Gentle Giant Review
1
FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2005 • PB sun-sentinel.com SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL • SHOWTIME 30 For limited time, get $5 off this hilarious show. LOVE & TAXES is a hilarious tale of falling in love while wrangling with the Kafka-esque IRS.It begins with Josh Kornbluth's brief foray into the monolithic Hollywood studio system, netting him much more than a huge tax bill. The piece charts Josh's attempts to extricate himself from the increasingly paralyzing effects of indebtedness, a situation that threatens his new-found love life, his professional life, and his fiscal and psychological well-being. presents All programs, artists, dates and times are subject to change. For Tickets and Groups, Call Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office at 954.462.0222 or www.browardcenter.org Sponsors: March 24 - 26 See Love & Taxes and Get a $5 “REFUND” * *Valid on all performances, not valid with any other offers or discounts. March 24 - 26 MUSIC cities of the new global econo- my. —SEAN PICCOLI Rock Gentle Giant: Scraping the Barrel (Alucard). With a sound influenced as much by Scarlatti as Sgt. Pep- per, Gentle Giant was the origi- nal baroque ’n’ roll band of the ’70s. Pushing boundaries in ways that made prog-rock su- perstars such as Yes and Gene- sis seem like amateurs, the band’s music melded British folk, 20th century chamber music and Beatlesque inven- tion. Now, 25 years after disband- ing, Gentle Giant has released a four-CD boxed set that sheds new light on the group’s ex- traordinary virtuosity and en- semble songwriting. As the title implies, this retrospective goes deep into the archival barrel. But even these bottom scrap- ings are choice cuts that help to explain the band’s continuing influence on newer progressive rock acts including Spock’s Beard, Porcupine Tree and Flower Kings. Like the Beatles anthologies, Scraping the Barrel is not a best-of set but a compilation of previously unreleased works- in-progress, rehearsal demos, live performances and other rarities from all 10 of Gentle Gi- ant’s studio albums. The best moments are when the tape captures a song in early stages of development — as when keyboardist Kerry Minnear taps out the core piano melody of 1977’s As Old As You’re Young while vocalist/lyricist Derek Shulman invents a guide vocal on the spot. Other highlights include the deconstruction of several clas- sic Giant songs including the elegiac Empty City from 1976’s Interview album: Three separate tracks isolate the rhythm sections, acoustic gui- tar parts and the chorale-fugue vocals to reveal the band’s trademark point-counterpoint approach. There are a handful of inferi- or tracks here — including odd 1980s detours that found mem- bers sounding like economy- class Duran Duran and Big Country. But it’s easy to forgive the few shortcomings in this warts-and-all overview of Gen- tle Giant’s brief and brilliant moment in the sun. —NICK TATE ■ CD REVIEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 29 ■ CD REVIEWS CONTINUES ON 31
Transcript of Gentle Giant Review
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For limited time, get $5 off this hilarious show.LOVE & TAXES is a hilarious tale of falling in love while wrangling
with the Kafka-esque IRS. It begins with Josh Kornbluth's brief foray into the monolithic Hollywood studio system, netting him much more than a huge tax bill.
The piece charts Josh's attempts to extricate himself from the increasingly paralyzing effects of indebtedness, a situation that threatens his new-found love
life, his professional life, and his fiscal and psychological well-being.
presents
All programs, artists, dates and times are subject to change.
For Tickets and Groups, Call Broward Center’s AutoNation Box Office at 954.462.0222 or www.browardcenter.org
Sponsors:
TM
March 24 - 26
See Love & Taxes and Geta $5 “REFUND” *
*Valid on all performances, not valid with any other offers or discounts.
March 24 - 26
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MUSIC
cities of the new global econo-my.
— SEAN PICCOLI
RockGentle Giant: Scraping the
Barrel (Alucard).With a sound influenced as
much by Scarlatti as Sgt. Pep-per, Gentle Giant was the origi-nal baroque ’n’ roll band of the’70s. Pushing boundaries inways that made prog-rock su-perstars such as Yes and Gene-sis seem like amateurs, theband’s music melded Britishfolk, 20th century chambermusic and Beatlesque inven-tion.
Now, 25 years after disband-ing, Gentle Giant has releaseda four-CD boxed set that shedsnew light on the group’s ex-traordinary virtuosity and en-semble songwriting. As the titleimplies, this retrospective goesdeep into the archival barrel.But even these bottom scrap-ings are choice cuts that help toexplain the band’s continuinginfluence on newer progressiverock acts including Spock’sBeard, Porcupine Tree andFlower Kings.
Like the Beatles anthologies,Scraping the Barrel is not abest-of set but a compilation ofpreviously unreleased works-in-progress, rehearsal demos,live performances and otherrarities from all 10 of Gentle Gi-ant’s studio albums. The bestmoments are when the tapecaptures a song in early stagesof development — as whenkeyboardist Kerry Minneartaps out the core piano melodyof 1977’s As Old As You’reYoung while vocalist/lyricistDerek Shulman invents a guidevocal on the spot.
Other highlights include thedeconstruction of several clas-sic Giant songs including theelegiac Empty City from1976’s Interview album: Threeseparate tracks isolate therhythm sections, acoustic gui-tar parts and the chorale-fuguevocals to reveal the band’strademark point-counterpointapproach.
There are a handful of inferi-or tracks here — including odd1980s detours that found mem-bers sounding like economy-class Duran Duran and BigCountry. But it’s easy to forgivethe few shortcomings in thiswarts-and-all overview of Gen-tle Giant’s brief and brilliantmoment in the sun.
— NICK TATE
� CD REVIEWSCONTINUED FROM PAGE 29
� CD REVIEWS CONTINUES ON 31
