I was pleasantly surprised to run across this, recently, on YouTube. Michael Giles, Progress, apparently from 1978.
As much of a King Crimson fanboy as I am, I never did spend much time chasing the solo careers of either Michael Giles or Ian McDonald. I did get the 1970 McDonald and Giles record, which for me remains somewhat interesting but certainly not something I have gravitated back to. I hadn’t heard of this.
I’ve spun it through a couple of times now, and I’m kinda diggin’ it. It certainly has grabbed me more than the McDonald and Giles effort, and as I look on Wikipedia, I am also surprised to see that Giles apparently played on a couple of Anthony Phillips records from the late ’70s, and now I may have to go look those up. Plus I also notice that Giles apparently played on a 1999 McDonald solo record I hadn’t heard of…
Anyway, I think Progress needs a bookmark; it isn’t exactly a “high polish” sort of effort, but I hear a lot to like in this music, even beyond Giles’ always-interesting drumming. Giles isn’t exactly front-and-center on people’s lists of great rock drummers, but seriously, who else could run with the likes of Robert Fripp, Ian McDonald and Greg Lake, and regularly make you think “man, that’s really great drumming going on there!” (I’m of course way too young for it, but man, would I have loved to see that first-edition Crimson on a truly “out there” night.)
Craftygrass 