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Gentle Giant (Music)

 Gentle Giant (Music)
type
TVTItem
 Gentle Giant (Music)
label
Gentle Giant (Music)
 Gentle Giant (Music)
page
GentleGiant
 Gentle Giant (Music)
comment
Gentle Giant were an English Progressive Rock band active in the 1970s. Formed out of the ashes of Simon Dupree and The Big Sound (who'd had a Black Sheep Hit with the 1967 single "Kites"), they are notable for being one of the most experimental and versatile of the prog bands of that era.Every member was a multi-instrumentalist who often switched instruments during a single song. This made up for very intricate arrangements and a Genre Roulette style of music in which one song could vary between hard rock, jazz, medieval folk tunes, baroque counterpoint, modernist sounds, and soft ambience.Many prog-heads consider them to be one of the 'hardest' prog bands out there. In fact they are not that hard to listen to, however, since the compositions focus on catchy melodies, rhythms and clever songwriting in general. The compositions are very concise, not as long as the typical prog-fest and played almost totally clinically. This is not to say, however, that the band was dry or unemotional. It was noted by one fan that what made this band different from many other prog rock bands was their almost punkish energy while playing and clear enthusiasm for the music they were performing live. (Just see their YouTube videos for clear examples.)They went to making pop songs in an effort to garner commercial success at the end of the '70s. Their sound, however, still proved too complex to appeal to a wide audience; they disbanded in 1980.
 Gentle Giant (Music)
fetched
2024-05-10T20:17:40Z
 Gentle Giant (Music)
parsed
2024-05-10T20:17:40Z
 Gentle Giant (Music)
processingComment
Dropped link to Alucard: Not a Feature - IGNORE
 Gentle Giant (Music)
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_22093e9b
type
New Sound Album
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_22093e9b
comment
New Sound Album: Though every album has a certain continuity, they vary things up quite a bit.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_22093e9b
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_22093e9b
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_22093e9b
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_23b0d78
type
Title Track
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_23b0d78
comment
Title Track: Acquiring the Taste, Three Friends, In a Glass House, Free Hand, Interview, and Giant for a Day have them, while the self-titled, Octopus, The Power and the Glory (in its original configuration), The Missing Piece, and Civilian don't - but even the self-titled has "Giant", while the band recorded a title track for The Power and the Glory that they just left off the album because they hated it (it's included on most later reissues, though).
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_23b0d78
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1.0
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1.0
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_23b0d78
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2e22f7d4
type
Minimalistic Cover Art
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2e22f7d4
comment
Minimalistic Cover Art: The Missing Piece.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2e22f7d4
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2e22f7d4
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2e22f7d4
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2f7f6351
type
Rock-Star Song
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2f7f6351
comment
Rock-Star Song: Most of the songs from the concept album Interview deal with rockstardom.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2f7f6351
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2f7f6351
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_2f7f6351
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_34f6774c
type
Concept Album
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_34f6774c
comment
Concept Album: FOUR of them! (Specifically, Three Friends, In a Glass House, The Power and the Glory, and Interview.)
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_34f6774c
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_34f6774c
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_34f6774c
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_36c64123
type
Gentle Giant
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_36c64123
comment
Gentle Giant: Yes, the band also has a literal example of this trope - Their mascot◊.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_36c64123
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_36c64123
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_36c64123
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_38da8916
type
Uncommon Time
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_38da8916
comment
Uncommon Time: As humorously illustrated here◊. A few songs utilize polymeter, such as "Just the Same", which uses simultaneous 6/4 and 7/4 in its verses.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_38da8916
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_38da8916
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_38da8916
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3b84b916
type
Band of Relatives
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3b84b916
comment
Band of Relatives: Three Shulman brothers formed the heart of the band in the early days. One of them dropped out.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3b84b916
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3b84b916
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1.0
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3b84b916
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3eb0f889
type
Pun-Based Title
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3eb0f889
comment
Pun-Based Title: The fourth album Octopus is a work consisting of eight tracks: an octo - opus.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3eb0f889
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3eb0f889
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_3eb0f889
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4ef62a4d
type
Full-Circle Revolution
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4ef62a4d
comment
Full-Circle Revolution: The Power and the Glory talks about this; the first song describes an autocratic ruler asserting his authority over the people; the following songs talk of an ambitious person attempting to gain power and set things right, but the final song on the original album is a reprise of the first, with the new chorus "Things must stay, there must be no change; anyway, time to rearrange"
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4ef62a4d
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4ef62a4d
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4ef62a4d
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f40039e
type
All Drummers Are Animals
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f40039e
comment
All Drummers Are Animals: Sexy animals, as this video and the top comment prove.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f40039e
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f40039e
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f40039e
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f4372e9
type
Early-Installment Weirdness
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f4372e9
comment
Early-Installment Weirdness: Before forming Gentle Giant, the Shulman brothers played in a blue-eyed soul group called Simon Dupree & The Big Sound. When their attempts in soul proved commercially fruitless, they tried their hand at psychedelia (while still going under the Simon Dupree moniker) and got a Top Ten hit with "Kites". During this time, they ended up touring Scotland with the then unknown Elton John substituting for their ill keyboardist, Eric Hine. When they couldn't follow up the success of "Kites", they made the Beatles-esque single "We Are The Moles", this time going by The Moles. Due to the hype surrounding the anonymity of the Moles (at one point, it was speculated that The Beatles themselves had made it), sales of the single started to pick up, but quickly petered out when Syd Barrett (yes, that Syd Barrett) spilled the beans on the project. Eventually, the Shulman brothers gave up on Simon Dupree & The Big Sound and, out of its ashes, formed Gentle Giant.note  The Syd Barrett story was denied by Barrett-biographer Rob Chapman, who actually took credit/accepted the blame for starting that rumour, along with some other rumours, pertaining to Syd.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f4372e9
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f4372e9
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_4f4372e9
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5313c266
type
Bookends
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5313c266
comment
Book Ends: In a Glass House begins and ends with the sound of breaking glass. The Power and the Glory begins with the song "Proclamation" and ends with "Valedictory", a song based off of the same tune but on distorted guitars instead of keyboards, as well as an overall darker mood.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5313c266
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5313c266
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5313c266
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5a29f9f6
type
Sinking Ship Scenario
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5a29f9f6
comment
Sinking Ship Scenario: The theme of both "Wreck" (from Acquiring the Taste) and "His Last Voyage" (from Free Hand).
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5a29f9f6
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5a29f9f6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5a29f9f6
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5e835a41
type
Gratuitous Panning
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5e835a41
comment
Gratuitous Panning: Required so that the listener may keep up with different simultaneous lines in the music.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5e835a41
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5e835a41
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Gentle Giant (Music) / int_5e835a41
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_67784113
type
Non-Appearing Title
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_67784113
comment
Non-Appearing Title: "Alucard", "Pantagruel's Nativity", "Prologue", "The Advent of Panurge", "Knots", "An Inmate's Lullaby", "A Reunion", "Proclamation", "Valedictory", "Mobile", "Interview", "Design", "Empty City" and all the instrumentals.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_67784113
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_67784113
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Gentle Giant (Music) / int_67784113
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_74149c93
type
Epic Rocking
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_74149c93
comment
Epic Rocking: Mostly averted. Their compositions manage to encompass much more in less time, it seems. Atypically for a Progressive Rock band, their average song length is about five minutes long. They did tend to mix things up live and play extended medleys, however. A complete list of studio songs over six minutes long from their first nine albumsnote Their last two albums, Giant for a Day! and Civilian, do not have any songs over six minutes long: "Giant" (6:24), "Alucard" (6:02), "Nothing at All" (9:08), "Pantagruel's Nativity" (6:52), "The House, the Street, the Room" (6:03), "Plain Truth" (7:36), "Prologue" (6:14), "Schooldays" (7:37), "Peel the Paint" (7:32), "The Runaway" (7:16), "Way of Life" (7:53), "Experience" (7:50), "In a Glass House" (8:26), "Proclamation" (6:56), "Playing the Game" (6:46), "Free Hand" (6:16), "His Last Voyage" (6:27), "Interview" (6:54), "I Lost My Head" (6:59), "Memories of Old Days" (7:18), for a total of 20 examples. Most of their prog albums have two or three really long songs; the only one without any is Octopus (which still has "River", which almost qualifies for this trope at 5:51), while In a Glass House stands out having the most at four. Still, by prog standards their material is pretty short (as mentioned above their average song length on these albums is about five minutes), so one could say the trope is Zig-Zagged. Live, however, they definitely indulged in this trope; the medley of Octopus material on Playing the Fool is almost 16 minutes long, which qualifies even by prog standards, and that's not all.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_74149c93
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-1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_74149c93
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_74149c93
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_823c6e3e
type
Large Ham
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_823c6e3e
comment
Large Ham: Derek Shulman's stage performances may come off as this.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_823c6e3e
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_823c6e3e
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_823c6e3e
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8409a385
type
Exactly What It Says on the Tin
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8409a385
comment
Exactly What It Says on the Tin: The album Interview is a concept album of an interview.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8409a385
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8409a385
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8409a385
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8797239c
type
Bait-and-Switch
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8797239c
comment
Bait-and-Switch: Acquiring the Taste has a cover that appears from the front to be a tongue licking two flesh-coloured cheeks, but the back reveals that it's just a flesh-coloured peach.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8797239c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8797239c
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8797239c
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8a24c94e
type
Studio Chatter
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8a24c94e
comment
Studio Chatter: Intentional on Interview. A somewhat humorous example also occurs on the song "The Face" from The Power and the Glory, when one can quite audibly hear an enthusiastic "Oh, WOW!" after a very fast electric violin solo. Liner notes from a CD release reveal that this was Ray realizing he ended the solo a few bars early.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8a24c94e
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8a24c94e
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_8a24c94e
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b28a8d0a
type
Break-Up Song
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b28a8d0a
comment
Break-Up Song: "Free Hand"
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b28a8d0a
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b28a8d0a
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b28a8d0a
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b3247afd
type
Common Time
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b3247afd
comment
Common Time: Mostly averted. Sometimes played straight, sometimes played with: Often the time signature is 4/4, but the rhythms are still incredibly complex such as in the song So Sincere.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b3247afd
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b3247afd
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_b3247afd
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_bec0417c
type
Happily Married
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_bec0417c
comment
Happily Married: Most of the band these days. Phil Shulman left the band to keep it so.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_bec0417c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_bec0417c
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_bec0417c
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_c34f8d07
type
LOL, 69
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_c34f8d07
comment
LOL, 69: In the later years of the band, John Weathers frequently wore a personalized Oakland Athletics jersey with 69 as his number in concert, and according to Weathers, the fans knew what was up.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_c34f8d07
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_c34f8d07
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_c34f8d07
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ca834552
type
Self-Titled Album
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ca834552
comment
Self-Titled Album: Their debut.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ca834552
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ca834552
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ca834552
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cb44433f
type
The Band Minus the Face
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cb44433f
comment
The Band Minus the Face: The departure of Phil Shulman was this. Derek says that he still doesn't know how the album following his departure, In a Glass House, got made, but they somehow managed to carry on.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cb44433f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cb44433f
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cb44433f
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cd3703a2
type
Genre Mashup
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cd3703a2
comment
Genre Mashup: Early on, they were very blues-influenced, but later had medieval and classical influences as well. Later albums included reggae-, new wave- and punk-tinged songs.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cd3703a2
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cd3703a2
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_cd3703a2
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d96e8b29
type
Rock Opera
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d96e8b29
comment
Rock Opera: The Power and the Glory is an unusual one at that; it speaks of government corruption.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d96e8b29
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d96e8b29
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d96e8b29
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d9f033b0
type
Love Nostalgia Song
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d9f033b0
comment
Love Nostalgia Song: "Think of Me with Kindness" from Octopus.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d9f033b0
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d9f033b0
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 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_d9f033b0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_dbc664dd
type
Album Title Drop
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_dbc664dd
comment
Album Title Drop: "Hail to power and to glory's way" appears in two songs on The Power and the Glory: "Proclamation" and "Valedictory". (Also on the title track, which was left off the original release of the album because the band hated it, but it is a bonus track on most reissues.)
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_dbc664dd
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 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_dbc664dd
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 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_dbc664dd
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e18675e6
type
Word Salad Lyrics
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e18675e6
comment
Word Salad Lyrics: "Knots" is described as a "musical jigsaw", inspired by R.D. Laing. Its further complicated by the complexity of the music.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e18675e6
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e18675e6
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e18675e6
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e40f6792
type
Design Student's Orgasm
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e40f6792
comment
Design Student's Orgasm: The cover of Acquiring the Taste◊.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e40f6792
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e40f6792
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1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_e40f6792
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ee9bf817
type
Sanity Slippage Song
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ee9bf817
comment
Sanity Slippage Song: "An Inmate's Lullaby" is about a man in a mental hospital.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ee9bf817
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ee9bf817
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_ee9bf817
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f0f4b47
type
Vocal Tag Team
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f0f4b47
comment
Vocal Tag Team: All of the members sung. In the early stages the band had three lead vocalists: Derek for the rocky songs, Phil for the folksy, dreamy songs and Kerry for the classically-inspired ones. Gary Green & Ray Shulman both often sang harmony vocals, and John Weathers has been known to sing lead on a couple songs.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f0f4b47
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f0f4b47
featureConfidence
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f0f4b47
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f3faf1d4
type
Something Something Leonard Bernstein
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f3faf1d4
comment
Something Something Leonard Bernstein: The band has polyphonic songs in which multiple lines are sung simultaneously. Makes following the lyrics almost impossible without looking them up.
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f3faf1d4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f3faf1d4
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 Gentle Giant (Music)
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Gentle Giant (Music) / int_f3faf1d4
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_name
type
ItemName
 Gentle Giant (Music) / int_name
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Gentle Giant (Music)

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
All Drummers Are Animals / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Bait-and-Switch / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Band of Relatives / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
British Music / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Concept Album / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Cute Kitten / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Epic Rocking / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Full-Circle Revolution / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Jewish Creators / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Neoclassical Punk Zydeco Rockabilly / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
New Sound Album / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Progressive Rock / int_744874cd
 Gentle Giant (Music)
hasFeature
Uncommon Time / int_744874cd
 gentlegiant
sameAs
Gentle Giant (Music)