SHAMAL

To my knowledge, and my knowledge about Gong is not that great; this is the first fusion album by Gong and the first one in a line of Pierre Moerlen dominated Gong album. Daevid Allen was out of the band on this album. I need to brush up my Gong history knowledge, I feel

Anyway...........

This album is a surprisingly great album in my standards. It is most of all a fusion of fusion and old Gong with some oddball influences from Far and Middle East folk music, Canterbury scene pop, some straight rock, lots of funk and disco and a healthy dosage of jazz. Shamal is a circus....... But it works !

In Chandra, there is even a good funky song with a good hit potential. It is a great song though. The best song is the title track with the Arabic, West Coast pop and jazzy feel and with the good vocals on the top of the excellent mix. The result is an excellent nine minutes long song. The rest of the album is also great and a treat for the ears. The sound is also excellent and really gets the best out of the songs.

In short; this is not what I really expected from Gong, but a really great album nevertheless. It is highly recommended.

4 stars