Kategorie: Music

The World of Genius Hans is the second studio album by French band Moving Gelatine Plates, founded in 1968 by guitarist Gérard Bertram and bassist Didier Thibault.

The World of Genius Hans has one of the most striking covers in rock history. The cover features a pig (or is it a cow?) dressed in a pilot’s jacket, smoking a cigar, with parsley in its nostrils and ears. The unusual cover aptly reflects the intriguing nature of this album.

The World of Genius Hans’s jazzy avant-garde sound is somewhat reminiscent of early Soft Machine, Supersister and Frank Zappa, but the end result is entirely unique. The music of The World of Genius Hans is quite complex in places, but it is made accessible by a certain humour and warmth typical of the Canterbury scene, yet difficult to describe.

The best track on the album is the 14-minute title track, which features excellent thematic development and even hints of symphonic prog at times. However, the band remembers to add irregularly regular twists and turns and silliness to the mix, so that it doesn’t get confused with, say, Yes or Genesis.

The weakness of the album is bassist Didier Thibault’s vocals, which are not particularly impressive. Thibault’s voice is high-pitched and thin. Fortunately, the vocals play a relatively minor role on the album, and a pleasing variety of wind instruments, such as the bassoon, trombone and saxophones, are given more space.

The World of Genius is not a complete success, but it is highly recommended for listeners who are interested in a slightly more avant-garde take on Canterbury prog.

Best tracks: ”The World of Genius Hans”

Three Friends is Gentle Giant’s third album and the band’s first concept album. The theme of the album is three school friends whogrew up and went into different career paths. One became a businessman, another a labourer and the third an artist. The concept is loose, but it does provide some kind of framework for songs that work perfectly on their own.

Musically, Three Friends is not quite as eclectic and experimental as its predecessor, Acquiring The Taste. On average, the album is a little more rock-oriented and less ambiguous. The arrangements are more straightforward and less rich in instrumentation than before. Of course, even the music on Three Friends is miles away from average rock in terms of complexity.

With the exception of the drummer, the band’s line-up remained the same as before. New drummer Malcolm Mortimore does a decent job on the album, but he is nowhere near as interesting and creative a player as his predecessor Martin Smith. Smith was apparently let go mainly because he didn’t get along with the band’s unofficial leader, Phil Shulman (saxophones, vocals). Mortimer’s time with the band was short-lived, as he was injured in a motorcycle accident shortly after the completion of Three Friends. Smith was not permanently disabled, but due to touring commitments, GG hired John Weathers to fill in. Things worked out so well with him that Weathers was soon made a permanent member of the band. This was unfortunate for Mortimer, but good news for the band and their fans, as Weathers turned out to be the perfect drummer for Gentle Giant. Mortimer returned to Gentle Giant’s music in the 2000s, playing in a spin-off band called Three Friends, which also featured Gary Green and Kerry Minnear at times.

The highlight of Three Friends is the powerful, mostly instrumental opening track ‘Prologue’, which introduces the themes of the later songs, and the lighter ‘Schooldays’, which effectively utilises the band’s trademark polyphonic vocals. The versatile ‘Mister Class And Quality?’ is also a great song for the most part, but it is slightly marred by drummer Mortimer’s occasionally tedious drumming.

The weakest track is ‘Peel The Paint’, where Derek Shulmann’s ‘hard rock vocals’ are a little uncomfortable to listen to, and Gary Green’s electric guitar riffs in the instrumental section and the uninspiring middle section don’t really get you going.

Unlike the two previous albums, which were produced by Tony Visconti, Gentle Giant did the job themselves with Three Friends. Not necessarily a smart move, as the album sounds somewhat muddier and duller than its predecessor, Acquiring The Taste.

The cover art is also a bit of a mess, with Rick Breach’s original painting of three vaguely scribbled figures crouching around a seagull being rather creepy. In the United States and Canada, the album was released with a slightly modified version of the debut album cover. A strange decision, to say the least.

Three Friends is a worthy album, but a slight disappointment after the magnificent Acquiring The Taste. However, Three Friends was slightly more successful than its predecessors and even made it onto the US album charts for the first time. Admittedly, it only reached a modest 197th place.

Three Friends was the last album featuring Phil, the eldest of the Shulman brothers. Phil Shulman had been something of a leader in the band, but his career came to an end due to an embarrassing incident involving a groupie. In a band like Gentle Giant, such behaviour was frowned upon for a family man, and Phil Shulman left the band to save his marriage.