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The Power and the Glory (Gentle Giant album)

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The Power and the Glory
Studio album by
Gentle Giant
Released20 September 1974
RecordedDecember 1973 – January and June 1974 ("The Power and the Glory" single)
StudioAdvision, London
GenreProgressive rock
Length37:11
LabelWWA (UK)
Capitol (US)
ProducerGentle Giant
Gentle Giant chronology
In a Glass House
(1973) 		The Power and the Glory
(1974) 		Free Hand
(1975)
Singles from The Power and the Glory
  1. "The Power and the Glory"
    Released: November 1974[1]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Sea of Tranquility[3]

The Power and the Glory is the sixth studio album by the British progressive rock group Gentle Giant, released in 1974. Contrary to popular belief, the title of the album and its many lyrical themes were not inspired by author Graham Greene's novel of the same name, although Derek Shulman was aware of Greene's novel.[4] Guitarist Gary Green has cited this album as his favourite by the band.[5]

A loose concept was hatched for the album prior to recording. "At the time, the Watergate scandal was happening," recalls Derek. "The Cold War issues were coming to a head. The concept for the album was based on the corruption of power and how people on the bottom are affected by the people on top. Money and power will win no matter what and the people that are hoping for the best won’t usually get the best. The label we were on at that time, WWA, was an imprint of Vertigo. Vertigo was a fully owned company of Phonogram which is Polygram which is now Universal which will probably be GE in a week which is going to be the government soon enough. So there’s the corruption of power right there! The power and the glory! Again! Still to this day!"[6]

The cover art, depicting a King of Spades, is taken from the 1926-1933 "Prinz-Karte-402" deck painted by Austrian Artist Hans Printz (1865-1925) and produced by the German playing card company Bernhard Dondorf Gm.b.H. [7]

The second verse from "Proclamation" was sampled in Travis Scott's "Hyaena" from his album Utopia.

Releases

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The album was originally released in the US and Canada by Capitol Records, as would all Gentle Giant's albums until Civilian. The original LP cover was diecut, with rounded upper corners.

In a 2010 interview[8] Derek Shulman announced that the band are working at creating an animated film based around the themes, characters and songs of the album. The animations subsequently became available in the album's Blu-ray release, of July 2014, which also features a remix (both in stereo and 5.1 surround format) by Steven Wilson. The new edition was released by Alucard, the company that managed Gentle Giant material.[9]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Kerry Minnear, Derek Shulman, and Ray Shulman

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Proclamation"6:47
2."So Sincere"3:51
3."Aspirations"4:40
4."Playing the Game"6:46
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Cogs in Cogs"3:07
2."No God's a Man"4:27
3."The Face"4:12
4."Valedictory"3:21
Bonus tracks on remastered CD
No.TitleLength
9."Proclamation" (Live) (bonus track on 35th anniversary CD edition)4:54
10."The Power and the Glory" (Single A-side; bonus track available on certain editions only)2:53

Personnel

[edit]
Gentle Giant

Charts

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Chart (1974-1975) Peak
position
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[10] 91
US Billboard 200[11] 78
Chart (2014) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[12] 79

Literature

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  • Sivy, Robert Jacob (2019). Exposing Corruption In Progressive Rock: A Semiotic Analysis Of Gentle Giant's The Power And The Glory (Thesis). University of Kentucky. doi:10.13023/etd.2019.459.

References

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  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (18 August 1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Press. p. 325. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ Eder, Bruce (2011). "The Power and the Glory – Gentle Giant | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  3. ^ Pardo, Pete (2011). "Review: 'Gentle Giant: The Power and the Glory-35th Anniversary Edition (remaster)' – Sea of Tranquility – The Web Destination for Progressive Music!". seaoftranquility.org. Retrieved 26 June 2011.
  4. ^ Interview with Wayne Klein, 16 February 2010, from "Progressive Land"
  5. ^ "Progressive Land" Interview with Gary Green by Wayne Klein "DVDivas Progressive Land". Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
  6. ^ Rettman, Tony (30 June 2014). "40 Years Ago: Gentle Giant Release 'The Power And The Glory'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Townsquare Media, Inc. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Prinz-Karte-402""King of Spade".
  8. ^ 17 February 2010 Interview for Progressiveland website with Derek Shulman by Wayne Klein
  9. ^ "Gentle Giant – The Power and the Glory : SW remix (Blu-Ray/CD)". Stevenwilsonhq.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  10. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 3919b". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Gentle Giant Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Gentle Giant – The Power and the Glory" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 22 April 2021.
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