Gentle Giant - The Advent of Panurge - FIRST TIME REACTION

Поділитися
Вставка
  • Опубліковано 25 гру 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 83

  • @markjohnson4217
    @markjohnson4217 Місяць тому +5

    It is in 4/4, but there is an offbeat 'push' between the fourth count and the first count of each measure. Normally the snare hits would be on the two and the four, but here John Weathers is giving us the two but then instead of the four, there is a slight hesitation and he accents the offbeat after the four. But it makes more sense if we break it into eighth notes instead because that repeating offbeat accent is being played by the bass guitar as well so when counting it as 8/8, we find that it falls right between the 7 and 8 of each measure. This motif of accenting the offbeat at the end or beginning of a measure happens throughout the song in surprising ways. Thats what gives it that wierd lurching feel, like those hard shots that first bring the groove in feel like getting shocked a few times trying to jump start your car because it is literally jumping out at you from the offbeat each time. Like getting smacked when you aren't ready for it, Lol...

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +3

      Ahhhh brilliant breakdown of the beats for me, thank you for responding to my call for help in that regard. It was such an intriguing sound, proper lured me in whilst simultaneously leaving a disconcerting sensation in my brain!

  • @andrelevesque2405
    @andrelevesque2405 Місяць тому +3

    One of the most playful, unexpected and inventive drum lines in Prog. A delight to listen to.

  • @runciblemoon1194
    @runciblemoon1194 Місяць тому +2

    Well that was hilarious! Watching your intro about looking forward to something mellow when I knew what was coming, all I could think was "Ah, my sweet summer child".

    • @runciblemoon1194
      @runciblemoon1194 Місяць тому +1

      Also, funny you mentioned Elton John in jest there. GG emerged from the ashes of a 60s psych pop band called Simon Dupree and the Big Sound and a pre-Elton Reg Dwight actually gigged with them for a couple of months as a session keys player when their regular keyboardist was ill. There's presumably a parallel universe somewhere where Gentle Giant kept Elton on keys instead of picking the genius that is Kerry Minnear!

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      Hahaha yeah I walked into that one didn't I?! 🤣🤦‍♂️, how ignorant I was!

  • @Pcrimson1
    @Pcrimson1 Місяць тому +7

    OMG! You don't go into Gentle Giant on a whim. I love this song, actually this whole album is a trip. This is as Prog as it gets. The reason people love this type of music is because it's so complex. The more you listen to it, the more you discover different melodies and drum patterns. Then they start to gell and you expect the changes with in the song. For me, its more of a rewarding a listen, you don't get bored, and you come back to it more than other genres.
    I suggest some songs to ease into them:
    Memories of Old Days - has one of the greatest acoustic guitar duets ever recorded.
    His Last Voyage - a chill sombre vibe with nice jazz like break in the middle.
    Proclamation - but look for the "Fans" version. This is a tribute video (w/the band making guest appearances sprinkled in).
    Also, any live performance videos will amaze you as they run around on stage, changes instruments and vocals.
    Hope you do more GG, they did not get the fame deserved, but people who love them, LOVE them.
    US Roadie 1 signing out ..

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      Hey US roadie. Thanks for commenting as always. Yeah I can see how these were at the outer rim of prog, definitely experimental vibes throughout, but as you said, lots to keep you entertained!

    • @TerryKrysinski
      @TerryKrysinski Місяць тому

      @@MusicForTheSoulReactions Gentle Giant and King Crimson may have been about the weirdest prog acts back when. But-- GG retained much more melody in their work,while KC was just...weird. That said...they had their fanbase as well,of course.

  • @wendellwiggins3776
    @wendellwiggins3776 Місяць тому +4

    I hope that GG were my request as well to help expand your PROG UNIVERSE. Giant are one of the MOST Progressively complex multi-instrumentalist of the genre who mixed quirky polyrhythms with Classical, Medieval, Jazz Rock, Funk, Folk and Blues that are full of changing moods, time signatures, virtuosity with imaginative storytelling. They go from combining GENTLE sensibilities with harder GIANT grooves masterfully. All their groundbreaking 10 albums are excellent! NOTE: This their 4th album was the bridge between their earlier 70's work that gradual evolved into their unique influential signature style to come. Back then, their success was only moderate due to their non-commercial & non-radio friendly approach to music. I hope you are inspired because GG were very unique, clever, talented and diverse. Once you fully acquire the taste & an ear for the ethos behind the many various bands in this genre, the shock & bemusement will turn into awe & amazement.
    PANURGE is one of the principal characters in Gargantua and Pantagruel, a series of five novels by François Rabelais of the French Renaissance. He's described as an exceedingly crafty knave, libertine and coward.

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому

      Thank you for the very informative comment, it made for an interesting read. I can only hope the more I check them out the more I will get and ear for their nuanced styles as like you said, it's very complex

  • @richardfurness7556
    @richardfurness7556 Місяць тому

    During the early 70s a number of British bands emerged who embraced the prog ethos while at the same time remaining rooted in mainstream rock. I'll recommend just two of them here: Rare Bird, whose 1972 album Epic Forest is an underpraised delight; and Audience, who would have sounded equally at home in a Manhattan jazz club cellar, an old west saloon and the opening night of the Proms. If you want to hear clarinet and fuzz bass compete for bragging rights in an instrumental break then Jackdaw is the track for you.

  • @alanFconrad
    @alanFconrad Місяць тому

    great song off a great album

  • @tobytanzer
    @tobytanzer Місяць тому

    It took me a long time to appreciate GG. Decades. I liked Knots from the start, but it wasn't till I saw the live reboot - Three Friends - in 2014 that I finally "got" them. Prog equivalent to Shock and Awe.

  • @ianlejeune6012
    @ianlejeune6012 Місяць тому

    Appreciate this band; try and try and then you will understand; you can swim in their style and still wonder at their musical creativity, It won't be difficult any more, just wonderful - keep listening to GG, they are literally on their own. Thank you GG, for everything…

  • @gerryrafferty7500
    @gerryrafferty7500 Місяць тому +2

    Love the post . Prog is all about conflict and its resolution as in echoes or suppers ready , GG a very particular school of prog , pays homage to English folklore ,love its purity

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      I definitely get the English folklore...or medieval sounds and vibe as I seem to refer to it

  • @rk41gator
    @rk41gator Місяць тому +2

    Just got back from listening to your first exposure to GG! Canterbury sound on steroids as I mentioned in the earlier review. Renaissance Jazz? "really random with strangeness" kinda nails it.
    Prog gotten right! Quirky. Yes. As you hear, they can get quite FUNKY.....so do try some more. Not quite out of sync is jazz. Stressful on first listen. Challenging. (ps: don't sleep on Genesis)

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      Yeah this is a band that will give me trepidation from now on whenever they come back around for a reaction! Intensely challenging, but for all the right reasons

  • @TerryKrysinski
    @TerryKrysinski Місяць тому +3

    LOL Steve-- Gentle Giant are melodic BUT ..VERY quirky. It takes some getting used to to get into them. But--they were top of the line brilliant! Enjoy the journey,bro... Cheers, T :-)

    • @TerryKrysinski
      @TerryKrysinski Місяць тому

      If you're willing to do a bit of work relistening,Gentle Giant rewards you many many listens over..trust me. ;-) T

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      Cheer fella. So much adjusting to do, there was me thinking prog rock bands are all the same prog rock, who knew there were levels and sub genres and individualistic stuff too, you know, just to confuse us more 🤣

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому

      I certainly trust your words!

  • @flowersnyams
    @flowersnyams Місяць тому +2

    Most GG stuff takes a listen or two but once hooked it's like not much else. wonderful musicians creating magical music.

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +2

      I can see how that would work, I'm definitely going to give them a good go to get me hooked!

    • @rk41gator
      @rk41gator Місяць тому +1

      Like Genesis or Yes, GG is one to come back to and listen anew. Always something new to find in their complex music. Addicting but better and less caloric than peanuts.

    • @TerryKrysinski
      @TerryKrysinski Місяць тому +1

      @@MusicForTheSoulReactions Steve...either Power & The Glory or Freehand are your best albums to get acquainted with them. If you dig those...dive in. :-) T

  • @angharaddenby3389
    @angharaddenby3389 Місяць тому

    Check out their song Funny Ways. One of my favourites.

  • @klausheckendorf649
    @klausheckendorf649 25 днів тому

    The name "Gentle Giant" refers to stories by french Renaissance author Francois Rabelais. Among others they include some giants called Pantagruel and Gargantua. The band did one or two songs about them too. And somewhere down the line these stories comes this Panurge. I don´t know why but Rabelais´ literature seemed to have a big influence to the band in the beginning.
    GG´s songs are very, very different. They´d tried not to repeat themselves one single time over a period of ten years. Although this is not quite possible they achieved this goal largely. Their music therefore is without doubt difficult and requires a patient ear but to me they opened a musical universe that I didn´t know existed back then.

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  25 днів тому

      Brilliant, informative comment, really appreciate you sharing it. I definitely agree, I find them extremely complex and my ear has quite atuned to it...yet!!

    • @klausheckendorf649
      @klausheckendorf649 24 дні тому

      @@MusicForTheSoulReactions Thanks for the response, that´s rare. But now I see someone has told you all that Rabelais stuff already.
      Actually I was a hard rock fan of the likes of Led Zeppelin when I first heard music by GG - can you imagine this? And you needed a special place to hear them cause they would never ever played on the radio or anywhere else. Except one single time which was recorded by a friend of mine. And this single song got me hooked already. Some strange upbeat kind of jazz-rock with lyrics. So refreshing and funky, never heard something like that - "Just the same".
      I know you probably get bombed with music suggestions so I will go along with it : GG were a very energetic and obviously skilled live band. So if you want to see and hear a totally different side of them than this medieval stuff try this : ua-cam.com/video/vMrYSTzqFI8/v-deo.html.
      Actually they did "On reflection" live with recorder, violin, cello, vibraphone, five-part vocals followed by the usual bass, guitar, keyboards and drums at the end right after my suggested song. It´s part of a whole 60 minutes BBC recording of a performance - here on the tube to find.

  • @scifimonkey3
    @scifimonkey3 Місяць тому +3

    For a chilled listen next time you are in need (honest, no traps) check out the band Caravan with ‘ Nine feet underground’ similar vocally to Gentle giant but maybe slightly jazzier musically still progressive but less sharp turns. Another artist that wont beat you around the head is Mike Oldfield the obvious starting point being ‘Tubular Bells’ (without which no one would be Flying, cruising and banking with Virgin.)

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      I'll trust you blindly and go where suggested, although I've just noted nine feet underground appears to be 20 mins long?!! 🤯

    • @scifimonkey3
      @scifimonkey3 Місяць тому +3

      @ ok maybe the trap was that you need to pack lunch…..

  • @markdrechsler5660
    @markdrechsler5660 Місяць тому +1

    More GG please. Top tier proggy goodness!

  • @lesblatnyak5947
    @lesblatnyak5947 Місяць тому +1

    Nice bud. Try to listen to all the parts as a whole at first. Saw the Giant 4 times in the 70s. They were the first prog band I saw in 74. Ray Shulman the bass player played the violin and since l played the violin l took up the bass ✨️🎶✨️

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      Cool to hear there is a transition to be had between violin and bass! When I re-listen it will be nice to check it out as one piece and see the connections

  • @LeeQuinnell
    @LeeQuinnell Місяць тому

    Yeah that was very good.....Good too see you're enjoying the music....of all different genres....your doing a cracking job steve...later dude

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      Cheers Lee. It's a learning curve each time, but enjoying the process! Take it easy bud

  • @chucksmusicaldebris3536
    @chucksmusicaldebris3536 Місяць тому

    Hi Steve! Oh boy! When you were in a chill mood and I saw you were reacting to Gentle Giant. I knew it was going to be trouble. Heart attack in a lay by by Porcupine tree would’ve been better. Although it’s a dark song. It’s chill with a lot of piano. Gentle Giant is anything but gentle. They are the strangest of prog bands as far as instrumentation and switch ups. Love the band myself but you definitely need to prepare for a nutter of a journey

    • @wendellwiggins3776
      @wendellwiggins3776 Місяць тому +1

      melodically gentle at times and powerfully giant at times and both at other times

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому

      Haha you couldn't have put it any better. Within a mere matter of moments I realised my folly. The name lulled me in and lied to me 🤣. Felt like my brain had been put in a tumble dryer by the end!!

    • @Grithron2
      @Grithron2 Місяць тому +1

      What did you expect from a band including a guy whose name is Carry 'Em In 'Ere (!)

  • @markjohnson4217
    @markjohnson4217 Місяць тому

    The song is an account of an encounter between Panurge and Pantegruel, (I think Pantegruel is the name of the Gentle Giant whose face we see on most of their albums.) Panurge seems to be a character who has gone tbrough alot, he is poor, thirsty, and hungry and the kindness of Pantegruel sets up a new friendship between them. I think the phrase "I have come from hell" is meant to be understood as " I have BEEN through hell" but from now on, Panurge can leave all of that behind him....
    I think that is the story anyway.

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому

      Thank you so much for sharing this. Helps clear some stuff up for me!

    • @Grithron2
      @Grithron2 Місяць тому

      Rabelais - famous for his obsessions with (a) drink, drink and more drink, (b) bodily functions (he wiped his arse with a swan's neck), (c) and this is a distant third: kinky sex

  • @rk41gator
    @rk41gator Місяць тому

    GG do like their 'stabs' of sound. Lunatic Licks!

  • @thomassharmer7127
    @thomassharmer7127 Місяць тому

    You mention "Elton John" as a joke name for the keyboard player, but actually the young Reg Dwight nearly did join them! He played with some of them on a single from their previous band (Simon Dupree And The Big Sound) which was more pop styled. They wanted to go in this polyrhythmic direction and offered Reg the keyboard job but he declined and stayed in the pop world. (Their music does actually make sense and has its own unique groove but it's not obvious to everyone on first listen. Some of us find the complexity stimulating rather than crushing 😊).

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому

      Wow, thats so random! Yeah I think I need more listens to get to grips with the complexity of what they are doing. I'm still a prog amateur so it's quite a lot to take it, but then, it makes for fun reactions so being clueless doesn't bother me one bit 🤣

  • @bauertime
    @bauertime 29 днів тому

    If you want to relax with them , listen to Think of Me with Kindness, Memories of Old Days, and No God's a Man.

  • @nealjones255
    @nealjones255 Місяць тому

    Like a jamming session but on another planet not Earth 😂 good stuff

  • @Rowenband
    @Rowenband Місяць тому

    Aahhh… the best band in the world. GG is the most innovative band ever. Go on Steve…
    The secret with prog songs is they go richer the more you listen to them. It was economic at the time. You bought one album by GG or Yes and you could listen it a hundred times before getting all of it. You have to relisten the songs at least one or two times afterwards.

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      I think that's a really good suggestion. I always intend to eventually buy a full vinyl album of these types of bands and soak it in as it's supposed to be heard!

    • @Rowenband
      @Rowenband Місяць тому

      @@MusicForTheSoulReactions Yes, that's a good thing to try. For Yes buy Tales From Topographic Oceans or the live Yessongs, the covers are sublime.

  • @brucemcewing7564
    @brucemcewing7564 Місяць тому +1

    You're definitely not taking the easy path down this rabbit hole :)

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому +1

      Haha no fun if it were easy right 🤣🤯

    • @Grithron2
      @Grithron2 Місяць тому

      Well, it's easierto unpick a song like this than, well, y'know, the Designs and So Sinceres and House/Street/Rooms of this world.

  • @DannySpee
    @DannySpee Місяць тому

    Didn't know Hotel California was located in Progland. Should we assemble a rescueparty to free you to leave and go expore other genres?

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому

      Hahaha I want all genres to be open to me! I'm going to search some of the pure rock requests and see where that take me next I think!

    • @erikahlander3489
      @erikahlander3489 Місяць тому +2

      Gentle Giant sounds like no other band, and the albums are quite different. But it seems like you have got it, at least partly. The "Three friends" album is maybe a little easier to digest. It is a concept album, and should maybe be handled as one unit. The "rockiest" song would otherwise be "Peel the paint".

  • @dav147
    @dav147 Місяць тому

    as a prog guy, Genesis, Yes, Floyd, Tull etc, Gentle Giant are a bit of a stretch for me and ive tried.

  • @rafaa151
    @rafaa151 20 днів тому

    Well, I confess: I can't listen the most Gentle Giant songs, except "Funny Ways" and the "Acquiring The Taste" album.
    Try "Funny Ways" or "Black Cat", for softer songs.

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  20 днів тому

      I must admit, they are a challenging band!!

    • @rafaa151
      @rafaa151 20 днів тому

      @@MusicForTheSoulReactions A friend of mine said, years ago, that he had "cerebral pain" when listening Gentle Giant. It was a joke, but I think that he described well.

  • @drwugong
    @drwugong Місяць тому

    Great review! I don't think in many ways this is representative of the best of GG or this album. If you can "the boys in the band" or "knots" would be a much better listen for your channel IMO>

  • @jornspirit
    @jornspirit Місяць тому

    ...cool rant on ProgRock, Steve (and its bl**dy titles!)... I guess, its a love-hate thing ☯
    just FYA: yes, GG do have a few 'softies', but most of their stuff is rather dramatic, and not what you choose for relaxation... 😂

    • @MusicForTheSoulReactions
      @MusicForTheSoulReactions  Місяць тому

      Hahaha thanks for the heads up, don't want to make GG my go to for chill and find my ear drums blown off and my head in a spin 🤣. Thanks for watching and commenting

  • @nealjones255
    @nealjones255 Місяць тому

    I’ve had to listen to it twice and I’m now even more confused
    My own fault !
    Enjoyed though

  • @Someonelser1
    @Someonelser1 Місяць тому

    Pick a lane, guys.😂😂😂😂

  • @alanwaine4186
    @alanwaine4186 Місяць тому +2

    en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panurge