Customer Reviews

Radio Gnome

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a neat little piece of jazzy space prog, french style. Hillage's guitar is sublime, Didier Malherbe is in full effect. Daevid Allen, a true pioneer of the psychadelic genre, is probably at his most tasteful (which isn't to say that he is...) Contains their only "hit", Flute Salad/Oily Way, which is one insanely intricate bit of neurotic rock lounge jazz. Also check out the world-class Moerlen bros. percussion ensemble on "Never Glid Before". (4-1/2 stars)

I don't know what the members of Gong were smoking when they created this recording...but it worked! There is some deep music here, and it is recorded with a clarity of sound that rivals much of what came outin the early 70's. Fans of the progressive genre will find extraordinary playing (including one of the most amazing drummers you will ever hear), strange use of non-traditional instruments (including the mbira, an african thumb piano), and wildly shifting time signatures. Fans of psychadelic music will find "space-whispers" and "pot-head pixies" galore. I wouldn't recommend this as the first place to experience Gong -- that would be the "You" CD -- but this is as good as any of their recordings for experiencing the Gong sound. Progressive, jazzy, weird, and just plain fun. Recommended.

First, let me say that I would rarely award an album 5 stars. But Angel's Egg deserves it. Gong really gives progressive rock a new dimension here.

While the album does have a couple 'filler' tracks (Givin My Luv To You and Percolations), the rest of the content is superb. Gong really does have a sense of humour (and were probably high throughout the album's composition). They combine the humour with some great song writing, some cool jazz soloing, and some trippy space synth work. I will say, though, that you probably will NOT like it on the first listen--give Angel's Egg a chance, and you'll wonder how you lived without it.

Gong are suprisingly unknown. Their music involved a blending of rock and jazz, with the lyrics involving a blending of psychadelics and philsophy; all underpinned by a delightful sense of humour. They were formed by an Australian in England, had an Irish lead guitarist, but were based in France. Great music! Should be better known.

Originally released in 1973,looks to be the fourth Gong lp.In my humble opinion,'Angel's Egg' is SO much better than their 'Flying Teapot' disc(see my review).Top of the line French progressive space rock.Get it while the getting's good.I've played this CD quite a few times over.It's THAT good.Tracks here I found to be nothing short of true brilliance were the fabulous opener,the way-out-there "Other Side Of The Sky"(w/Gilli Smyth's breath-taking over-the-top vocals),"Prostitute Poem",two cuts where flutist/saxist Didier Malberbe is allowed to shine "Flute Salad" and "Oily Way",plus "Outer Limit I","I Never Glid Before"(stunning guitar solo,Steve Hillage)and the ONLY Gong tune I've never cared for,"Eat That Phone Book",Nonetheless,'Angel's Egg' is still a great catalog title to own a copy of.Highly recommended.

"angels egg" to me truely is a great gong record, it combines every element which makes the band so interesting in to one superb soundscape. From the sheer beauty of "flute salad/oilyway" to the proto dance gamelan epic that is "love is how you make it". When many of the songs start you cant helpbut raise a smile and nod your head as the infectious funky hooks flow over you. Allen's quirky breathy husk adorns many of the eccentric guitar hooks in unison as the band jerk around in their typically silly way. The hippie ideals that allen makes use of in his lyrics are ofte dismissed as meaningless now, but i cant help but be inspired by, "ooby scooby doomsday", possibly the best pollicical song ever. Another dimension i love about gong, is their ability to seemlessly switch from the most abstract synth space jam to an intricate funky hook that sound as if it wre recorded in a Parisian brothel on mushrooms. Humour is the key to gong, their music is lighthearted yet still the work of complete genius. The clear production on this album is also very plaesing on the ear and the band certainly sound at their most "in tune". Yes there are meandering tracks, but every gong album's a journey and every journey has uncertainties. The drumming on this album is also incredible and, the whole sound is propelled along by this jazz drumming style. to sum up....psychedelic jazz rock with infinate humour and definately music to smoke a bowl to.

Gong fans will kindle me, but I think this album is overrated in comparison to many other Gong efforts. It lacks exactly the structure and direction needed even in avantgarde rock projects. There are many brief tracks with incidental music, but I think all these pieces are just filler and make this album rather dull and forgettable. Besides the first two and the last three songs, there's nothing particularly interesting and exciting here. "The other side.." is a great space rock song with Gong's typical space whispering, high-flying synths, and droning percussion. My other favorite tracks offer quirky, rhythm-oriented prog-rock with amusing, wry lyrics. "Angel's egg" is potentially rewarding, but it requires many listenings before the hooks and melodies emerge. Nevertheless, if you want to have a rocky and catchy album by Daevid Allen's Gong, I recommend you to check out their excellent debut "Camembert electrique" (1971) and the very diverse "Shapeshifter" (1992).

If you want to know why I start this review with a statement like that, have a look at the reviews for the "Flying Teapot" album - which is part one in a trilogy of albums Gong put it in the early 70's. "Angel's Egg" is part 2 and takes the characters and themes introduced on "Flying Teapot" a few steps further. This album utlises a wider range of music and as such is more complex and rewarding than its predecesor. Everything from Indonesian klungkungs and english pub sing-alongs, combine with the band's highly rhythmic and hypnotic space rock to produce one of the most unique recordings of the 70s. Tim Blake really comes into his own on this one and his spacey synthesizer work still sounds fresh and inspired 30 years after it was recorded. This is no mean feat considering how ugly the synthesizer became in the later 70's and 80's.

The real beauty of this record is that it avoids the usual traps of a lot of 70's progressive concept albums by treating the central "story" as something more dreamlike and disconnected than relying on a begining, middle and end. Imagery is used more than a plot and if I was to point to a record which is genuinely "psychedelic" then this would be one of the first I'd aim at. I have read peripheral stories about the band, and apparently this was recorded in a wood at night using mobile equipment and if you listen hard enough on headphones you can hear owls and other animals in the background on occasions. I've personally never done this but if you want to have a go then good luck. It's probably true and it gives you an idea of how much a product of its time it is.

The best tracks are obviously the most structured and highlights are "Outer temple", "Oily way" and the closing "Eat that phone book coda", which is worth it for the title alone. The whole thing is one out of the box though and is a perfect add on to "Flying Teapot". If you get both then you might as well check out "You" as well. It's all unique entertainment.

If you think that progressive rock doesn't have any humor sense, you MUST urgently listen to this record. The musicians are superbs. Daevid never was so crazy as here. "I Never Glid Before", "Eat that Phone Book" and "Prostitute Poem" are gems of the genre. Unfortunately, the group broke up soon after the release of "You", but Daevid Allen and Gili Smyth created bands related to Gong: the New York Gong (Daevid) and Mother Gong (Gili).

Gee, how would I even BEGIN to describe the music on this Gong album?

I really can't. At least, not in a way that will convince you it's probably the most creative album from a progressive rock band of the 70's (and if not, some OTHER Gong album takes the cake for "most creative and unpredictable").

You see, the songwriting on this album is... well, let's say, you will NOT be able to predict how any of these songs go. Oh sure, there's plenty of vocal melodies and other instrumental ideas that are quite melodic, but the album also contains its share of jazzy "far out" space rock ideas that are entirely jam-based, and the amount of creativity is almost overwhelming. It might take a few serious listens to appreciate what's going on here!

I guess my question is WHY don't more people know about this album (or the band for that matter)? It's not like these guys were copying other bands directly and deserve to be forgotten. No way. Gong is completely unique in the world of progressive rock, and I can't think of a single reason why these guys haven't gotten more attention as the years past and people look back and discover the greatest acts of the 70's.

My favorite song might be "Selene". It starts off like it's a parody of early 60's pop/soul acts, and then shifts into a super bizarre part that reminds me of the Norfair level of the old Nintendo game Metroid (the first one released back in 1986). There's other times the female singer almost sounds haunting when she talk/sings over some cloudy saxophone jams, and it gives off an effect similar to hearing the distant sound of a childs voice from a ghost movie (not to mention sounds like King Crimson's "Formentera Lady").

The second side of the album seems to drift into more immediately accessible material, whereas the first side is more about crazy/dreamy atmospheric stuff.

So imagine atmospheric voices and female vocals mixed with a LOT of unpredictable songwriting moments, a prog rock energy, and an apparent "no fear" attitude to be as experimental as possible, and that might describe what Gong is like.