Released December 1, 1972 Release date 1 December 1972 | Length 34:09 | |
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Recorded July 24 - August 5, 1972, Advision Studios, London Genres Progressive rock, Hard rock, Experimental rock Similar Gentle Giant albums, Progressive rock albums | ||
Gentle giant octopus full album
Octopus is the fourth album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1972. It was the first album by Gentle Giant to feature drummer John Weathers following the departure of Malcolm Mortimore, as well as the last album by the band to feature Phil Shulman. The new line-up of the band delivered the Octopus album later in 1972, generally considered to represent the start of the band's peak period.
Contents
- Gentle giant octopus full album
- Production
- Musical style and themes
- Releases
- Cover
- Critical reception
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
Gentle giant octopus full album
Production
Octopus was allegedly named by Phil Shulman's wife Roberta as a pun on "octo opus" (eight musical works, reflecting the album's eight tracks). In 2004, Ray Shulman commented "(Octopus) was probably our best album, with the exception, perhaps of Acquiring the Taste. We started with the idea of writing a song about each member of the band. Having a concept in mind was a good starting point for writing. I don't know why, but despite the impact of The Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia, almost overnight concept albums were suddenly perceived as rather naff and pretentious".
Musical style and themes
The album maintained Gentle Giant's trademark of broad and challengingly integrated styles. One of the highlights was the intricate madrigal-styled vocal workout "Knots", lyrically inspired by the work of R. D. Laing. The album's songs are generally based on novels and philosophers: "The Advent of Panurge" is inspired by the books of Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais; "A Cry for Everyone" is inspired by the work and beliefs of the Algerian-French writer Albert Camus, while the song "Knots" is inspired by the book Knots by the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing.
Releases
On the 30th October 2015, a Steven Wilson remix was released on CD/Bluray via the band's Alucard label. 3 tracks were unable to be discretely remixed as multi-track tapes are currently reported missing (Tracks 1, 2 & 5) while the remaining tracks were. The 3 tracks however have been upmixed to 5.1 surround with the Penteo surround mixer.
Cover
The UK release of the album featured art by Roger Dean. Dean's logo appears inside the lyrics booklet.
North American releases featured a different cover by Charles White. Early versions of this cover were die-cut into a jar shape.
Critical reception
Later reviews have stated positively about the album. Allmusic have declared that Octopus is "an album that has withstood the test of time a lot better than anyone might have expected."
In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #16 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums". In The 100 Greatest Prog Albums Of All Time, by ProgMagazine, Octopus stands at number 65.
The 2015 reissue of the album, mixed by Steven Wilson, has entered the BBC Rock Chart at no.34.
Track listing
All tracks written by Kerry Minnear and Ray Shulman (music); lyrics jointly written by Derek Shulman and Phil Shulman (according to the 2015 Steven Wilson remix).
Personnel
Production
Design
Songs
1The Boys In The Band4:33
2Dog's Life3:11
3Think Of Me With Kindness3:33