Gentle Giant’s Octopus represents all of progressive rock’s virtues. “A uniquely complex and challenging band to get into”

With its Roger Dean sleeve and just the hint of a concept about its eight tracks (the number from which the title is derived), Gentle Giant‘s Octopus could be seen as a red rag to those who loathe prog and its supposed baroque indulgences.

Prog it is, there’s no doubt (though future Human League producer Martin Rushent cut his teeth on engineering duties here). However, Octopus represents all the virtues of the genre. It’s literate – opener The Advent Of Panurge alludes to the novels of Rabelais, while A Cry For Everyone is inspired by French existentialist Albert Camus.

It’s a meticulous, dazzling, polyphonic spree of intertwined vocals and instrumentation, Zappa-esque but undercut by a very British sense of humour and self-deprecation, carrying its musicianship (sax, mellotron, xylophone and more) lightly.

It was considered a heavy rock outing in its time, but fortunately the guitar sections, the most dated of the album, are relatively sparing. Much more charming is Knots, its vocal interplay courtesy of the Shulman brothers Derek, Ray and Phil, a more intellectually coherent precursor to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

Stream on SpotifyStream on Apple Music

Every week, Album of the Week Club listens to and discusses the album in question, votes on how good it is, and publishes our findings, with the aim of giving people reliable reviews and the wider rock community the chance to contribute.

Join the group now.

Other albums released in December 1972

Made In Japan – Deep PurplePiledriver – Status QuoThe Grand Wazoo – Frank ZappaGypsy Cowboy – New Riders of the Purple SageYou Are The Music… We’re Just The Band – TrapezeR.E.O./T.W.O. – REO SpeedwagonWorld Woven – The Ides Of MarchFramed – Sensational Alex Harvey BandWorld Woven – The Ides of March

What they said…

“What’s really going on in Gentle Giant’s music is a kind of musical puzzle. The better you get at sorting out the puzzle, the richer the music will be. This concept was explored rather explicitly on this album’s Knots, a hairy, unpleasant, dissonant-sounding thing that just keeps getting messier until, all at once, one of their most immediate and beautiful melodies pops out at you in the chorus.” (The Rocktologist)

“Listening to The Boys in The Band one might consider all those time changes as ridiculous and unnecessary; after a few listens, however, one realises it’s not complexity for complexity’s sake, and indeed, one understands that the arabesque structure of the song is an integral and indispensable part of it, and even more notably, one realises that the song (to put it in youthful language) “rocks.” It rocks differently from everything we’ve heard rock before it, but it rocks.” (Debaser)

“Occasionally, arrangements do get overly cluttered – with each of the six band members doubling up on at least three different instruments, there’s a distinct sense of overdubs for overdubbing’s sake. Follow the key instruments alone, however, and the soundscapes not only make perfect sense, but so do the flourishes and intrusions that rattle around. And the end result is an album that has withstood the test of time a lot better than anyone might have expected.” (AllMusic)

What you said…

Philip Qvist: The first time I heard of Gentle Giant was about six years ago when I was listening to a music blog on YouTube. Gentle Giant? Who are they, and why hadn’t I heard of them beforehand? Oh, that’s right, they were a prog rock band; that’s why I had never heard of them until that moment.

That’s not to say I don’t like prog rock, but unless it is something by Pink Floyd, Rush, Kansas or Jethro Tull during their 70s peak, or the odd song by Yes or ELP, I don’t go out of my way to buy an album from that genre.

So back to Gentle Giant and Octopus and the positive things first. The Roger Dean cover is great, the songs are unusually short for a prog record, and amongst the noise there are a couple of good songs, such as River or A Cry For Everyone.

I can’t fault the musicianship either, but the truth is that Octopus didn’t float my boat either. Not a bad album, but it’s barely average. At least it isn’t totally self-indulgent, but it’s still a 5 from me.

Gary Claydon: True prog. Unmistakably, unequivocally, unapologetically prog. Like much of a similar ilk, Octopus can be something of an acquired taste, with its multi-faceted approach and highbrow subject matter. However, there is enough, typically self-deprecating English humour to lighten the load (even though the band contained three Scots!).

Best tracks? The energetic opener The Advent of Panurge, which is pretty much as prog as prog can be, the instrumental The Boys In The Band and the multi-layered Knots (I mean, who doesn’t like a good xylophone solo?)

I was about 13 when I first heard Octopus, a year or so after its release, and, to be honest, it was lost on me. Not only did I not ‘get’ it; it just wasn’t what I was looking for, musically, at the time. Over the years and subsequent listens, it has grown on me, though, as has some of the band’s other work. I’ve never regarded Octopus as essential; there is a touch too much filler and fiddling about for the sake of it, but if anybody ever asks you what prog sounds like, just answer ‘Gentle Giant’.

Fun fact – prior to forming Gentle Giant, the Shulman brothers and Martin Smith were the core of Simon DuPree and The Big Sound, who had a hit with the cinematic psychedelia of Kites. At one point, the band counted among their number a young, unknown touring keyboard player by the name of Reginald Dwight.

Side discussion – it was good to finally get round to listening to Steven Wilson’s reworking of Octopus, and I do think it adds something to what was already a really well-engineered and good-sounding album.

Greg Schwepe: This was a bit of a head-scratcher for me. Gentle Giant are one of those bands that the Prog section of the Louder website always has articles on; band members, album anniversaries, etc. And being a fan of the normal prog rock heavyweights (Yes, Genesis, ELP, King Crimson), I figured I would check them out someday. And maybe they might turn out to be one of those ”Wow, what have I been missing?” bands and have a whole new catalogue to explore.

Sadly, that was not the case as I explored Octopus. The Advent Of Panurge started out… interesting. And nothing clicked. More of the same with Raconteur, Troubadour and A Cry For Everyone. Unlike a real octopus with tentacles and suckers, this Octopus was not sticking to me. By the time Knots came around, I determined Gentle Giant was not for me.

The vocals seemed too prim and proper, plaintive, a bit genteel, and a bit recitative at times. All prog rock seems to have elements of what you could call “chamber music”…but in this case it seemed to take it a bit too far for me. Any long instrumental sections I didn’t have a problem with. Just didn’t click.

6 out of 10 on this one for me. Oh, but I did like the cool Roger Dean cover.

Neil Immerz: I have this one. Based on a small piece on the album in Terrorizer magazine and the exploration of prog rock, I decided to find and buy the album. I was definitely intrigued. I was thinking this might be similar to Yes in terms of songwriting, song length, etc. But I was kinda surprised on first listen. I think it’s more akin to Van Der Graaf Generator, y’know, that whole “jam band” thing they had going on on Pawn Hearts.

All that said, I do enjoy the album on occasion. 7/10.

John Davidson: Gentle Giant are one of those bands whose influence on their genre is much more important than their popularity. While Yes, Genesis and Pink Floyd all entered the public consciousness, Gentle Giant remained a connoisseur’s choice.

The more I have listened to this week’s pick, Octopus, the more I like the music, but the vocals and vocal arrangements are a real turn-off. They sound old-fashioned, almost churchy at times.

I’m sure I would have borrowed the album from the library back in the day – the Roger Dean cover alone guarantees that – but I have no memory of the songs.

As to their legacy, I can hear echoes of Gentle Giant in the work of Big Big Train (mostly in the musical arrangements and the use of brass) and Spock’s Beard (piano and vocal harmonies), but both of those bands do a better job of packaging up the best aspects of Gentle Giant and making them work for a modern audience.

Ultimately, I’m glad Gentle Giant existed, but I don’t think I will add any of the songs to my personal playlists. Their legacy maybe tips them from a 5 to a 6.

Mike Canoe: Back in the club’s second year, we reviewed ELP’s Tarkus, which I called the “proggriest prog that ever progged.” A fellow frequent contributor who I hope is still out there and will weigh in this week suggested that title go to Gentle Giant.

Who? I tried Octopus back then and I did not get it. After circling back every other year or so, I think I’m getting there. I have always had respect for Octopus, but I might be starting to actually enjoy it. Even by prog standards, Gentle Giant seem like a uniquely complex and challenging band to get into. Minstrel vocals blended with instruments that I had to Google, like mellophone intermingling with Moogs and the most vibraphones this side of Frank Zappa, all used to make twisty, nay, knotty music in songs generally running three to four minutes, interludes by the standards of some prog bands.

The closing River still gets on my nerves and, interestingly, it’s the only song here over five minutes. Too much of a weird and/or twee thing? Stunned by an honest-to-goodness blues guitar solo after a half hour of everything but a conventional song structure? I don’t know, but I do know that I like the opener, The Advent of Panurge, the aptly named Knots, instrumental The Boys in the Band, Dog’s Life (best dog song ever?) and ballad Think of Me With Kindness, and more than tolerate Cry For Everyone and Raconteur Troubadour.

My common refrain is “too much music, too little time.” Heck, I used it just last week. But every so often, there’s an album that makes me want to keep trying. Octopus is one of those albums.

Mark Herrington: I’ve never heard this in its entirety before, but knew it had influenced a lot of other progressive bands.

The tracks I enjoyed were the more immediate and rockier ones, namely A Cry For Everyone and River. Also, the quieter Think Of Me With Kindness, which has echoes in years to come in the Alan Parsons Project ballads.

Other than those, I couldn’t really warm to the rest of the album, and only enjoyed small parts of individual songs. Some of these tracks were overly complex and lost my attention. At times, the vocals were a bit of an acquired taste too, although on the three songs I enjoyed they were ok.

Its influence is clear, with many moments that reminded me of subsequent songs from other bands. From the ‘cartoon chase’ elements of a section of Boys In The Band, reflected in Dream Theater’s Endless Sacrifice, to Haken’s use of a cappella in The Cockroach King.

Many of those bands have polished and refined some of the influences on here into arguably better albums. An example: Haken’s The Mountain, a great modern Prog Metal album, which I feel is more consistent than this, but is clearly influenced by Octopus.

Overall, a mixed album for me, with a lasting influence on other bands.

Final score: 6.32 (28 votes cast, total score 177)

Join the Album Of The Week Club on Facebook to join in. The history of rock, one album at a time.

(LouderSound)