3 keepers
keeper avg .375
The introductory track "The Advent of Panurge"**** begins resembling English ren faire (it's a thing they do a lot), and kicks into a funky rocker accented with complicated rhythms, weird diversions, and many starts and stops; in other words, prog-rock. "A Cry for Everyone"**** and the album-ending "River" are (mostly) surprisingly heavy and straightforward with occasional quirky flourishes. Indeed, nearly every song is sprinkled with non sequitur passages, in a plethora of styles and with odd instrumentation, usually reminding me of Frank Zappa. "The Boys in the Band"****, which starts side 2, is slow King Crimson jam bookended by a disorienting, utterly bonkers prog-rock freak-out that seems constantly on the verge of plummeting over a cliff before briefly returning to solid ground. The main riff is played at ludicrous speed; it's about as complex as a series of notes can be and still be recognizable as a hook, and at least technically, it's a masterpiece.
Instead of aggressive speed, "Knots" is the most aggressively weird track, with sinister vocal chanting, extra-quirky instrumental flourishes, and a menacing King Crimson passage. "Raconteur Troubadour" and "Dog's Life" are more of the kind of ren faire Madrigal stuff that many English bands were doing at the time, and Kerry Minnear's "Think of Me with Kindness" is a surprisingly stately ballad resembling early Genesis. It's on this, their fourth album, that many say Gentle Giant found their feet; while I don't know enough to agree or not, on the albums I have heard so far they consistently demonstrate impressive skill and creativity while still providing memorable hooks. As I've said before, I'm baffled that they aren't more well known, at least among classic rock fans.
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