Gong - "Angel´s Egg" 1973

I´ve been posting some Gong-related albums lately (Tim Blake, Steve Hillage), but I realized that my blog is still missing some of the key Gong albums that originally opened my mind to jazz rock and space rock!

Gong - Radio Gnome Invisible Pt. 2: Angel´s Egg
Virgin, 1973


















Wikipedia: "Angel's Egg is the second in Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums, following Flying Teapot and preceding You. The trilogy forms a central part of the Gong mythology. The original album did not have an apostrophe in the title.

The original vinyl edition came with a booklet containing an extensive explanation of the mythology, including lyrics, a glossary of terms, and profiles of characters in the story and band members. This edition also had a gatefold cover (omitted in later pressings), a plain inky blue innersleeve to match the gatefold and booklet, and had the original black and white Virgin label that was discontinued after 1973; it was one of the last albums to use the original label. Some copies had a sticker over top of the female nude in the moon on the cover."

Lineup:

• Bloomdido Bad De Grass (Didier Malherbe) – ten/sop sax, floot, bi-focal vocal
• Shakti Yoni (Gilli Smyth) – space whisper, loin cackle
• T. Being esq. (Mike Howlett, spelled Howlitt on composer credits) – basso profundo
• Sub. Capt. Hillage (Steve Hillage) – lewd guitar
• Hi T. Moonweed (the favorite) (Tim Blake) – Cynthia "size a", lady voce
• Pierre de Strasbourg (Pierre Moerlen, spelled Moerlin on composer credits) – bread & batteur drums, vibes, marimba
• Mireille de Strasbourg (Mireille Bauer) – glockenspiel
• Dingo Virgin (Daevid Allen) – local vocals, aluminium croon, glissando guitar

A couple of the stickers that censored the cover:













"Gong founders Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth took a break from the band in 1973 after Flying Teapot was recorded; the rest of the group toured without them as Paragong. When Allen and Smyth returned a few months later to record the second installment of the Radio Gnome trilogy, the dynamics of the group had changed. Probably as a result of touring successfully without their conceptual leaders, the other members of the band — plus newly-added drummer Pierre Moerlen — exerted a significant creative influence on Angel's Egg. The album is still steeped in Allen's Planet Gong mythology; indeed, this record is easily the least instrumentally-oriented of the Radio Gnome trilogy. However, most of the songs were written or co-written by someone other than Allen or Smyth.

What is most immediately apparent about the album is how different it sounds musically from the previous Gong releases. Truly, Angel's Egg is the epitome of a transitional release: it shares content and structure with the two earlier Gong albums, but the polished sound and synthesizers point towards the band's future. The results are consistent and mostly impressive, although the strict adherence to the concept and the shortness of some of the songs keep things from quite taking off and regularly reaching the highs of the more uneven Camembert Electrique or Flying Teapot.

The vaguely Eastern-sounding opener "Other Side of the Sky" — all bubbling synthesizers, airy saxophone and the occasional space whisper — sets the tone for the new Gong sound. There are some excellent groovy numbers that capture the essence of past Gong highlights like "Flying Teapot" and "Fohat Digs Holes in Space," ("Sold to the Highest Buddha," "Oily Way," the great "I Never Glid Before" and "Ooby Scooby Doomsday"), but they're shorter, slicker and they smooth over some of the previous albums' edginess; only "Ooby Scooby" sounds like it could actually have come from one of the previous albums. The other pieces show the band expanding their musical vocabulary, from short guitar and synthesizer interludes, to Pierre Moerlen's malleted "Love is How You Make It," Didier Malherbe's zany "Eat That Phone Book Coda" and Gilli Smyth's erotic cabaret-style "Prostitute Poem."

This is an album (like all Daevid Allen Gong albums) that rewards repeated exposure. Its diversity and the shortness of some of the songs can make it elusive to hone in on, but eventually I think most listeners will regard it as one of the better entries in the Gong discography." - Matt P. at Ground and Sky

click below for a larger image:

This is the only Gong album from the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy that I haven´t tracked down on vinyl yet... Don´t know why I kept putting it off, and now I don´t have the time to hunt down an affordable copy!

Gong 1974:

FILL YOUR EARS