Gentle Giant – Three Friends/Octopus
BGO Records
http://www.bgo-records.com/albums/bgocd1090-three-friends-octopus

Rating: B

Gentle Giant was one of Prog Rock’s finest.  The band was intelligent and daring; some of the most out of the box thinking musicians on the planet.  BGO Records has now packaged their third and fourth albums together, creating an interesting look at the band as they began to grow from a pretty weird little rock group to international Prog Rock giants. 

Three Friends, originally released in 1972 was the bands first concept album.  The plot was that three childhood friends end up in very different places later on in life, eventually their paths reconnect and they see how their diverse skills strengthen them and help to reach their goals.

Octopus is perhaps the best album GG ever created.  It was also released in 1972, proving what a creative roll these musicians were on.  This album featured more hard rock than their previous three albums.  The result was that the band was able to reach out to a wider audience and have more commercial success, while at the same time brand themselves as one of the leaders in their chosen genre. 

Both albums (together here on one CD) have been digitally remastered and contain new liner notes.  For music fans who are curious about Gentle Giant, but have never reached into their creative abyss, this is a great pair of albums for which to start your Proggy journey into their musical hearts, minds and souls. 

Tracklist
Three Friends:
    Prologue
    Schooldays
    Working All Day
    Peel The Paint
    Mister Class And Quality?
    Three Friends

Octopus:
    The Advent Of Panurge
    Ranconteur, Troubadour
    A Cry For Everyone
    Knots
    The Boys In The Band
    Dog’s Life
    Think Of Me With Kindness
    River

By Jeb Wrght