Angels Egg
Gong
Snapper, 2007
1 CD
Catalogue #: SNAP015CD
EAN: 0803415101528
UPC: 803415101528
You save: 25%
Gong: Sub. Capt Hillage, Dingo Virgin (guitar); Bloomdido Bad De Grasse (flute); Mirielle De Strasbourg (glockenspiel); T. Being Esq. (bass guitar); Pierre De Strasbourg (drums); Shakti Yoni, Hi T Moonweed (unknown instrument).
Recording information: 1973.
In retrospect, it's hard to believe both FLYING TEAPOT and its successor ANGELS EGG were released within months of each other in 1973. Each is an elaborate, distinct musical statement. ANGEL'S EGG is the second installment in Gong's legendary "Radio Gnome Trilogy," and it expands upon the ground broken by TEAPOT admirably. Though the band was still pursuing their spacy art-rock direction, the sound here became simultaneously jazzier and more ethereal. Didier Malherbe's sax and flute took a more active role, as did Steve Hillage's elaborate guitar textures.
An important personnel shift had also occurred with the arrival of drummer Pierre Moerlen, mallet percussionist Mirielle Bauer and bassist Mike Howlett. These three were very much of the fusion school. After singer/songwriter Daevid Allen's departure, they would turn Gong into a full-fledged fusion outfit, but with Allen's whimsical songcraft still the defining factor, they simply add a more sophisticated instrumental edge. ANGEL'S EGG is a bit more sophisticated than TEAPOT, but an equal masterpiece.
Tracklist
Gong
Along with Hawkwind, Gong was the foundation of the space-rock genre. Their early albums mixed psychedelia, jazz-rock, and a highly developed sense of whimsy that extended to the group's self-created mythology. When leader Daevid Allen departed in the mid-'70s, the group turned to the fusion sound then in vogue, and went through numerous personnel changes. By the '90s, Allen was leading a revitalized version of the original band once again.
