With Understanding Comes Appreciation
Gargantua & Pantagruel come to life! The entire classic era oeuvre of the British progressive rock titans Gentle Giant, founded by the three Schulman brothers in 1970, is indeed the perfect musical embodiment of the cheerful Rabelaisian spirit, colorful and picturesque as a fancy miniature from a manuscript, brought to life by the moving nature of the sound.
Founded on the wreck of an unsuccessful and now totally forgotten soul-influenced pop outfit Simon Dupree & The Big Sound, Gentle Giant was a very different story for the Schulmans right from the start, and by the time of Acquiring the Taste the new band dared to move completely onto the uncharted land of its members' natural idiosyncrasies. It was the first of the six classic albums released by Gentle Giant, and while the band hadn't quite reached their peak of arranging perfection, crafting the music with still a slightly unfirm hand (rather very slightly actually), Acquiring the Taste still possesses something that makes it stand out. Maybe it's about the nocturnal atmosphere, this evening air that surrounds every song (on the edge of twilight whispering, as it says the lyrics of one of the best songs here)? Quite possibly so.