"A Quest for Prog" is a series of 50 Progressive Rock reviews to be written over a year. The band selection is taken from the book in the first post on this blog. And the albums I am reviewing is based on the highest user ratings for each band on Progarchives.com.
Gentle Giant - In a Glass House (1973)
Produced by Gentle Giant & Gary Martin
Derek Shulman – Lead vocals, Alto/Soprano Sax & Recorder
Gary Green – 6 & 12 String Guitars, Mandolin, Percussion & Alto Recorder
Kerry Minnear – Keyboards, Tuned Percussion, Recorder & Vocals
Ray Shulman – Bass & Acoustic Guitars, Violin, Trumpet, Percussion & Backing Vocals
John Weathers – Drums & Percussion
Track listing:
Side one:
01. The Runaway (7:16)
02. An Inmate's Lullaby (4:40)
03. Way of Life (8:04)
Side two:
01. Experience (7:50)
02. A Reunion (2:12)
03. In a Glass House (8:09)
Released in 1973 “In a Glass House” is the fifth album by English band Gentle Giant. The band was formed in 1970 when the Shulman brothers teamed up with Gary Green, Kerry Minnear & drummer Martin Smith. All members apart from Martin could play multiple instruments which along with a varied influences and backgrounds created a unique mix of Classical, Jazz & Rock. Although the band only achieved Cult success they released an impressive eleven studio albums between 1970 and 1980 before splitting.
Breaking glass opens the album and is drawn into a kind of loop which build before the band comes into the track “The Runaway”. The song is quite playful but at the same time intricate and energetic. The song treads the same territory as Yes and features some really cool keyboards from Kerry Minnear. There are Zappa moments with a great Xylophone solo. This song is really interesting but is let down by weak vocals. The melodies in the song are really good but Derek Shulman’s vocals seem to lack any conviction.
“An Inmate's Lullaby” is next and this is a really innocent almost childlike track. The song starts with a keyboard loop that sounds like an unusual Music Box. It reminded me allot of Hitchcock by The Phoenix Foundation. The song moves from being slightly sinister to very childish.
The side ends with “Way of Life”. This track is very funky with Ray Shulman playing some really great bass here. The song has quite discordant passages that give it a strong Zappa feel. The keyboards are the real star of the show here and helps it stay interesting over it’s 8 minutes.
“Experience” kicks of side two with an almost Celtic Prog feel. The playing is intricate and folky with an almost silly sense of grandeur. At 3 minutes in the band explodes in into the song and unfortunately it becomes far less interesting. The remaining 4 minutes are pretty pedestrian 70’s rock but Derek Shulman delivers his best vocals on the album. Disappointing after such a good start.
The stripped back “A Reunion” follows and is a change for the album. Basically just a short folky song with some nice guitar and violin work. Nice tune.
The final track “In A Glass House” which starts off as a fiddle lead acoustic track. The fiddle playing is really good and are a highlight of the album. As with “Experience” the track starts of great but looses track in the second half with some boring rock parts. It ends by quickly recapping the album before reprising the breaking glass that were used in the intro to the album.
Quite enjoyable album but an album that seems to loose it way on the longer tracks. The first two tracks on the album are great and worth checking out. The live album “Playing the Fool” from 1977 for me was a much more enjoyable album.
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