GAZEUSE!

When Daevid Allen left Gong he must have snatched away every remaining leaf of weed he could find in Gong's rehearsal room. This is an entirely different band that gracefully landed back on earth after the preceding age of space trips.

Gazeuse is a sparkling record indeed, delivering energetic and focussed jazz-rock. The musicianship is stellar throughout. Especially the way they managed to balance out each member's contribution is noteworthy. Instead of going into an endless full frontal jazz-rock attack, each musician is allowed to shine, sometimes the guitar takes the lead, often the amazing percussion takes over and all the time, the drums and bass are stellar. The absence of synths is also a winner. Gong made good use of synths on previous albums, but dropping them here gives this album a timeless quality. The prominent percussion is a unique feature that makes this album stand out above many jazz-rock album that exploded onto the scene in those years.

This album is a jazz-rock masterpiece that should easily please fans of Mahavishnu, Brand X, Al Di Meola and other jazz-rock classics. I'm not very familiar yet with the Canterbury scene but I think this album deserves a high spot up there. 4 stars with growing potential.