Gong Fan Central

Logan wrote: Before I heard Gong (the band), I was a huge admirer of Gong Li.

I love and admire both.
By the way, Logan - great picture!

NutterAlert wrote: Got most of their stuff. YOU is my favourite, fabulous album. Seen them live quite a few times but wished i'd seen them at their zenith in early 70s when Tim Blake and Steve Hillside were at their peak. (BTW, does anyone know how Tim Blake is doing now, is he better?) What a nice thread

Gong...an enigma really. The 'silly' lyrics are in fact very far from silly. They address a serious & complicated set of ideas, but Daevid's alluminium croon & lyrics pre-empty the would-be pretentiousness.But at the same time, they are very silly! A five piece trilogy? Spot on.
After Daevid & Steve departed, the music, for me, became boring & formulaic. The likes of Alan Holdsworth, brilliant as he is, have no place in Gong. The albums released as Pierre Morlens Gong were a contractual thing I think. Too much cleverness, not enough soul.
In Gong you will find humour face to face with mystery & secret, & this is how serious subjects should be addressed...else they become a burden.

I purchased and obtained "You" less than a week ago, and it's been getting pretty much nonstop plays since that time.  Thanks so much to Friede and Jean for introducing me to this.  My favorite track is a toss-up between "Master Builder" and "A Sprinkling of Clouds", but right now I think my vote is for the latter.  All I know is that it's brilliant and I will be obtaining the rest of the trilogy, but I'll probably grab Gazeuse first.

Not too much to add, just weighing in on the Gong thread...

LOVE Gong!

In fact my last band performed Tried So Hard as a regular feature in our set, and we weren't really a prog band (although we did do some Tull, Roxy, and Zappa). To add to the mayhem, we interpolated Sabbath's War Pigs into the middle...worked brilliantly actually! The crowd loved this song, and frequently requested it without knowing its origin...we always introduced it by saying that anyone who could correctly identify the original artist would have their bar tab picked up by the band...in over 5 years, no winners, hehe.




Edited by Nipsey88 - September 26 2007 at 02:00

I LOVE Gong.  Incredible band.  From camambert up I am a super fiend...especially Angels Egg and You, their climax, and In The 70's by the way is the BEST live album you can find (recent release).

I´m fan of them. They were something of the best in  that `70s prog rock genre, and Shamal is the best their stuff, an ingenius album of them, (following by GONG LIVE ETC.), imho.

The Lost Chord wrote: I LOVE Gong.  Incredible band.  From camambert up I am a super fiend...especially Angels Egg and You, their climax, and In The 70's by the way is the BEST live album you can find (recent release).   They are a masterful band, put them right up beside all other greats, and also put them up on my wall...only very few sacred masterpieces can get on my wall, and Gong gets their own spot!

I like your computer/gaming setup TLC, looks pretty sweet. 

The Lost Chord wrote: Thanks man!  Wasnt a bad deal, got that gorgeous TV for $450 from Walmart, 5 star beast also...got the PC upgraded free from Dell under warranty, feel like a King at this desk sometimes lol!   And back to Gong again...   Magic Mother Invocation / Master Builder on live in 70's is even BETTER than studio version, Didiere tears it apart at his cue, so sick.

I mean it, Gong is not leaving my car CD player anytime soon.  I'll be placing an order for more soon - maybe I'll grab the live CD, Gazeuse, and one of the other Radio Gnome CDs - Flying Teapot or Angels Egg first?

They made some pretty amazing stuff. I guess the word "eclectic" is invented for them. My favourite Gong song at the moment is "Isle Of Everywhere".