Gentle Giant ‘s album ‘The Missing Piece’ gets the Steven Wilson remix treatment.

Album review by Phil M.

Prog rock reached its peak in the 1970s with bands such as Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis and King Crimson all achieving major followings and sales during that decade. Gentle Giant, whilst contemporaries never reached the heights of the commercial success of the others, their approach was similar – they were multi-instrumentalists with a high degree of musical proficiency, sometimes using unusual time signatures and a wide range of instruments.

The band was formed in 1970 when the Shulman brothers (Phil, Derek and Ray) joined up with Gary Green, Kerry Minnear and Martin Smith. Smith was replaced, ultimately by the fantastically named John “Pugwash” Weathers on drums and after a dismally bad pairing saw them supporting Black Sabbath and they were not a hit with the Sabbath fan base. The band hit their peak period with the release of their fourth album Octopus in 1972. Phil Shulman left the band though after touring with the album, due to the stress of touring, much to the astonishment of the other band members, and particularly his brothers. The bands went on to release a further six albums before The Missing Piece, and a move to Chrysalis Records saw a slightly more commercial approach which bore some success – the album Free Hand reaching the top 50 in the US album charts.

By the time 1977 arrived and The Missing Piece was released the band were still pushing back the boundaries of musicianship and composition. Prog Rock and all that it stood for at the time was suffering under the emergence of New Wave and Punk. The album attempted to move with the times, the first side dallying with pop rock, punk, and soul styles. Off the album three singles were released: ‘Two Weeks in Spain’ is a staccato rocker with an unusual beat and time signature, ‘I’m Turning Around’ which sounds much like contemporary Genesis and is the high point of the album for me, and ‘Mountain Time’ which has a bit of a poppy rock feel to it. None of these managed to make an impact on the charts though. The second side of the album reverts to their more familiar prog rock leanings, similar to output from Yes. ‘Memories of Old Days’ reminds me too of the great current prog band Big Big Train with a proggy folky feel which can be no bad thing.

All considered, this seemed like a strange choice for Steven Wilson to apply his remixing skills, he has though remastered several other Gentle Giant albums including ‘Octopus’, so he is obviously a fan. In listening to the original (itself already remastered once in 2012) back-to-back with Wilson’s retake the difference is startling. There is much more life to the tracks and the bass is welcomely much more prominent than it was before.

If you are a fan of the original album, then the remix is well worth listening to.

Track Listing

1. Two Weeks in Spain
2. I’m Turning Around
3. Betcha Thought
4. Who Do You Think You Are
5. Mountain Time
6. As Old As You’re Young
7. Memories of Old Days
8. Winning (outtake)

Line Up

Derek Shulman – Vocals

Ray Shulman – Bass, Guitars

Gary Green – Guitars

Kerry Minnear – Keyboards

John Weathers – Drums