The Missing Piece (studio album)
by Gentle Giant

The Missing Piece by Gentle Giant
Year: 1977
Overall rank: 14,414th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 44 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1977 (180th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (1,936th)
Award Best albums of all time (14,414th)

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Gentle Giant The Missing Piece Vinyl LP 2024 Steven Wilson Remix Prog Rock NEW
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GENTLE GIANT – LP THE MISSING PIECE -
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Gentle Giant - The Missing Piece - Steven Wilson Remix Limited Edition Transpare
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Gentle Giant bestography

The Missing Piece is ranked 8th best out of 18 albums by Gentle Giant on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Gentle Giant is Octopus which is ranked number 1928 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 859.

Gentle Giant album bestography « Higher ranked (5,304th)
Free Hand
This album (14,414th)
The Missing Piece
Lower ranked (17,135th) »
Interview

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

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The Missing Piece track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 76 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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1.
Rating: 75 (7 votes)Comments: View 0
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2.
Rating: 74 (7 votes)Comments: View 0
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5.
Rating: 80 (10 votes)Comments: View 0
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8.
Rating: 74 (7 votes)Comments: View 0
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9.
Rating: 77 (7 votes)Comments: View 0
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The Missing Piece rankings

The Missing Piece collection

The Missing Piece ratings

Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 44 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 44 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
 Report rating
09/14/2025 11:37 acoustic-horn  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 17676/100
 
70/100
 Report rating
08/08/2025 03:03 AAL2014  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 3,45975/100
 
75/100
 Report rating
01/10/2025 10:05 Fullsized  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 16385/100
 
75/100
 Report rating
09/16/2024 19:38 duelek  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 1,55477/100
 
45/100
 Report rating
02/13/2024 16:24 Philly28  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 87969/100

Rating metrics: Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 69.7/100, a mean average of 67.8/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 69.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 14.5.

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The Missing Piece favourites

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The Missing Piece comments

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Rating:  
75/100
From 08/29/2018 01:45
Of course this album marks a big change in Gentle Giant's sound, but that doesn't mean it's a bad album. Even though GG is trying to be more pop than ever before in this album, they sometimes succeed and create some great pop tunes (something they won't be able to do in "Giant For A Day"). "Mountain Time" is an amazing pop tune, it's as groovy as it gets. It makes sense, since Gentle Giant has always been the grooviest/funkiest prog band out there. "As Old As You're Young" is another one of those Kerry Minnear amazing songs. I've always liked his voice better than Derek's and this song is a great example why. "Memories Of Old Days" is an instant classic, a really beautiful song. "For Nobody" is another amazing track. There are a few weak moments on this album, but there are still many, many glimpses of the genius we know GG is capable of.
#220214 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 12/21/2017 19:08
Here seems to mark a change in sound for the group which unfortunately seemed to scare away much of their dedicated fans. An energetic and accessible album, which is well worth the listen.

Don't be put off by the numerous negative reviews out there and give this album a spin.
#203680 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 12/01/2017 00:06
Very underrated. Brilliant AOR album - prog dialled way back in favour of high punk-ish energy and wonderful melodies
#202405 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1977
1. Rumours by Fleetwood Mac
2. Animals by Pink Floyd
3. Marquee Moon by Television
4. Low by David Bowie
5. Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's The Sex Pistols by Sex Pistols
6. Aja by Steely Dan
7. The Stranger by Billy Joel
8. Exodus by Bob Marley & The Wailers
9. "Heroes" by David Bowie
10. The Clash by The Clash
11. Trans Europa Express by Kraftwerk
12. Pink Flag by Wire
13. My Aim Is True by Elvis Costello
14. Out Of The Blue by Electric Light Orchestra
15. Lust For Life by Iggy Pop
16. Talking Heads: 77 by Talking Heads
17. Rocket To Russia by Ramones
18. Suicide by Suicide
19. Bat Out Of Hell by Meat Loaf
20. The Idiot by Iggy Pop
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