In the Prog Seat: Album Study- Gentle Giant 'In'terview'

Join the In the Prog Seat crew as they go in depth on some well known & obscure classics. Today, it's Gentle Giant 'In'terview'. #gentlegiant
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[@1359401]

The greatest most epic legendary unique genius band ever end of story mic drop.

[@aspirationsthegentlegiantp5362]

Hi Jacob!

[@katesjanice]

Gentle Giant. Kerry Livgren thought of them as his greatest influence. And you can hear it in his incredible prog writing.

[@billcompeau4835]

@@katesjanice It was through Kerry that I discovered GG and then became a mega fan!!!!!

[@hauskahirvi]

Excellent discussion! You guys really summed up the greatness of Gentle Giant. By the way, "The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras.." (the acoustic version). "The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord invented by Ernst Zacharias and manufactured by the Hohner company of Trossingen, West Germany, from 1964 to 1982." :-)

[@michaelcarroll9416]

Yes!!! My favorite GG album and a top 2 prog album for me (only CTTE is slightly higher for me). Good timing too with the remaster and all. Can't wait. Timing is my favorite GG tune of all time. Love this album to pieces.

[@trevdowson5810]

Many thanks gentlemen, Gentle Giant were an outstandingly wonderful band.

[@shyshift]

The dropping sound Chad’s talking about in Another Show is Kerry switching on/off the standby function on a Hammond C-3. It’s a common practice to keep your fingers on the keys playing a chord then turning off the standby and holding down the keys it has a groaning effect. Tony Banks did it on Twilight Alehouse and Keith Emerson as well on Rondo in concert.

[@chutch15]

Ah yes! “Twilight Alehouse” does use that. Good call!

[@durvalrodrigues9741]

Thank you SOT for getting me into this amazing band.

[@Larjschoen1]

Though I don’t agree about the “Surround Sound” consensus here, I do respect it and understand it. I love surround, but only as a different new experience, not a replacement. I do recommend each of you listen/watch the first couple tunes on Interview, on your home theater system (use 5.1), because they lined up live footage of those tunes, and it is truly an amazing experience to see them play live, and hear it in expanded audio! Blew me away! Thanks for another great show!

[@threestringsomg]

Gentle Giant have become my go to prog band the last few years. They are exceptional musicians. In'terview is the last of their great run I have yet to purchase....will correct that soon. First listens to the Wilson mix and it's 👍👍👍👍✌️👏👏👏👏👏🌈🥸😀👍👍👍👍👍 fantastic!!

[@howardwright6961]

Really enjoyed this. I have been a Gentle Giant fan since Glass House. I then caught up with their back catalogue. I've been fortunate to see GG live 3 times (not enough, but they didn't play in the UK that often). Interview is a fantastic album and the Steven Wilson remix is sensational. Apart from 'Playing the Fool', there is the very excellent 'Live in the Bicentennial ', which includes live versions of Interview, Give It Back and Timing. It was taken from a radio broadcast, but was made an official release on the Alucard/Gentle Giant label. Highly recommended.

[@thomaswery3087]

Saw GG back in 72 next day picked up all 4 albums they had out.All 4 were outstanding as soon as I heard them

[@lazarossamaras4427]

I don't have much history with this album. I listened to the new remix without having any remembrance of the original one . I liked it but it surely isn't my fave of theirs. Glass house, Power and glory and Octopus I really love. Keep it up.

[@Chrisgnat]

Love GG, love Interview, and imo the most creative prog band of all time!

[@alriteFLY]

i only recently got into GG because of this channel, they are so good. 'I lost my head' on this album is absolutely killer!

[@tomf.oolery6926]

Love love love this album to bits. Some of their most insane compositions ever and underrated as all hell

[@billcompeau4835]

MY FAV GG album!!! It has it all as well as killer fidelity!

[@garethallen4191]

I was lucky as a newbie to Gentle Giant to find a two-disc compilation called Edge of Twilight. It features songs from the first four albums plus The Power and the Glory. Both discs are chucked full of songs and there's only one or two tracks missing from each of the five mentioned. If you're new to the band and you come across this collection, I highly recommend it.

[@nickbeetchenow2642]

Incredible album and band. Give it back screams 10cc to me, sounds like a weird version of dreadlock holiday with that reggae style. Thanks for another great episode of album study.

[@darcyska]

Another great episode! Loving these discussions and more in-depth takes on an album, especially when we get to hear how the album touches people differently or the various takes on it.

[@jason-budney7624]

Great show, and tremendous insight from all on a band that is hard to put into words. Interview has always ranked high on my list. It was one of the albums that my uncle used to introduce me to GG. The remix is another work of art from Mr. Wilson. How he can keep the sound of the instruments so close to the original mix and yet clear up and give the proper spacing/pocket to everything, even the stuff you don't here on the original mix is mind blowing. The surround mixes are a treat, it's a stereo mix that just covers you, a new perspective. Design is the gem of the surround mixes for me.

[@jimhardiman3836]

How does the Design 5.1 mix sound compared to School Days (another percussive feature)? I don't have a surround system but I'd love to hear these in 5.1.

[@jason-budney7624]

@@jimhardiman3836 I have not heard School Days in 5.1 yet. I just happened to order Three Piece Suite today, so I will know soon enough.

[@jimhardiman3836]

@@jason-budney7624 It's a great set! Shame they weren't able to secure all the multi-track masters for re-mixing.

[@jason-budney7624]

@@jimhardiman3836 It sure is a shame. To hear In a Glass House remixed by Steven Wilson would amazing!

[@interstellaroverdriven6450]

In'terview is the sound of an exhausted band with their backs up against the ropes coming out swinging for the fences. You can sense the frustration with their lack of commercial success and to me it sounds like they almost went 'prog punk' and created an album to capture the tension and angry vibes of the time. Although parts of their previous albums (especially Glass House) have elements that "rock" In'terview has got balls and a sense of urgency that their others albums do not have. It is unfathomable to me that they wrote and recorded such a masterpiece in 2 weeks but it fits the spirit of punk while maintaining all of the complexities although 'less apparent' as Luis noted. Not just a masterpiece for the band but an absolute masterpiece of the genre.

[@arnaudb.7669]

The last great album of an extraordinary band. Cool show!

[@gergelystechnicmodels8565]

Only gentle giant can pull off a reggae song in waltz time. Truly original.

[@shyshift]

Give It Back is a bar of 7/8 and a bar of 5/8 alternating back and forth as I was just educated by knightvisioniixv.Pretty clever way to count actually.

[@knightvisioniixv]

I'm not 100% certain, but I think a great deal of "Give It Back" alternates between 7/8 and 5/8. It's a cool track, for sure.

[@shyshift]

@@knightvisioniixv If you add 7+5 what do you end up with?

[@knightvisioniixv]

@@shyshift I can't tell if you're being straightforward or snarky with your question. My comment was actually in response to the original poster.

[@shyshift]

@@knightvisioniixv I’m thinking you’re right because I couldn’t count it today using 6/8. A bar of 7 and a bar of 5 is a cool way to do that so kudos to you for noticing. I don’t do snarky btw.

[@aspirationsthegentlegiantp5362]

Awesome show! Thanks for doing this!!

[@SoftwareManiacLSM]

I lived in Germany and saw GG so many times (with Tull) and met them. Dog's Life is about their roadie, Frank. One time Kerri's xylophone audio failed and so Frank ran to the stage with a mic and slid under the huge xylophone. Yep, he followed the xylophone movements as best he could (Kerri is fast!). Also, back in the states, 5 of us went to see the original Genesis in Pittsburgh area and when we got there we realized none of us had tickets OR money. From a distance we heard, "Ken! How are you guys?" It was Frank who was one of the roadies on the tour. We told him our situation and he said, pretend you are roadies and I'll get you into the concert. And, I'll introduce you to the boys [Peter Gabriel and the lot]. And he did! Both stories true. Ken (my brother is Stan with Happy the Man)

[@jimmypage2843]

Hell yeah 👴🏻Prog and the real🧑🏽‍🔬 of prog. Nice tight small crew tonite. 🤘🏼

[@joeyblowey123456]

The Atmos,/Surround and orginal Quad mixes are phenomenal. Great album as well.

[@joeyblowey123456]

I'm old and grumpy and i absolutely LOVE 5.1 surround mixes!

[@markspooner1224]

Received the Steven Wilson remix yesterday and it's really great, I received the Wilson remix of Warrior on the Edge of Time today and that's awesome too, I'm a very happy bunny!

[@marklanier8657]

Got into these guys after buying Three Friends with the first album’s cover. Octopus was next and wasn’t aware of In a Glass House as it didn’t come out here until years later. I scarfed up the other albums as they came out. Interview was the last. It was a Columbia House Record which didn’t sound too good. Love these guys. Steven Wilson did a masterful job on all these. I hope Glass House doesn’t fall through the cracks for a remix.

[@craigtoelle1052]

Sad to say, but the multi-tracks for In a Glass House are lost. Steve Wilson wanted to do that album first when he started remixing for GG, but the tapes have not been found

[@kevinmcgauhey9813]

I'm sorry, I tried, but for me the really great GG album run ended with Free Hand. I do absolutely love "Timing" and I've loved "I Lost My Head" for a long time, but the rest of the album is not doing it for me. I still appreciate this channel and YOUSE GUYS for rekindling other albums for me, such as The Power and the Glory AND Acquiring the Taste, which is great news because I had written that one off at one point... now I genuinely enjoy it. You also got me interested in Civilian again, and I was pleasantly surprised that it, too, is better than I thought.

[@progmonster4]

gentle giant absolutely unique in rock and so much incredible stuff

[@jimhardiman3836]

The reason you don't see more live In'terview material on the Playing The Fool album is because they were showcasing their earlier albums, riding the wave of success of Free Hand. It's the same with Seconds Out and Wind & Wuthering material and Camel Live with Rain Dances material.

[@thedarkwizardroom]

I had a time of not getting into Gentle Giant. Didn't do anything for me. Missing Link album got me in and hearing Interview is quite unique and pretty good and so it's worth hearing what they say about it. Probably would be in my top 3 at the moment.

[@michaelcarroll9416]

Missing Piece

[@user-fe8yp1rb9m]

My 2 favorite songs on this album are Interview and Timing. Absolutely love them. Also some awesome stuff on Missing Piece, 2 weeks in Spain, lucky enough to see them on Civilian tour.

[@matthiasmerkelbach6809]

Please, listen to "The Missing Piece" (1977) and to the extraordinary "Civilian" (1980) again. Two fantastic albums (in fact, "Giant For A Day" (1978) is truly bad...) which are my favorites of this band ever since. No, I am not joking ! I always liked their "new wave" and "pub rock" fueled phase more than the early 70's prog they did. It may sound strange to you, but... for me it always felt kinda obvious that way.

[@johnhenfrey5936]

Late yet again! Ever mind. Interview is an album by GentleGiant, I haven’t yet heard or owned, I will have to try to get, to listen to it, especially with, Steven Wilson involved.

[@goodknight37]

I love “Give It Back”

[@davidpousho4828]

Every time you gents do an album review I hear something new and learn a lot. Many thanks!!!!!

[@ericporter344]

👍

[@guillermomaldonado6277]

Derek, no Derek; great show guys! thanks 🍺🤘

[@ericarmstrong6540]

Interview was one of the first Gentle Giant Records I heard (I heard Octopus and Three Friends first and second; Interview came third). It is a classic album, arguably their last great album.

[@einarassipavicius1991]

I always liked Interview more than Free Hand and in some days even more than The Power & The Glory. I actually think Interview is the most complex and odd album out of these three similar sounding GG works. And I like its oddity. Free Hand is almost too rocking for me, and probably The Power And The Glory is the most balanced one. I still can't fully digest the wackiness of Design, but I love all other tracks, especially the title track (easily in my top5 of GG songs). Steven Wilson mix sounds amazing, listening to it right now for the first time. Another Show bass line really shines, and Empty City arrangement sounds even clearer and more impressive than it was.

[@logancollins7097]

Kinda funny but this band clicked with me the second I heard Octopus. Love everything I've heard (Glass House Debut Free Hand) still have to check out a couple. Should be a amazing show!

[@johncalo5856]

Nice to see Pugwash getting his due. I have always been amazed when watching them in Giant on the box or GG at the GG how he drives groove like a freight train right through all the contrapuntal mayhem going on all around him. THAT is what 'glues' everything together. He is not a banger...knows what he is doing...but even visually - he looks like Animal having the time of his life while wrangling the entire band at the same time. Woefully underappreciated and right up there with Palmer, Bruford, White, Harrison, etc.

[@CloseToTheEdge-Prog]

I like this album; the remix does bring many instruments to the fore that I kind of didn't hear on the remastered edition. Is it as good as the earlier albums, probably not but you have to remember that they set the bar very high on the previous six albums which are all classics. Album to recommend someone who's not big into prog, I would recommend Free Hand to dip their toe so to speak.

[@thomaswery3087]

Picked up Intervew when it came out.Played it didn't like it.Tnen I played for the next 2 days now I love it one of their best albums

[@toulminbrown9166]

It's a great album

[@JIF882]

Interesting Luis's comment about the cd. The only cd copy that I have owned of Interview is the one from the Unburied Treasure box set. Yes, it does sound pretty bad. I don't own a physical copy of the remix, but I have it on Spotify(relax physical media police: I spend $300 on the Unburied Treasure box set). Regarding the concept, I thought that it was about annoying interviewers. Doesn't one of the Interviewers on the album ask "who named the band, and where does it come from?". I imagine that they got asked that a lot. I like Give It Back. I guess that the problems that critics had was that it was ground that was already covered on previous albums. Regarding Pete's comments on the remix, I actually gave that exact explanation to people that want to know why Steven Wilson is the go-to guy for remixes, and people like Ian Anderson and Derek Shulman. I haven't heard the album a lot, but I dig it. Interestingly, the original Boston cd lists "clavichord", but the remaster lists "clavinet". Three Friends was one of the cds that got me into Prog

[@paulspence2815]

Wikipedia comes to the rescue with its entry on the clavichord. The clavichord is a stringed rectangular keyboard instrument that was used largely in the Late Middle Ages, through the Renaissance, Baroque and Classical eras. Historically, it was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an aid to composition, not being loud enough for larger performances. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. Vibrations are transmitted through the bridge(s) to the soundboard.

[@patbarr1351]

The clavichord used plucked strings and, due to its oh-so-quiet nature, was superseded by the harpsichord which wasn't all that loud either. (We had a beautiful harpsichord in my music classroom at uni.) The Clavinet, which they also mentioned in the vid, uses metal reeds that buzz when struck. Rick Wakeman has a Clavinet in his arsenal and it's prominent in Stevie Wonder's "Superstition" and Dr. John's "Right Place, Wrong Time."

[@harryberry474]

I saw Gentile Giant with Strawbs in 1975 amazing concert, GG was better IMO I absolutely love Strawbs top 3 Grave New World, Ghosts and Hero and Heroin but on that night GG was incredible watching them play was mind blowing the tightest band I ever saw how they could do what they did live just amazing. Ray Shulman playing bass was the best sounding bass I've ever heard kinda a Chris Squire sound. Gary Greens guitar playing was off the hook and his impression of Ian Anderson (on one foot the other pounding out the beat) Gentile Giant was a great band.

[@scottmcgregor4829]

I am there.

[@richardcleveley5216]

On the discussion of whether Playing The Fool was recorded on the Interview tour, I saw the band on the Free Hand tour in the U.K. in Dec 1976. I’m pretty sure this was the show which was recorded for Playing The Fool.

[@ericporter344]

Interview was released in April 1976

[@albertoramirez6388]

Per Wikipedia The Clavinet is an electrically amplified clavichord

[@patbarr1351]

The two are related but mechanically different. That's why the Clavinet has that famous funky buzz to its sound.

[@stevewhiteside4525]

I've been listening to the version from my Chrysalis boxset having not heard the album before and decided to get the SW do-over. Looking forward to listening to it for the first time tonight, and the music's the thing, but I have to say the booklets for Freehand 2 disc version and this one disc version are pretty rubbish compared to say the SW version of Octopus.

[@NickYousoufian]

I'm going to form a tribute band to Gentle Giant - Hard Little Person. Great discussion as always.

[@aspirationsthegentlegiantp5362]

Please do!

[@nectarinedreams7208]

I've never heard earbuds described as dildos. Only Luis could come up with that, lol. Also, clavichord sounds more like a medical instrument than a musical one.

[@willyupshaw]

I really wonder how much the cover and the concept hurt people's impression of this album overall. I was never able to hear what they were saying in the little interview sections and I felt if made the album feel unfinished or not fully realized. Also, the album cover doesn't give an impression of the kind of music that Gentle Giant makes or that people would want to hear.

[@janpoelkamp4229]

Have to disagree with the majority as I think The Missing Piece is the last of their classic run.

[@stevewhiteside4525]

Great album, but none of the songs are quite up there with Brokenhearted Pirates.

[@1359401]

I hope you are being sarcastic even though i like brokenhearted pirates

[@stevewhiteside4525]

@@1359401 Yes, just a bit of silliness.

[@aleksandarfrick2656]

Anyone know group " The Residents " ?

[@franciskocher200]

😄👍

[@patbarr1351]

Good nudge for me to revisit an LP I've neglected! (I love surround sound!) I wouldn't consider "being into prog" a requirement to enjoying GG's music. If you're open minded enough to enjoy adventurous folks like The Beatles, maybe Wilco & Guster plus Bach or Handel, you're already in the zone.

[@coltonbeatty6117]

Weak and over rated album

[@keepitgreasey1]

Gentle Giant is good but not top. Mediocre.

[@danielwang7793]

Your taste in music is mediocre.

[@1359401]

GG is/was the greatest ever and your comment is so completely misguided and disturbing.

[@keepitgreasey1]

@@1359401Fore you Fanboy they are the greatest. Not fore me. To much fanfare music, but that’s my opinion . Don’t be angry🙂

[@1359401]

@@keepitgreasey1 Not angry at all more like sadness and pity for you and some others who just dont realize their sheer utter epic legendary genius.

[@keepitgreasey1]

@@1359401yeah, we’re should we be without the fantastic music of Gentle Giant, all in sadness😭

[@zootallures6470]

GG is my favorite band and Interview is not a good record.

[@1359401]

Your favorite band? well you sure fooled me because interview is an epic legendary genius masterpiece.

[@zootallures6470]

@@1359401 Why do you consider yourself fooled? The two of us can have two coexisting opinions.

[@1359401]

@@zootallures6470 While i will give you a very good amount of props/credit for saying gg is your favorite band besides maybe a few others at best you are the only one i know who says his favorite band is gg and says interview is a not a good record.It would have been one thing if you said you didn't like it quite as much as their other albums but to say its not a good record and making it sound like its a bad record is imo just flat out misguided and wrong.

[@zootallures6470]

@@1359401 In my book there is a difference between not good and bad.The Missing Piece is not a good record either. Giant for A Day and Civilian are bad.

[@stephenzevetchin]

Love love love it...