Released in the spring of 1980, Gentle Giant’s Civilian would mark the progressive rock band’s swan song. And even though guitarist Gary Green, keyboardist Kerry Minnear, singer Derek Shulman, bassist Ray Shulman and drummer John Weathers had begun a shift toward a leaner, more accessible sound, Gentle Giant’s diverse influences, songwriting, and musicianship are well presented even as the shift toward the mainstream is easy enough to pick up on.
Unusual for this quintet, the songs were written and recorded in North America after a temporary move to Los Angeles. Work on Civilian took place over a five-month period during which the band recruited Beatles’ engineer Geoff Emerick to “man the board” at Sound City and Bijou Studios in Hollywood. The end result is a high-energy progressive effort, full of shorter hook-laden songs and clever choruses.
Starting with an overdriven “Convenience (Clean and Easy),” a song about living in America at the time, we are all too quickly swept into Green’s big guitar riff and a heavy Hammond from Minnear on the Survivor-sounding “All Through The Night.” Minnear plays piano and sings on the first true prog showing, “Shadows On The Street.” Ray Shulman’s slow yet expressive bass lines really lift this all-too-short mini pro ballad into what sounds like classic Gentle Giant.
“Number One” is another riff-heavy tune, most noticeable for Derek Shulman’s fantastic vocal and the catchy chorus. The sound of an underground train coming into a station with Ray Shulman’s bass upfront in the mix gets “Underground” grooving. There’s a sly synth lead and solid harmonies throughout. No matter what they were trying to achieve on Civilian, Gentle Giant was still paying close attention to rendering great vocal performances.
“I Am A Camera” is unforgettable though Shulman is about at the edge of his range. “Inside Out” has lots of space to it, great harmonies in the chorus and plodding bass and guitar. The lack of production layering on the song’s verses gives Shulman lots of room to work his voice around. He delivers a wonderful, plaintive lyrical read.
We get another good long stab at prog on “It’s Not Imagination,” the song that ends the original album. They are still trying to show off how quick and in sync they can riff, but this one works with a growly bass under everything, those high-flying vocals, and big simple, single-note slicing leads.
Civilian has been remastered and reissued on CD for the first time. It also includes a previously unreleased song called “Heroes No More.” With Weathers’ simple hits and some staccato keys alongside him, plus another solid vocal from Shulman, this heavy prog cum pop song was not included on the original release to keep the running times down on the old vinyl format. Nevertheless, it’s a solid little gem and great to have on the CD.
Considering the musicians and Geoff Emerick on board, Gentle Giant couldn’t possibly make a bad album, per se. Civilian might be yards away from the 70s prog classics like Octopus and The Power And The Glory, but it wasn’t a bad way to go out just as the MTV generation came along and changed the game forever.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
