Review Summary: A dramatic transition in their career. Probably the pinnacle of it.
“In A Glass House” is the fifth studio album of Gentle Giant that was released in 1973. The line up on the album is Gary Green, Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, Ray Shulman and John Weathers.
Gentle Giant was a British prog rock band founded in London in 1970. The band was formed by the three Shulman brothers. The band was active for ten years, between 1970 and 1980. Gentle Giant became known for the complexity and sophistication of their music and for the varied and great skills of all members, who were all multi-instrumentalists. Although not commercially a successful band despite being one of the founders of prog, they achieved a cult following.
“In A Glass House” represents a very important landmark in Gentle Giant’s musical career because it marks the definite departure of one of the three Shulman brothers and former member Phil Shulman. It seems he left Gentle Giant because he was burnt out and discouraged after some problems with the public, especially after the difficult live concerts done by the band when they supported a live tour of Black Sabbath, and so, he had realised that the lifestyle of a touring musician was damaging his family life. Instead of finding a replacement, the remaining band’s members decided to continue just as they were. So, “In A Glass House” became the first Gentle Giant’s album released by the group after the departure of Phil Shulman. John Weathers maintained that they became a stronger band after Phil left Gentle Giant.
In contrast with their previous album, the songs here are longer, the arrangements harder and clearer, and lyrically and musically it’s darker. As a concept album on the theme of freedom, the cohesion is rather loose, as is usual with Gentle Giant’s conceptual works. The vocal lines, as one reads in the accompanying book, were always primarily an additional instrument for the band in the overall ensemble of the respective song, which became one of the main trademarks of the band. “In A Glass House” became with “Octopus” one of most popular albums of Gentle Giant. “In A Glass House”, as I mentioned above, is another conceptual album. Its concept is original and strange, allegedly based around the idea that people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The album begins and ends with the sound of breaking some glasses. “In A Glass House” was the band’s most direct and psychological effort ever. “In A Glass House” is also probably their most ambitious work, with four lengthy songs as “The Runaway”, “Way Of Life”, “Experience” and “In A Glass House”. The most important is that with “In A Glass House” the band delivered another true masterful work.
“In a Glass House” has six tracks. “The Runaway” has an extraordinary and surprising beginning where the band seems to break some glasses. It’s rich in variety styles and textures, extremely melodic but also complex and creative. It’s one of the best tracks by them, a perfect opener to the album. “An Inmate’s Lullaby” is a different song. It’s an avant-garde strange song almost performed by drums, xylophone and vocals. It’s the most experimental song on the album. It isn’t particularly melodic. We need some time to get used to it. “Way Of Life” has a driving rhythm and a fast tempo with changes. It’s another experimental song with nice and melodic moments but it also has strange parts. It’s solid and variable with melody and improvisation. “Experience” has an inventive and complex structure. It’s a perfect example of Gentle Giant’s medieval complex sound. But, it also comprises many other and varied forms of music. It’s also rich with wonderful vocal harmonies. It’s probably the most complex track on the album. “A Reunion” is the smallest, simplest and most calm song on the album. It’s a soft acoustic ballad that reminds me of a quartet in classical music. It’s a fine and emotional song with a beautiful melody. It seems to be a bit dislocated here, being probably the weakest track on the album, despite its beauty. The title track is an excellent composition with great harmony of all instruments. The chorus performed by the four singers is of superior quality. It also has a hard rock section with a memorable guitar riff in the second part of it. This is another great track that closes this amazing and beautiful album.
Conclusion: “In A Glass House” is a very important album after their two great masterpieces “Acquiring The Taste” and “Octopus”. “In A Glass House” was also a very important album for them because it was their first album without the participation of one of the Shulman brothers. Phil was one of the main composers of the band. It’s interesting to note that the quality of the music performed by them hadn’t lost anything and probably even improved a bit. Probably, I agree with them when they said that Gentle Giant continued with Kerry Minnear and Ray Shulman writing great stuff and that they probably became a stronger band after the departure of Phil Shulman. So, “In A Glass House” is without any doubt one of the greatest prog rock albums from the 70’s. It’s with “Acquiring The Taste”, “Octopus”, “The Power And The Glory” and “Free Hand” one of their best works. All of them are some of the best prog rock albums ever made.
Music was my first love.
John Miles (Rebel)
nice review
