Quick Gentle Giant Discography

Daniel J. Barrett
October 11, 1994

Here is a quick discography with my ratings of Gentle Giant's albums. My ratings mean: 

		*	Poor
		**	Below average, fair
		***	Good
		****	Very good
		*****	Excellent

with a "+" added if the album is at the top of its rating category. (You can think of a "+" as meaning "half star.")

1970: Gentle Giant (***)

Debut album with some really nice cuts.

1971: Acquiring The Taste (****+)

At one point, this was my favorite GG album. It is more chromatic and downright "weird" than most of the others. In the liner notes, they state their mission: to produce interesting and complex music without any regard for commercialism.

1972: Three Friends (****+)

Some of GG's prettiest tunes. A "theme" album telling the story of three grade-school friends who grow up... and apart.

1973: Octopus (*****)

Some fans think this is the best GG. Occasionally I agree.

1973: In A Glass House (****)

Some fans think THIS is the best GG. I think the album is a little overrated but still very good.

1974: The Power And The Glory (*****+)

This is my favorite album in all of rock. I don't know what else I can say. :-) It took me a while to appreciate the music, but now I think it's a perfect album.

1975: Free Hand (*****)

Another contender for best GG album. Influenced by Renaissance themes. Outstanding bass playing too.

1976: Interview (***+)

GG's weirdest album. Some hard-core GG fans call it the beginning of GG's downfall, but I like it quite a bit. Structured around an imaginary interview with the band, it has some funny moments interspersed among the dissonant, head-banging stuff.

1976: Playing The Fool (*****)

This double album has been called the best-recorded and best-performed live album in existence. I don't know that I'd go that far, but it is really great. GG takes great liberties rearranging their tunes, playing more than 30 different instruments on stage.

1977: The Missing Piece (** side 1, *** side 2)

The first truly bad GG album -- an attempt to break into the pop music market. (Some other fans are more forgiving than I.) You can hear the distinctive GG ideas, but the poppiness overwhelms. The second half of the album is much better than the first half.

1978: Giant For A Day (*)

Another GG pop album. The downhill slide continues.

1980: Civilian (***)

Very guitar-oriented rock album. Different from all previous work, but I like it. It contains one my favorite GG pieces, "Inside Out."

To summarize my rankings of the albums: 

	1.  The Power and the Glory		*****+
	2.  Playing The Fool			*****
	3.  Free Hand				*****
	3.  Octopus				*****
	5.  Acquiring The Taste			****+
	5.  Three Friends			****+
	7.  In A Glass House			****
	8.  Interview				***+
	9.  Gentle Giant			***
	10. The Missing Piece, side 2		***
	10. Civilian				***
	12. The Missing Piece, side 1		**
	13. Giant For A Day			*

This page is maintained by Daniel Barrett.