EXPRESSO II

One of my Gong favourite albums is perhaps their warmest and most peaceful album of the 70's. We hear highly sophisticated jazz-rock with the traditionally advanced rhythms, percussion. The cozy layer is introduced with vibraphones and marimbas. The master guitar by Holdsworth appears on a few tracks, less prevalent than on "Gazeuse!" but still evident. The first track is quite different from the rest of album, it's a slow rocking piece with a groove and subtle vibraphone textures. "Golden dilemma" paves way for the rest of the polished but not sleepy album. You can hear sunny moods as well as more dramatic melodies ("Sleepy"). Fantastic bass and drum playing can surely take a moment or two on their own, when no keyboard instruments are in place and guitar is getting ready for the next spotlight. "Soli" is a tour-de-force for Holdsworth guitar closely followed by extremely pleasant vibraphones and steady drums with effective fills. Beautiful moment to be captured in. Another curiosity is the violin addition to the otherwise loos and not so inventive "Boring". The last track reminds me of the Bill Bruford solo albums with Holdsworth soloing and tonality, just a way different drumming ;-) This is an excellent album for its year, 1978, where prog was in the decline phase.