GAZEUSE!

Some of Gong's releases prior to 1976's Gazeuse admittedly pass me by; the references to pot head pixies and general 'twee' ness tend to put me off, despite the undoubted high quality of musicianship.

But then, along comes Gazeuse - one of the finest, most enjoyable, and accessible jazz rock albums to force itself into my conciousness, with the added bonus of Allan Holdsworth taking guitar duties.

The album sways between guitar-led jazz fusion (the melodies reminiscent of the direction Zappa was taking around the same time) to all out percussion jams - interestingly, some of the marimba lines and drum patterns are suspiciously similar to those currently appearing during Neil Peart's drum solos - one suspects a certain Canadian owns a well played version of this album.

The closing track, Mireille is sometimes criticised for sticking out like a sore thumb, and being something of a time filler - I believe this sits well with the rest of the album, providing a welcome laid back, minimalist finale to the preceding jazz feast.

I would highly recommend this album to anyone interested in mid '70s jazz rock fusion, but not to someone expecting wistful dreams of flying teapots, or indeed to anyone expecting progressive rock - this is jazz fusion, pure, simple, and perfect.