RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE VOL. 2 - ANGEL'S EGG

Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg is the fifth full-length studio album by psychadelic jazz/ rock act Gong and the second album in the Radio Gnome triology. Gong is one of those bands that are hard to catagorize as they could fit into both a psychadelic rock catagory as well as a jazz/ rock ditto and most people find them an aquired taste. I felt the first album in the Radio Gnome triology Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 1 - Flying Teapot (1973) had some great moments but I´m not sure if I enjoy the silly psychadelic elements in their music as much as I had expected to. Normally I´m not that much of a jazz/ rock fan but I find myself liking Gong´s jazz/ rock elements more than their psychadelic ditto and that´s quite the surprise for me.

The music on Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg pretty much takes off where Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 1 - Flying Teapot ended. We have the powerful jamming jazz/ rock parts with Didier Malherbe sax playing taking the lead role but we also get lots of psychadelic parts ( where the same Didier Malherbe also gets to shine on flute) both with and without the male and female ( mostly spoken female vocals) vocals by Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth. There are a couple of structured psychadelic rock songs but many of the 14 ( 15 if you have the CD version with the bonus track Ooby-scooby doomsday or the D-Day got the D.D.T. blues) tracks seem like they were made while jamming in the studio. Some rather stoned material if you ask me. That´s not neccesarely a bad thing but it doesn´t work wonders for me in this case.

The musicianship is good and like his predecessor Rachid Houari, Pierre Moerlen has to be mentioned for his great jazz/ fusion drumming style. A great drummer that one. The rest of the band are also well playing and the stoned vocals and strange lyrics from Daevid Allen gives the music its special identity.

The production is a bit warmer than the sound on the predecessor and it suits the music well.

Out of the two first Radio Gnome albums I prefer the first one as Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg seems a bit unfocused to my ears but it´s still a pretty good album deserving a 3 star rating. Like all the Daevid Allen era Gong albums it´s an aquired taste if you can enjoy the weird psychadelic humour but it´s definitely an album you have to have heard.