Gentle Giant

Gentle Giant rose from the remains of the Shulman brothers' pop group, Simon Dupree & the Big Sound. That band had some minor chart success when the single "Kites" b/w "Like the Sun, Like the Fire" broke into the UK Top 10 in late 1967. More surprisingly were the legions of teenage girls that the band attracted, as documented in the British television show Man Alive. But at the turn of the decade, the three Shulman brothers-Derek, Ray and Phil-were ready to make the switch over to a more serious, progressive sound and show the world their considerable musical talents. They teamed up with Royal Academy of Music graduate Kerry Minnear on keyboards and drafted Gary Green to play guitar, while Martin Smith would be the band's first drummer. Their first album was released on the Vertigo label, one of the new labels catering to the burgeoning progressive sound. An auspicious debut, Gentle Giant would become one of the more celebrated and cerebral bands of the progressive era, with their complex arrangements, shifting time signatures and expansive artillery of instruments all trademarks of the band. Some of that is here in their debut; particularly on "Giant," with its excellent keyboard break, and "Alucard" ("Dracula" backwards), with its huge Minimoog bass line. Composition would also remain Gentle Giant's strong suit. Take "Nothing at All"-gentle folk number? Not really. It breaks down into a cacophony of phased drums and piano. The bluesy digression of "Why Not" offers some of the same, but also reveals another Giant tradition-the ability to rock out-something the band (but not the genre) would never forget. Charting, however, would always be a problem, especially in their native England.