Search - Gong :: Absolutely the Best of Gong

Another fruity-sounding Canterbury group

Peter Baklava | Charles City, Iowa | 06/17/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Combining Dadaesque jazz with very whimsical lyrics, Gong was far too unfocused a band to ever make it in the United States. For a "hippie band", though, they could play pretty well... Steve Hillage featured some tasty fusion-style guitar in this band, and drummers Pip Pyle and Pierre Motien both were very talented. Sax/flute player Didier Malherbe at times sounds uncannily like Mel Collins of King Crimson--similar influences, I guess-- and at other times (when Gong was playing 'yoga atmospherics' ) he apes Yusef Lateef.



There are times when the band plays like the Mothers of Invention, and other instances when "Islands" period King Crimson comes to mind, with Gilli Smyth's eerie wails being a bit like Pauline Lucas' siren-style vocals on Crimson's "Formentara Lady".



Gilli Smyth's distinctly feminist presence is another factor that makes Gong noteworthy.



On the whole though, this is a band I find merely interesting, not essential.





"

Absolllluuuutely the best

Donovan Anderson | 06/22/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"They weren't kidding when they named this CD absolutely the best. First of all, it is a 2 cd set, you gotta love that. I got to see this band in England in the mid '70s and I have listened to them on and off ever since. I noticed this new CD and really enjoyed listening to them again. With long-living hits like "the isle of everwhere", I just cant get enough. No one plays like they do, all trippy and light-styled."