NOW IS THE HAPPIEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE

Daevid Allen solo is on ProgArchives!? Great! Well, to start with this, his best as far as what I have heard. This album has an incredibly strange vibe to it, more so a Gong album without the Jazz! Really! The aura is eerie and strange at times, with a cheap sounding synth riding throughout...but the musical arrangements are incredible at times. Basically I always find myselrf skipping past a good chunk of the album, not to say it is bad, it just never really fits my tastes for the time being.

The album begins with actual constructed song, and the greatness of Flamenco ZerO and Why Do We Treat Ourselves..., which are two of my favorite tracks ever, especially the latter. The Tally & Orlando bit is interesting, but very strange at the same time, and not so much an enjoyable track to go back to after a few listens. From See You... to I Am I usually do not recall much, and it is very much a mixed bag, from the strange aura synth to just rockish stuff like See You on the MoonTower. These tracks never seem to grip me as much, but I do enjoy listening to the album in full for it does give a full effect in the end.

Deya Goddess absolutely stunned me when I heard it. The song is the climax of the album and is Allen's best song I can recall hearing of all his albums. Again, the vibe has a sourness to it and a certain darkness mood, but in the end it really is a bright and positive song, with the Now is the happiest time of your life run getting stuck in your head on first listen. This song really put the kick back in this album for me, and whenever I go back to this I always listen to this track as soon as possible, I just love it!

Fans of Gong may find this a little harder to swallow, it doesn't have the jazz greatness backing it, and is really just something like if Daevid and Gilli worked together. Very spacy, very atmospheric and moody. The album has some incredible moments and melodies, though, and this brings it to a high status among opther albums by him.

Share this DAEVID ALLEN review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to The Lost Chord
• Report this review (#170920)
• Buy DAEVID ALLEN music online with PA partners
• Show all DAEVID ALLEN MP3/Stream
• Go to DAEVID ALLEN page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Now Is the Happiest Time of Your Life page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DAEVID ALLEN related discussions