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Product Description
Jewel case re-issue of the 1970 album features the original tracks in a special edition cut-out square CD card wallet (with no plastic) plus an inserted fold-out poster. Repertoire. 2005.
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Most helpful customer reviews
By Aging Nettle
Format:Audio CD
I cannot say enough about how wonderful this album is. Many Gentle Giant fans tend to point to their later albums as their greatest, but as far as sheer beauty and creative brilliance are concerned, this album is tops. It's not the most complex or progressive of their albums (though it is still *very* complex and progressive) but it is certainly the most majestic and beautiful. Every song shows incredible creativity. Even the short title piece is such a wonderful fusion of counterpoint, modal harmonies, and modern abstraction I find myself smiling each time I hear it.
GG goes beyond progressive rock or any real classification. I think these guys just loved to make music and explore new ways of putting sounds and ideas together. This is the best and freshest of those efforts, I think.
After this album GG settles into a bit more abstraction, though still incredibly brilliant. Some prefer it but I personally think their ideas fused together best here.
In fact the album is so good that it really deserves much greater recognition. It has a dark, brooding nature and yet still manages to be uplifting. And some parts just simply rock. Give it a try, and listen to it two or three times - it will grow on you quickly.
GG goes beyond progressive rock or any real classification. I think these guys just loved to make music and explore new ways of putting sounds and ideas together. This is the best and freshest of those efforts, I think.
After this album GG settles into a bit more abstraction, though still incredibly brilliant. Some prefer it but I personally think their ideas fused together best here.
In fact the album is so good that it really deserves much greater recognition. It has a dark, brooding nature and yet still manages to be uplifting. And some parts just simply rock. Give it a try, and listen to it two or three times - it will grow on you quickly.
By Alan Caylow
Format:Audio CD
I love what Gentle Giant wrote on the inside of their second album, 1971's "Acquiring The Taste": "It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being very unpopular." That pretty much sums up this daring British band, never achieving big commercial success in their 10 years together but not really caring either, as long as they made great music, and on their own terms. And they did. "Acquiring The Taste" is one of Gentle Giant's finest efforts, a superb prog-rock disc. My personal favorites: "Pantagruel's Nativity" is a stunning piece, with the band mixing classical, folk, rock, mellotron, and operatic vocals into a supreme musical blend. The title track is a brief but very-cool Moog synthesiser instrumental, courtesy of keyboardist Kerry Minnear. "Wreck" is a great rocker. "Black Cat" is one of my all-time favorite GG songs, a spooky little number with excellent string decorations throughout, and the 7 1/2 minute "Plain Truth" is another favorite Gentle Giant staple. The band's boldness, musicianship, and studio experimentation is mighty impressive on this album. "Acquiring The Taste" is another terrific prog-rock offering from the terrific Gentle Giant.
Format:Audio CD
I can't imagine that anyone would associate the overly complicated and mechanical music that Gentle Giant created with warmth, but this recording (along with "In a Glass House") would certainly make one more inclined to do so. The first thing that I noticed about "Acquiring the Taste" is the heavy use of synthesizers (including moog and mellotron), which is much more abundant than that on "Octopus" for example. In fact, the first track on the CD ("Pantagruel's Nativity") opens with a very soft, multi-part moog synthesizer line, with really nice mellotron parts laced throughout the rest of the piece. The title track, "Acquiring the Taste" is of course THE synthesizer piece, which just showcases the moog. The second aspect of this recording that gives it warmth are the arrangements themselves, which are simultaneously complex in the prog-rock sense yet more "rock" oriented than later recordings. Although many fans may find this early effort too "simple", I actually prefer the music at this stage of their development, which is considerably less dense and complicated, to recordings like "Three Friends" or "Octopus". All in all, "Acquiring the Taste" makes for a very enjoyable listening experience. Highly Recommended!
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4.3 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astonishing
-
I listened to this last night - the first time I'd listened to it on about 10 years (not that I don't like it, just that I'm very busy).
I was so stunned. Read more
Published on April 6 2004 by Howie
5.0 out of 5 stars
Possibly my favorite album.....of all time
Look, forget "prog rock" or any other comfortable label you could slap on this album to describe it : IT DOESN'T WORK. Read more
Published on April 3 2003 by Chris Carter
3.0 out of 5 stars
Before they found themselves...
I enjoyed this album quite a bit back in the '70s, especially the marvelous opening cut, "Pentagruel's Nativity," but I will say now that despite its ambitions it is far... Read more
Published on Mar 3 2003 by Paul Minot
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the Gentle Giant album to start with
The songs on this recording are somewhat hit or miss. Rabid fans of the group (of which I am one, as you can tell by my rating) will enjoy the interesting songs, instrumentation,... Read more
Published on Jan 17 2003 by Michael Kydonieus
5.0 out of 5 stars
Essential prog-rock!
I still remember the day I bought this album. I didn't know anything else about Gentle Giant but they were a prog-band. Read more
Published on Oct 14 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must
Classifying Gentle Giant as a Progressive Rock band is probably due to the fact that there was no other musical style in rock and no other genre in contemporary music in general... Read more
Published on May 29 2002 by MMM
3.0 out of 5 stars
"Trying too hard"?
Make that 3+1/2 stars. I disagree with another reviewer or two: GG here is just coming off as the fine progressive band they were destined to become. Read more
Published on May 2 2002 by Noel Pratt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Sophomore effort...
A lot of GG fans seem divided on this album. I'm defiantely on the positive side of the fence, and this album is a personal favourite of mine. Read more
Published on Nov 6 2001 by A. Haynes
3.0 out of 5 stars
WHAT AN UNUSUAL ALBUM!
Gentle Giant's second album is definitely a very challenging
album to listen to. It is certainly more complex than their first
album, but unfortunately, not even half as... Read more
album to listen to. It is certainly more complex than their first
album, but unfortunately, not even half as... Read more
Published on Oct 22 2001 by R. Recchia
3.0 out of 5 stars
A strange and beautiful work
"It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of being very unpopular," read the 1971 liner notes to the second album by this unique... Read more
Published on Aug 30 2000 by David J. Loftus
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