Search - Gong :: 25th Birthday Party

Just Brilliant

PHP 46 | Taj Mahal | 12/23/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you wondered what happened to Daevid Allen and the PHP's since the seventies came and went, this is the answer. With an intro from Thom the world Poet,we are off to the Planet Gong and the story of Zero the Hero. All your favourites are here playing--DA, Didier, Gilli, Mike Howlett, Pip Pyle, Tim Blake, Steffi Sharpstrigs and Shyamal. All packaged in a beautifully illustrated jewel box, there are 2 CD's here, a real concert birthday Party. Produced by Jonny of GAS. Support GAS and Gong, buy this, you know you should :-) 46"

Great space rock reunion album

kireviewer | Sunnyvale, Ca United States | 02/28/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a great Gong reunion album. It was released in 1995 from a progressive rock festival in 1994. Most of the "original" members from the Radio Gnome Invisible days are here. The only major missing persons are Steve Hillage and Pierre Moerlen (who was a late comer anyway). This double CD is about 110 minutes long. It is bascially the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy played in order, starting out with few songs the prequel Camenbert Electric. But, it isn't a stale reproduction of the ablums. The songs have been reworked so it is now a much more cohesive piece. The group plays with a lot of energy and the music sounds fresh. The insturmentals are played in new ways. The only downside is that Hillage is certainly missed in a few spots. Overall, this live CD is better than any of the individual studio albums.Gong was always the best of the space/rock bands. (I don't consider Pink Floyd a space rock band. They are on their own plain. King Crinsom or PFM aren't really space rock either). They had a full sound that soared, but was stuctured just enough so it wasn't just avant garde noise. Gong was started in 1970 by Daevid Allen (from Australia) and Gilli Smyth in France. The band kept evolving, except Didier Malherbe (sax and flute) was along for most of the ride. After three early albums, the most famous line-up including Steve Hillage recorded the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy (Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg and You). After that Daevid Allan and Steve Hillage left the group and Pierre Moerlen took over and turned it into a jazz group. There were fights over the name and the jazz group became Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Malherbe rejoined Allen and Smyth and Gong would reappear every once in awhile, doing live shows and putting out live CD's. After this reunion in 1994, the group has been more stable and has put out two very good studio albums."

Almost . . . almost . . . oh, geez, almost

matt | 03/08/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"give em credit. they sure did try. why do you love gong? you're reading this, right? you probably hold a place in your heart for "you can't kill me." you probably own the collectible edition of angel's egg? you've got camembert electrique? you've got LIVE ETC? let me tell you, then: you are the person that is supposed to buy this. so was I! do i particularly like it? no! mike howlett admits that he hasn't played live in, like, fifteen years. man, it shows! i love pip pyle, too. but he IS NOT THE DRUMMER FOR GONG! one of the reasons i love gong is because of pierre's tuned percussion. if you know pip, you know how he drums, and he's not the drummer for gong. sure it's great to hear allen and malherbe together playing classic gong songs, but the band behind them falls flat. i'm sorry. i really wanted to love this one. but it just doesn't do it. i still say buy it. there's some great tracks for the gong collector. EAT THAT PHONEBOOK is done well. so is NEVER GLID BEFORE. a warning for true believers: the synths are not analog . . . and you can tell. Oh! did i mention that mike howlett forgot how to play bass? yeah. he did."