Gentle Giant: In a Glass House (1973)

Gentle Giant is often a highly regarded band in the prog rock community. The rock critics (of the Robert Chistgau, Dave Marsh, and Lester Bangs variety), for the most part, hardly ever said anything good of these guys. And yet the band didn’t have the same “overblown pretentiousness” (critics opinion, not mine) that was often leveled at their better known contemporaries like Yes or ELP. Perhaps Gentle Giant’s music was too uncompromising to please the rock critics, because their music was often very complex and requires several listens to sink in. By the time In a Glass House, came out, neither their UK label (Vertigo) or their US label (Columbia) wanted to release it. They ended up getting it released on a small British label called WWA (where Black Sabbath was breifly on, as well as the Groundhogs).

The album never received a US release (that was the reason why their following albums, starting with The Power and the Glory were released in the US on Capitol), making this one of their most overlooked albums. Also the the eldest Shulman brother, Philip had left at that point, given he was about 10 years older than the rest of the band, and probably felt old. So the Gentle Giant lineup at this point would be the same from here to their 1980 breakup (Ray Shulman, Derek Shulman, Kerry Minnear, Gary Green, John Weathers).

Now on to the music of In a Glass House, despite the record company bullshit they were facing with, I really think this is one of their best albums. A bit more rocking than their previous albums, making this an easy pick even for the Gentle Giant newcomer. The album starts off with “The Runaway”, with the sound of shattering glass, before the music kicks in. Here you get many of their tradmark quirkiness, while keeping the music going forward. “An Inmates Lullaby” is a more laidback piece, with Kerry Minnear handling the vocals. Lots of xylophones here. A lot of the quirky passages here harken back to Acquiring the Taste.

“Way of Light” starts off in a rocking, aggressive manner, before they go for that medieval sound (complete with recorders) that they’re often known for. “Experience” and the title track continue in the same greatness. The latter has a passage that oddly reminds me of Yes. “A Reunion” is a nice, gentle acoustic piece, with Kerry Minnear singing, complete with violins, making it sound like a string quartet. A very English sounding piece here. Great album. If you like Three Friends, Octopus and Free Hand, you’re sure to enjoy this.
– Derek Shulman: vocals, alto and soprano sax and recorder
– Gary Green: guitars, mandolin, percussion and alto recorder
– Kerry Minnear: all keyboards, tune percussion, recorder, vocals
– Ray Shulman: bass guitar, violin, acoustic guitar, percussion, backing vocals
– John Weathers: drums, percussion