Giants is the seventeenth studio album by English rock band The Stranglers and continues the band's return as a four-piece after the departure of Paul Roberts. Lead vocals are shared between guitarist Baz Warne and bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel. The album was released on 5 March 2012 and was supported by an extensive UK tour by the band. The album continues the shift to a more recognisable sound seen in the previous album, Suite XVI, but also builds on a sound much more akin to the band's 70s era. The album was released in the formats of digital download, CD and vinyl with the a deluxe edition of the CD being released with an additional live acoustic disc for the same price. In an interview, Burnel stated that the album has few overdubs so that they can play all the songs live without using any 'trickery', he also stated that 'Time Was Once on My Side' is a single of sorts, continuing to question what makes a single in 2012. The album was better promoted than the previous with Burnel appearing on The One Show and also appearing on BBC 1 breakfast with Baz Warne to talk about the album. There was also 19 billboard advertisements put up around London using an alternate image to the album art. The band worked on the album for two years on and off between festivals, gigs and going off places. "...But some of the ideas stem back to 10 years ago. You can't always make a decent song with just one idea and we've been mulling over some ideas for quite a few years," Burnel remarked. The bassist said he was delighted with the initial reaction to their album in the media. "This record seems to be taking off big time. We're having to go to Paris to do 50 or 60 radio shows and they've asked us to do a dozen live performances. After that we've got to go toBerlin because interest's picking up there well so this record – which hasn't come out yet – seems to be getting quite a lot of attention," he remarked prior to the release.
Reception
Upon its release, the album received generally good reviews from music critics. Aggregating website AnyDecentMusic? reports a score of 6.3 based on 9 professional reviews.
