Gentle Giant were a British progressive rock band, one of the most experimental of the 1970s. Textually inspired by philosophy, personal events and the works of François Rabelais, the group's compositional purpose was to "expand the frontiers of contemporary popular music at the risk of becoming very unpopular."From the sleeve notes of the album "Acquiring the taste" History Gentle Giant was formed by Derek, Ray and Phil Shulman in 1970 after the dissolution of their soul/pop band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound in 1969 . The brothers joined with Gary Green, Kerry Minnear, and a succession of drummers to produce a series of twelve albums throughout the 1970s, finally dissolving quietly in 1980. Their earlier albums were more eclectic and experimental than their later ones. By 1974, as they started to gather an American following, they simplified their songs (which, compared to other rock artists at the time, were