This is a compilation from three of Gong's mid-'70s releases, Shamal, Expresso II,
and Gazuese!. There's not a weak song in the bunch, but then again all
three of the aforementioned recordings were all excellent. This period
for Gong found them playing mostly instrumentals with a heavy percussive sound which can be attributed to the leadership of drummer Pierre Moerlen.
Although they are usually listed as one of the great progressive rock
bands, closer inspection reveals that this lineup actually offered more
to the jazz-rock fusion movement of the mid-'70s. Their contributions
went largely unnoticed at the time, but it later became clear that they
had carved out a unique and fresh approach to what had become a style
bogged down in technical showmanship. It wasn't until bands such as Ozric Tentacles and later Phish, began to surface in the '80s and '90s that the influence of Gong began to be felt again. This is the original jam music.
This excellent mid price compilation gathers together the cream of the 3 post Daevid Allen
Gong albums (sometimes credited to Pierre Moerlen's Gong) on Virgin. None of them could
be called essential, but they are often unfairly dismissed. Following Allen's departure, Gong
developed a jazz fusion sound that featured some superb playing, but which lacked the
quirky humour and psychdelic touches of the previous incarnation. 'Shamal' was probably
the closest in spirit to Allen's Gong, and four pieces are on here, including the title track
(which also features this CDs only vocals). The remaining tracks are taken from 'Gazeuse'
and 'Espresso 2', and it is on these tracks that Pierre Moerlen's leadership is stamped. They
feature a percussion heavy sound, with vibes, marimba and glockenspiel playing intricate
interlocking patterns. The other players, especially the excellent Allan Holdsworth, get to
play complex solos above it all. If you like the kind of jazz fusion purveyed by the likes of
Brand X, Mahavishnu Orchestra or later incarnations of Return to Forever there's a lot to
enjoy on this collection. Just don't expect any pot head pixies or flying teapots.
While I like and appreciate Daevid Allen's lineups of this band, I love Pierre Moerlin's much
more. I just enjoy the percussion based tight fusion much more than Allen's loose, pixie
gnome fantasy silliness.
This collection takes all of it's tracks from the first three Moerlin led Gong albums,
Shamal, Gazeuse (or Expresso) and Expresso II. When I
purchased this collection, none of those albums were yet available on CD. This is a fine
introduction to this version of Gong. The songs are all fantastic fusion, as good as any the
famous fusion bands of the seventies were creating. Who says you have to come from a jazz
background to be really good at this style? The Expresso album particularly are in a
tuned percussion style that Bill Bruford also excelled in with his Holdsworth/Stewart/Berlin
band around the same time.
Tracks Listing
1. Heavy Tune (6:26)
2. Cat in Clark's Shoes (7:43)
3. Night Illusion (3:48)
4. Golden Dilemma (4:55)
5. Winful of Eyes (6:23)
6. Three Blind Mice (4:51)
7. Expresso (6:00)
8. Soli (7:41)
9. Shadow of (7:52)
10. Mandrake (5:02)
11. Bambouji (5:10)
Total Time: 65:51
Line-up / Musicians
- Mireille Bauer / marimba, vibraphone, glock, toms
- Francois Causse / congas
- Allan Holdsworth / electric guitar, acoustic guitar, rhythm guitar, violin, pedal steel guitar
- Bon Lozaga / rhythm guitar, guitar
- Didier Malherbe / Tenor sax, flute
- Benoit Moerlen / vibra, marimba, percussion, tubular bells, glockenspiel, claves, xylophone
- Pierre Moerlen / drums, glock, marimba, vibraphone, xylophone, timpani, tubular bells
- Francis Moze / Fretless bass, gong, acoustic & electric piano
- Hansford Rowe / bass, rhythm guitar
- Mick Taylor / lead guitar
- Darryl Way / violin
Great Album.Thanks
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