guitar (6), percussion, backing vocals John Weathers: drums (1-5, 7, 8), bongo drums (3, 8), varispeed cymbals (4, 8), xylophone (4, 6)

Producer: Gentle Giant

Label: Vertigo