Octopus (Gentle Giant album)

Octopus
Studio album by Gentle Giant
Released	December 1, 1972
Recorded	July 24 - August 5, 1972, Advision Studios, London
Genre	Progressive rock, experimental rock, hard rock, symphonic rock
Length	34:09
Label	Vertigo (UK) Columbia (U.S.)
Producer	Gentle Giant
Gentle Giant chronology
Three Friends (1972) Octopus (1972) In a Glass House (1973)
Alternative cover
US and Canadian release.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Octopus is an album by British progressive rock band Gentle Giant, released in 1972. It marked a change in drummers from Malcolm Mortimore to John Weathers. The new line-up of the band delivered the Octopus album later in 1972, generally considered to represent the start of the band's peak period. Octopus was allegedly named by Phil Shulman's wife Roberta as a pun on "octo opus" (eight musical works, reflecting the album's eight tracks).^[2] In 2004, Ray Shulman commented "(Octopus) was probably our best album, with the exception, perhaps of Acquiring the Taste. We started with the idea of writing a song about each member of the band. Having a concept in mind was a good starting point for writing. I don't know why, but despite the impact of The Who's Tommy and Quadrophenia, almost overnight concept albums were suddenly perceived as rather naff and pretentious". The album maintained Gentle Giant's trademark of broad and challengingly integrated styles. One of the highlights was the intricate madrigal-styled vocal workout "Knots", lyrically inspired by the work of R. D. Laing.

In the Q & Mojo Classic Special Edition Pink Floyd & The Story of Prog Rock, the album came #16 in its list of "40 Cosmic Rock Albums".^[3]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, Phil Shulman, and Ray Shulman, except where noted. 

Notes

The song "The Advent of Panurge" is inspired by the books of Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais.

The song "A Cry for Everyone" on the album is inspired by the work and beliefs of the Algerian-French writer Albert Camus.

The song "Knots" is inspired by the book Knots by the Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing.

Personnel

• Gary Green - Electric guitar (tracks 4, 8), electric guitars (tracks 1, 3, 5), maracas (track 2)
• Kerry Minnear - Piano (tracks 1-5, 7, 8), Hammond organ (tracks 1-5, 7, 8), Minimoog (tracks 1, 3, 5, 8), electric piano (tracks 2, 4, 8), Mellotron (tracks 2, 8), Clavinet (track 1), harpsichord (track 4), regal (track 6), vibraphone (tracks 4, 8), tambourine (track 2), cello (tracks 2, 6), lead vocals on tracks 1, 4 and 7, backing vocals
• Derek Shulman - Lead vocals (tracks 1-4, 8), alto saxophone (track 5)
• Phil Shulman - Trumpet (tracks 1, 2), alto saxophone (track 5), tenor saxophone (track 4), mellophone (track 7), lead vocals on tracks 1, 4, 6 and 8, backing vocals
• Ray Shulman - Bass, violin (tracks 2, 4, 5), violins (track 6), viola (track 6), electric violin (track 8), acoustic guitar (track 6), tambourine (track 3), backing vocals
• John Weathers - Drums (tracks 1-5, 7, 8), bongos (tracks 3, 8), varispeed cymbal (tracks 4, 8), xylophone (tracks 4, 6)

Production

• Gentle Giant - Production
• Martin Rushent - Engineering
• Cliff Morris - Mastering
• Geoff Young - Tape operator
• Murray Krugman - Over-all American Supervision

Design

• John Berg - Cover concept & design
• Fluid Drive - Art
• Charles White III - Illustration
• Kenny Kneitel - Design
• Michael Doret - Lettering^[4]

Cover

The UK release of the album featured art by Roger Dean. Dean's logo appears inside the lyrics booklet.

North American releases featured a different cover by Charles White. Early versions of this cover were die-cut into a jar shape.

Charts

Release history

References