Gentle Giant – Octopus
Well, why might I have picked this one? Gentle Giant is one of the greatest bands you’ll most likely never have heard from. These rather obscure progressive rockers managed to include not only Folk or Blues and even some Jazz into their music or have not only included some classical music. They added some Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque to it and made it rock. They played multiple instruments and added trumpet, saxophone, vibes, cello, violin and even recorders to their studio albums but also live shows, switching around constantly. Can you imagine a recorder quartet on a rock stage? Listen to their live album “Playing the Fool”. They can even sang something like a fugue. Sang! While playing their instruments! These guys were absolutely nuts. All if their albums are worth a listen, especially their self-titled debut or the great “Free Hand” and “The Power and the Glory”. But I picked this one from 1972 for, well, obvious reasons. Great sleeve design by Roger Dean…