In A Glass House - GENTLE GIANT***

The Runaway/An Inmates Lullaby/Way Of Life/Experience/A Reunion/In A Glass House

The progressive band Gentle Giant enjoyed a cult following in the early 1970s. In A Glass House follows their usual pattern of achieving only limited sales despite some encouraging reviews.

“Gentle Giant eschewed the limelight to follow their own eccentric path; but for all that, there is some brilliant medieval and baroque progressive rock here. In A Glass House is the most accessible and best song here, An Inmate's Lullaby is lyrically clever, Experience runs the gamut from Elizabethan to jazz to funk, and Reunion offers a Baroque string quartet and a more pleasant use of their often strident and over-the-top vocals”

“With In A Glass House the band bring more of a rock and roll edge to the party, and mixing it in nicely with the medieval charm. It's a fine balance, and shows off the excellent musicianship of all the members.”

“One of the best things about Gentle Giant is their talent for creating compositions which are on the one hand extremely complex but yet at the same time are insanely catchy, and this skill is out in full force on this album. Ranging from the delicate and gentle to the wild and rocking, In A Glass House is yet another Gentle Giant classic.”

“In A Glass House is their most accomplished album where they lower the volume and trim the big guitar lines of their earlier work. They use a lot more percussion here, maramba, bells and chimes. This is a study in obtuse rhythms. Everything is scored to the last note, and the band work in both unison and counter rhythms. It is complex, but not cerebral, subtle, but impressive.”

“Amidst the weird, sometimes avant-garde, boundary pushing tunes are some more straightforward prog songs with influences from rock and soul. It's hard to describe the overall sound because with each song change, there's a stylistic change, and in the longer ones, the atmosphere can change within songs.”

“This is their most uncompromising, least commercially friendly album they’ve yet attempted. Starting out with the unsettling sound of glass breaking The Runaway is one of their harshest, darkest pieces. A constant perfection is maintained, a synthesis of well thought out lyrics, melody and complex rhythms utilizing the entire gamut of rock instruments.”