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Rating: Eclectic, spatial, technical, jazzy… are just a few of the attributes that can describe this "Angel's Egg", the second chapter of the “Radio Gnome Invisible” trilogy by Gong.
The little green goblins led by Daevid Allen create a psychedelic prog-jazz opus that has little to envy from the previous work, and first chapter of the trilogy, “Flying Teapot”. Along with the subsequent “You”, Gong places a trio that in a certain art rock realm, would find equals only in Can (Tago Mago – Ege Bamyasi – Future Days) or King Crimson (Lark's tongue in Aspic - Starless and bible black - Red).
Several factors contribute to their success, from their fantastic performing abilities to their composition skills, from their stylistic approach to their surrealism, but it would be good to remember them most of all for their sense of fun. It can easily be stated that every step they took in producing and recording a record was done with joy, and indeed listening to and analyzing their lyrics cannot help but entertain. It is this strong exhalation of joy and freedom that makes this album great. Almost magically, everything can seem better and more optimistic when you play this music.
In the album, released in 1973, we find the sharp guitar of a young Steve Hillage, the jazzy percussion of drummer Pierre Moerlen, the psychedelic flair of Tim Blake's vital synths and Gilly Smyth's space whispers, the pulsating bass of Mike Howlett, the bold flights of Didier Malherbe's winds, and, of course, the crazy lyrics and the distinctive voice of that peculiar character Daevid Allen.
In the end, this album appears as one of the finest examples of both Canterbury Rock and space rock, a stunning combination; there are studio space effects combined with a jazz that meanders between funk and symphonic, there are the Pink Floyd of the Meddle era, there's the lysergic approach typical of Grateful Dead jams, there's the barrettian eccentricity, not only in the lyrics, there's the absolutely free Zappa style, all without sounding like any of these groups. And although the hippie/weirdo trademark might seem a bit outdated, the entire journey is strengthened by a peculiar modernity.
Already from the beginning of the first track “Other side of the sky” we can feel at the mercy of a fun trip, which becomes more and more enjoyable as we venture along with Zero The Hero. We are immediately caught by a Turkish-threaded chant, followed by Smyth's hisses, which together with the rhythm section make it one of the masterpieces of the album. We then arrive in India with “Sold to the Highest Buddha”, and Allen's more alienated side emerges, comfortably delighting in this wacky freak-song, before giving way to a free tail end.
“Castle Clouds” is a short bridge of spatial distortions, introducing what is undoubtedly one of the climactic moments, “Prostitute Poem”, a piece full of sexual innuendos, ghostly echoes, and moans in the singing, built on a waltz that recalls Parisian cafes, until a musical jet stream almost oriental in style glides by. “Givin my love to you” lets us continue the trip, taking us into some English pub, drinking and singing with friends, accompanied by music of clearly Gracious-like origin. The mellow song “Selene”, introduced by xylophones, is a mantric invocation that fades at the end; after the interlude of “Flute Salad”, an atmospheric flute solo by Malherbe, we arrive at “Oily Way”, and it is precisely here that it feels like being inside that flying teapot, tossed about by its sway, in a blend of jazz, prog, and misleading space elements. Tail ending this, “Outer Temple 1” and “Inner temple 2” are nothing more than a slowdown in flight, the first being Arabic, the second even more exotic, with a sax solo and an Allen glissando on guitar in the foreground.
The subsequent “Percolations” and “Love i show Y make it” seem almost to emerge from "Ummagumma": the first for gong and vocal laments, the second for vibraphone, marimbas, and an Allenian chant accelerated at the end, cannot help but remind one of the “Grant Vizier's Garden” Masonian. “I never glid before”, another masterpiece of the disc, perhaps the most "progressive", with almost Balinese sonorities, has its best moment in a solo by Hillage in a state of grace; groove, melody, and chorus do the rest. Essential.
The final chaos introduces us to the concluding piece, “Eat that phonebook coda”, imaginative and jazzy, which may be the least successful episode of the album… but in the end, these are trifles because such a journey is an unforgettable and highly recommended experience.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Other Side of the Sky (07:38)
To pass beyond the countless worlds
The eternal wheel
The ceaseless tides of selves
Ever passing away before our eyes...
All life's light that I've seen...
Here before me. . .
Hare hare supermarket !
Hare hare supermarket !
Hare hare hare supermarket !
Hare hare London bus !
Hare hare ladies' lavatory...
Hare hare hare hare hare hare...
02 Sold to the Highest Buddha (04:28)
I'm zero the hero
And my head has floated away in the sky - don't know why
And now this spaceship headin' for me
I thought I was lost in the spaces and now all these faces...
And still I can't tell if it's really a spell
or exactly what's happenin' to me...
Look out, we're being invaded !
Hang on to your hat, we're being raided !
And Captain Capricorn, that's who's behind it
If nothing's there to find, you know he'll find it
Hang on to your head
Hang on to your head
Hang on to your head
Hang on to your head...
Zero the hero, but he had to have his HeroIn
It's a hassle you know to make rocket ships go to infinity
And I'm so sick of God and these bishops that talk of divinity
Now my head's feeling strange and my codpiece is starting to tremble
And that head in the sky there is starting to look like the devil...
Look out, we're being invaded !
Hang on to your hat, we're being raided !
Demons of the mind coming to get you
Until you're clean, the devil won't forget you...
Hang on to your head
Hang on to your head
Hang on to your head
Hang on to your head...
Captain capricorns goin back where you're born.
04 Prostitute Poem (04:53)
It is night
It's not night
I'm happy
I'm not happy
I'm sad
I'm not sad
It's early
It's late
Je marche
Je marche pas
Bonsoir monsieur
Tu viens avec moi ?
Tu viens mon cheri ?
Oui monsieur, viens
Tu es pret ?
Viens...
Ca m'est egal
What do you want me to do?
Je veux - je veux pas
I touch you - et c'est dur monsieur
It's not like that
I'll show you...
Show you love... love...
Let me sink...
Ohhh...
Je dois manger - n'importe quoi
I break off the corner of your mind and eat it
I'm eating your mind
I'm eating your body
Viens ici ici
Come I want your body
Viens, viens faire l'amour
Faire l'amour
Faire l'amour
Come into my arms
I kiss your lips
You die
I want your body
I do not want your body
De quoi s'agit-il ?
Bonne nuit - good night
Bonjour - mornin'
It's night - it's day
It's morning
C'est ca, non?
06 Selene (03:42)
Selene
Spirit of the moon
Selene
Spirit of the moon
My mind is made of you
Tell me what to do
Selene
i love selene
queen of my dreams i see you there
she's come to be me
now i can see her everywhere
Mother of the earth
Mother of the sea
mooooo.....ooooon in the sky
i'm your reflection oh
deep down in the sea
turn on slowly…
08 Oily Way (03:37)
Now you're here and now you're Gong
Now you're back where you belong
Meet the wizard of the keys
And he'll reveal the mysteries
Of Angels' Eggs and Octave Doctors
Radio Gnome and Love Projectors
Then he'll point up in the sky
You will see the Teapots flying
Down the Oily Way...
Down the Oily Way you slide
Through the inner space you ride
Lots and lots of Pot-Head Pixies
Ridin' round in Teapot Taxies
On the Planet Gong they say
If everything goes wrong today
Fill your Teapot up with tea
Come and take a ride with me
Down the oily way...
Oily Way
Oily Way - it's not the milky way
Oily Way - it's not the only way
Oily Way - it's not the English way
Stop !
Wait !
Hey !
Look !
High in the sky, the world you remember
Scenes that we dreamed of
Time for the end of
Hate !
War !
Death !
You big daddy in your big sick city
Gotta choose to loose your games now
Now you're here and now you're Gong
But this ain't me that sings this song
For we the Gong Band it's enough
To be the instruments of love
On which the Octave Doctors play
That we be one and all as one with Gong
On earth and find again
The joys of going around the bend
Down the oily way
Oily Way
Oily Way - not the only way
Oily Way - it's not the only way
Oily Way - it's not the English way
09 Outer Temple (01:08)
good evening.
we are the hubba dubba tea company of tibet.
would you like some tea?
12 Love Is How You Make It (03:28)
I left my body on my bed
I flew away inside my head
To dive right through the moon and find
A perfect world inside my mind
I want to take you there
Smiling through your hair
That is why I sing this song
And why there is a band called Gong
Voices in our heads are calling
Ringing bells and singing tales of
How this world could be
If only we could learn to melt together
Make such lovely weather
Maybe we will blow it like in bygone ages
Maybe we will make it if we care
You'll be there
We'll be there - love...
Love is how you live it
Love is how you give it
Love is how you make it
Love is how you take it
First you make it with your body
Everything you give to share
When you come together then you're
One with lovers everywhere, everywhere...
Give a little wink, give a little wink
You know...
You know just who the pot head pixies are
Have a little drink...
13 I Never Glid Before (05:37)
The light gets stronger and all our eyes look
yonder to see what's going on
But that's all right you'll soon be out
of sight and surfing to the sun
The moonwheel's turning, the waves unfulling you're
learning you're Zero at the centre of the whirlpool
Your aquaman and in your hand is a watering,
can I now or can I not believe it leave it to be
The fun gods winking and we're all blinking and
thinking we're sinking in the sea
You're in your glider the tide you're riding inside her
is turnin with the moony like the sky... boy
Okay, you're Mister Illusion
Smiling in all this confusion
Cos you're young today, tomorrow start to play
I'd just like to say
No I never
No I never ever ever glid before
I never - oh no
Last warning tide turning
Moon burning slow motion
Waves that you ride
Just to bolster your pride
But if it's love that you're after
The craft of a hero
Will vibe at your side as alone you may glide
With a tiny afterthought
Flashing as the planet calls
I never never glid before
Open up the veil and let us take a peep in
Thru the moon and diving deep we'll meet the whale
Where rides the captain submarine
Who told the tale of pixies green
That sends us kisses in the brain
And out-far planets never seen
Except by technicolour dream
I never never glid before
That's another story - now's the time to go and find
The cuppa tea - see
14 Eat That Phone Book Coda (03:14)
now if you want to know just how to
tune into the vibes of the planet
nobody else can tell ya
everybodies got their own way to do it
oom pa pa zoom de zoom
a cuppa hubba dubba
oom pa pa zooom de zooooom
oom ticky oooh tea oooh
a triple cuppa tripper
oom ticky oooh tea oooh
all that you got to do is get y'self together
dont dither do it
then when yr gong y cant go wrong
cos you become the song
c'est la planette
yesterday i climbed a tree
nearer to the gong to be
the planet was i realised
one of the spots before my eyes
BLOOMDIDO:
O mamy maia i pray for a banana
DINGO:
Bananana nirvana mañana
at the end of the day
when theres nothing left more to play
and yr all alone
'cept for radio gernome
here's yr angels egg for breakfast in the morning
bye bye
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