The Power and the Glory followed in 1974. This was Gentle Giant's third concept album, this time taking power and corruption as the linking theme. The band also wrote a separate single with the same title. According to Derek Shulman, "WWA said, "Now boys, you've got to be commercial, you've gotta make singles. Now you run away and write us a single." So we did three atrocious numbers. This song's the worst - "You've got it lads!" - and we went into the studio and handed over the tapes when we came out. They put it out, we yelled at them, and they gave it back - took it off the market." (The single was added to CD reissues of the album).
The Chrysalis years, part 1: Free Hand, Interview & Playing the Fool
Dissatisfied with their deal with WWA, Gentle Giant signed a new deal with Chrysalis Records, with whom they'd stay for the rest of their career. Although the band were still writing and performing some of the most complex rock music of the period, it was at this point that they began to polish and slightly simplify their songs for accessibility, in order to reach a wider audience (in particular an American one). Their efforts seemed successful enough to get 1975's Free Hand into the Top 50 album chart in the USA. Strongly influenced by the music of the Renaissance and Middle Ages (as well as by the then-current vogue for jazz-rock), the album's songs reflected on lost love and damaged relationships, including the breakdown of the band's relationship with their former manager. It became one of the band's most popular and accessible releases.
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