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Gentle Giant: Acquiring The Taste

 A l b u m   D e t a i l s


Label: Vertigo Records
Released: 1971
Time:
 39:22
Category: Pop/Rock
Producer(s): Tony Visconti
Rating: ********.. (8/10)
Media type: CD
Web address: www.blazemonger.com/GG
Appears with:
Purchase date: 2009.02.27
Price in €: 13,99





 S o n g s ,   T r a c k s


[1] Pantagruel's Nativity (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 6:50
[2] Edge Of Twilight (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 3:47
[3] The House, The Street, The Room (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 6:01
[4] Acquiring The Taste (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 1:36
[5] Wreck (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 4:36
[6] The Moon Is Down (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 4:45
[7] Black Cat (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 3:51
[8] Plain Truth (K.Minnear/P.Shulman/D.Shulman/R.Shulman) - 7:36

 A r t i s t s ,   P e r s o n n e l


Gary Green - 6 string guitar, 12 string guitar, 12 string wah-wah guitar, donkey's jawbone, cat calls, voice, arrangement
Kerry Minnear - electric piano, organ, mellotron, vibraphone, Moog, piano, celeste, clavichord, harpsichord, tympani, maracas, lead vocals, arrangement
Derek Shulman - alto sax, clavichord, cowbell, lead vocals, arrangement
Phil Shulman - alto & tenor sax, clarinet, trumpet, piano, claves, maracas, lead vocals, arrangement
Ray Shulman - bass, violin, viola, electric violin, Spanish guitar, tambourine, 12 string guitar, organ bass pedals, skulls, vocals, arrangement
Martin Smith - drums, tambourine, gongs, side drum, arrangement

Paul Cosh - trumpet, organ
Tony Visconti - producer, recorder, bass drum, triangle
Chris Thomas - Moog Programmer

Martin Rushent - Engineer
 

 C o m m e n t s ,   N o t e s


1971 LP Vertigo VE-1005
1994 CD Polydor 842917-2
1994 CD Polydor 842917
2006 CD Repertoire 1072
2006 CD Universal Japan 9688
2007 CD Universal
2008 Repertoire REPUK 1111


Gentle Giant's second album was a departure from the blues and soul influences found on their debut: more experimental, more dissonant, and even more diverse instrumentation. From the liner notes:
"Acquiring the taste is the second phase of sensory pleasure. If you've gorged yourself on our first album, then relish the finer flavours (we hope) of this, our second offering.
"It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary music at the risk of being very unpopular. we have recorded each composition with the one thought - that it should be unique, adventurous and fascinating. It has taken every shred of our combined musical and technical knowledge to achieve this.
"From the outset we have abandoned all preconceived thoughts on blatant commercialism. Instead we hope to give you something far more substantial and fulfilling. All you need to do is sit back, and acquire the taste."
This album was also released in the Motive series by Mercury, but only the word "Motive" appears on the cover, so it looks like the album title.

2008 reissue of the Prog rockers' sophomore album, originally released in 1971. Still one of the band's finest recorded moments, this second album was leaps and bounds better than their debut and features inventive, elegant musicianship and songs that were far more melody-based than most of their contemporaries. Eight tracks. Repertoire.

Issued in 1971, Gentle Giant's second album, ACQUIRING THE TASTE, finds the British prog-rock band honing its signature sound under the guidance of producer Tony Visconti (who would later collaborate with David Bowie on some of his finest records). ...  While the ensemble justifiably garnered comparisons to contemporaries such as Yes and King Crimson, Gentle Giant often proved to be more whimsical than those acts, as revealed on the lilting "Pantagruel's Nativity," which is lined with medieval flourishes, and the bouncy title track. Though the group would become a bit more popular with a relatively straightforward sound, this outing showcases Gentle Giant in a wildly inventive and playful mode.



"...the music had gone barmy: hard rock, string quartets and avant-gardist tendencies pulling the music into unrecognisable but wonderful shapes..."

Q (5/97, p.138) - 3 Stars (out of 5)



The band's second album is a major advance on its first, featuring superior singing, playing, and songwriting, as well as a more unified sound, without sacrificing the element of surprise in the first record. Many of the melodies and even the riffs here (check out Gary Green's first guitar flourish on "Pantagruel's Nativity") have a pretty high haunt count, and all of the musicianship displays an elegance seldom heard even in progressive circles -- but the record also, amazingly enough, rocks really hard as well. Elements of hard rock and Gregorian chants mix freely and, amazingly enough, well throughout this album.

Bruce Eder - All Music Guide

 

 L y r i c s


Pantagruel's Nativity

How can I laugh or cry
When my mind is sorely torn?
Badabec had to die
Fair Pantagruel is born
Shall I weep, yes, for why?
Then laugh and show my scorn

Born with a strength untold
Foreseen to have great age
Set in Gargantuan mould,
Joyful laugh, yet quick to rage
Princely wisdom, habits bold;
Power, glory, lauded sage

Pantagruel born -- the earth was dry and burning
In Paradise dear Badabec prays for him
Pantagruel born -- the earth was dry and burning
In Paradise dear Badabec prays for him.

Pantagruel born -- the earth was dry and burning
In Paradise dear Badabec prays for him

How can I laugh or cry
When my mind is sorely torn?
Badabec had to die;
Fair Pantagruel is born
Shall I weep, yes, for why?
Then laugh and show my scorn.


Edge Of Twilight

The moon is down
Casting its shadow over the night-haunted town
Mystical figures under the silence of light

The trembling air
Drifts slowly unseen over the houses there
And echoes changing into the voices of night

On the edge of twilight whispering
Whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper,
On the edge of twilight whispering
Whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper

Elusive time
In limbo active in never ending mime
The edge of twilight into the darkness of day

The House, The Street, The Room
Lead vocals: Derek

The room and street are known only to me and a few
I won't tell nobody
A place to meet where no-one can tell you what to do
I won't tell nobody
Here,
Awake in sleep
Together

My time is spent in chains and confusion in my head
I don't tell nobody
I keep my pains and swallow the harsh tears that I shed
I don't tell nobody
Here,
In reverie
Together

I find escape in the street, in the house, in the room
I become somebody
I cast my die and leave all my troubles in the room
I become somebody
Here,
Awake in sleep
Together


Acquiring The Taste

Instrumental


Wreck

The ship's rising up from the sea to the sky heyeheh Hold on
Just one sorry scream and a desperate cry heyeheh Hold on
Their lives pass before them before they die heyeheh --

The sea yawns around like a boiling hell heyeheh hold on
And souls disappear with the toll of that bell heyeheh hold on
The arms of the sea they are dragging them down heyeheh hold on
And sorrows and sins they are lost as they drown heyeheh --

How strange when you think that the sea was their way;
And a meaningless death is the price they pay
For their living was made from the deep
To their people in comfort and keep
Keep all their people and places there
Never to be seen again, never to be loved and their last embrace --
And the kiss has a salt bitter taste

Now all that remains is the deep cruel sea heyeheh hold on
And wreckage of things that used to be heyeheh hold on
No stone marks the place of that watery grave heyeheh hold on
Together they die both the weak and the brave heyeheh hold on

The arms of the sea.... etc.


The Moon Is Down

And the horse riding up through the red skies
The moon is down
With a gold coloured bird through the cloud flies
The moon is down
Look East to the Sun, Oh where do they run
Look East to the Sun, Oh where do they run
They live in my dreams,
  in my dreams, in my dreams

And the Moon and the Earth they were mating
The moon is down
And the Angels of hell they were waiting
The moon is down
Oh bride of the winds, Reward for their sins
Oh bride of the winds, Reward for their sins
They live in my dreams,
  in my dreams, in my dreams

There's a chaos of visions and voices
Sad is the laugh of the clown
  now the old moon is down.


Black Cat

There's a cat prowling through the streets at night
And she's black and her eyes are burning yellow
fierce and bright
The lights are darkened;
Senses sharpened;
Wide awake

As she acts out her past of Jungle days
When the night was her friend in many other
different ways
It gave protection
Of detection
By her prey

With a sway and swing she walks away
And the look in her eye it never seems
to say
The way she's feeling
No revealing,
Black Cat Ways


Plain Truth

Why do you question
When there's no answer told?
Plain truth is nothing
You can't buy it when it's sold

Save all your money
And they won't reason why
Why all the worry?
They'll spend it when you die

Chorus:
Don't look for something
Plain truth is nothing,
  nothing but the plain truth

You stand and wonder
Just let it warm your skin
Take all the living
Live life and let it win

Plain truth means nothing
Cry, laugh and cry again
You question answers
Born, live and die, Amen

Chorus:
Don't look for something
Plain truth is nothing,
  nothing but the plain truth

[Repeat first and second verse and chorus]

 

 M P 3   S a m p l e s


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