RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE VOL. 2 - ANGEL'S EGG

In this chapter of the greatest trilogy ever written, one finds Zero The Hero looking for ways to spread the good words taught to him from Planet GonG through this Radio Gnome Invisible, and he meets all sorts in that quest.

Angel's Egg sees two new members replacing Frenchmen Trisch and Moze: Pierre Moerlen and Mike Howlett and now the classic GonG line-up is present. However, unlike the previous Flying Teapot and the following You, the tracks here are fairly short (except for the opening track that clocks in at 8 min) barely exceeding 5 min at best.

Side 1 starts with a rare but superb almost-instrumental that is proof , if need be, that Gong is materful in all area including jazz-rock Canterbury style. All other numbers are very typical GonG athmospheres and climaxing in the Prostitute Poem where Malherbe answers so greatly to Gilly Smyth - delightful and dare I say Orgasmic. Only the drunken pub tune Givin My Luv sticks a bit out but it is short and can be easily skipped.

Side 2 starts with the real treasure of this album: it is the Flute Salad - Inner/Outer Temple suite only to be followed by concert fave Oily Way. Malherbe shows that he also masters the flute and the climaxes created is not only orgasmic but cosmic. Moerlen gives us a peak on future Gong music by putting in his great vibraphone playing in one of the last track. Many different facets of GonG are present in this album making probably their most impressive one ever.

Again for years the superb artwork sleeve had not been sufficiently respected, often suppressing most of the heavenly blue innerfold of the album. Charly Records via their subsidiary Victor label again released a mini-lp reissue (cat# 61173 , pricey but superb and essential for the understanding of this epic) and adjoining for the first time a booklet explainig the story and lyrics. However the extra track of previous reissues is absent, but it was not really adapted to the album.

To my mind, this is their best as it is more eclectic than the other releases. Lots of ethereal passages alterning with jazz and rock elements. Didier's sax and flute playing is perfect. Along with 'You', this album deserves to be known by every prog lover.

"Angel's Egg", the second part of Gnome trilogy is probably the peak of GONG career, but for some reason I prefer "You". Virgin remastered edition of 2004 has a superb sound and a reprint of a booklet with all the story and characters of the Planet Gong mythology. In addition to 14 original songs there is inclusion of 4 bonus tracks out of which only "Ooby Scooby Doomsday..." is worth paying attention. Although it is definitely a masterpiece of prog/psych music I would rate it just bit below 5 because for me "You" is better.

One has to be aware that Gong has 2 distinctive eras: the space/psychedelic progressive years and the fusion years; this album belongs to the space/psychedelic progressive era. They were really unique and they strongly inspired the progressive space rock band Ozric Tentacles. Even Steve Hillage's solo career has some elements of this Gong's style, given that he plays similar patterns on the record here.

The keyboards are not omnipresent: they mostly consist in spacy, psychedelic, echoed & high frequency VCS3 arrangements including a few bubble sounds; the miscellaneous interesting guitar effects are more prominent than the keyboards themselves. There are omnipresent sax parts that give an obvious jazzy touch to the ensemble, even flirting with the realm of the Canterbury style. There are some excellent flute parts like on the excellent track "Oily way". There are some use of around 500 ms delays, which increase the effect of the spacy elements. The style of the tracks are really varied, and they are often funny, like the fair ambience on "Ooby-scooby doomsday" and on "Givin my luv to you" or like the crazy voices on "Percolations". "Prostitute poem" contains some crazy & weird psychedelic parts, sometimes very disturbing & confusing, and the lady sings both in French & English. There are some excellent Middle Eastern voices on "Other side of the sky". Pierre Moerlen does not use very much his excellent percussions of the xylophone family: he uses them a little on "Selene" and much more on "Love is how you make it"; Moerlen rather focuses on his drums.

This is what happens when you give some freaks who happen to incredibly musically talented some instruments and a studio, along with too much creative freedom. What you get is this, Gong and their most insane, Angels Egg. It's so spacey your head will be in the clouds and beyond, and it's so wacky that you'll question the sanity of yourself and the musicians. But Gong are more than just some hippies goofing off. There are some serious musical ideas here, like jazz and pioneering electronics.

This is the wackiest of the Gong trilogy albums. The lyrics are just plain crazy at times. "These guys are out of their minds!" you'll think. And it's very fun at the same time. Catchy and lovable are these lyrics, just as much are they a product of lysergic madness. And the great thing is they strive to tell a story, and a screwed one at that.

This album is part two in the Gong trilogy, which starts where Zero the Hero, having been seduced by the evil witch, is floating in outer space. The story actually strives to have meaning though. Many philosophical ideas like anarchy and such are expressed here. I can see why some punks liked this band.

Under all the lysergic lunacy is some incredible musicianship. All kinds of tasty ethnic percussion, acid tinged guitars, jazzy drumming, wailing sax, and cosmic synths never fail to entertain. The sax plays most of the riffs and melodies while the Steve Hillage plays in the background with Tim Blake to produce cosmic atmosphere's, with Hillage coming in for a solo every once and a while. Hillage doesnt do much to show off his talent, but that's for the better. The musician ship isn't at Gongs best, which is found in You. The focus of this album is more in the songs and the psychedelic atmosphere.

And this album sure is trippy. The melodies here seem to come strait from outer space. Lush passages layered in flute, bubbling synths, atmospheric guitars, ethnic percussion, and space whispered make this album a psychedelic treat. As far as melodies go, this album is the strongest. The melodies are the best in this album of the three in the trilogy.

I'll reward this album 4 stars. It's an amazing effort full of cosmic delights for proggers to indulge in. I don't give it five because I don't think of any of the trilogy albums as a masterpiece. I thinks Gong's masterpiece is the entire Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy, not an individual album. All three of the albums go together as one. Highly recommended, along with Flying Teapot and You.

Ok you know that usually I'm not so much involved in such a complex space rock with some hints of jazz rock; but in this particular case - which for me is like rediscover a small treasure of the past, dated 1973 - the present re-mastered music opera ( the second chapter of the triology) is an exception!! The classic line-up, composing and arranging this remarkable work, is composed by clever musicians, including Tim Blake at the moog synthesizers and VCS3, Pierre Moerlen on drums; Daevid Allen on guitar and vocals; Didier Maherbe playing the woodwinds; Mike Howlett as a bass player; finally - last but not least- the hidden leader Mr Steve Hillage, playing the guitar, helped by Gilli Smyth and Didier Maherbe, which complete the line up.

The work of Tim Blake is the lead "wire" of the whole opera, not only for his atmospheric sinths, being due to his typical and reasonable music approach, but also for a sort of cohesive job along with Gilli Smyth's space whisper and his intelligent use of some echoes...the compactness and its versatility as well, regarding the present essential Canterburian work, it's the best way to be closer to such a different type of prog-genre, usually quite far away from the spirit of the so called "Romantic" progressive rock.

This music stream is equal to "Dada" in literature, even though the lyrics are similar but more humor- oriented, in comparison to the true dadaistic lyrics of such European Literary Mainstream of '900... never mind, cause the final output is excellent... for instance the plot of "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or the D-Day got the D.D.T. blues" is very interesting and it has been explaned in a good manner by the liner notes of the CD remastered version (see also the topics): the Planet Gong is well represented within the booklet (think of "Octave Doctors" or "Master of the Spheres" for example), explaining every detail of the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy, exceedingly!!

At the end you can discover some other remarkable albums such as "Flying Teapot" or "You", but probably " Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg" is the most meaningful of the whole Canterburian Mainstream... so this Vol.2 is well worth checking out!!

How do you classify an album like this ? It's Psychedelic, Canterbury, Space and Jazz with a lot of humour. A lot of weird and silly songs (i'm sure they all have their purpose) in this second installment of the trilogy. This is certainly a diverse album, more of a focus on the songs then on the longer instrumentals like the follow up "You".

Steve Hillage seems to have his hands tied, that is until he breaks loose on "I Never Glid Before" which is amazing ! The opener "The Other Side Of The Sky" is a great jamming, spacey song, a perfect way to start. "Flute Salade" and "Oily Way" go great together, another highlight. "Inner Temple" features some amazing sax playing.

If you want to check out the legendary GONG you can't go wrong in checking out any of the Trilogy albums.

Pt. 2 of the Radio Gnome Trilogy starts unpromisingly (yes, it's that dratted space whisper again...) but sax, synths and percussion soon lay down an enticing rhythm, and when Steve Hillage's lead guitar comes in, the effect is overpowering. The very moment 'Sold to the highest Buddha' begins, you realise this is the first official Gong album featuring Pierre Moerlen, and yes sir, the master's style is already recognisable! I must admit I find the second half of the original A-side sleep-inducing (apart from the gorgeous 43-second 'Giving my luv to you') but the B-side is a triumph from start to finish. Undoubtedly the freshest sequence of pure songs Gong ever put to record! It's hard to explain why this side works so well; it must be that near-perfect combination of jazzy sax riffs, spacy bass riffs, happy songs with whacky lyrics, superb drumming, gorgeous flute and guitar solos, plus 'percolations' on vibraphone...

At the end of the irresistible 'Eat that Phonebook', when Daevid Allen sings: 'Here's your angels egg for breakfast in the morning (bye bye!)', I always feel I want to hug him - and I'm NOT a sentimental guy.

Make sure you have the booklet when listening!

"Angels egg" is the second part of the trilogy of albums covered by the "Radio gnome invisible" title. The first thing that strikes you when approaching the album is the glorious artwork. The back cover especially has a wonderful track by track chart which offers diagrammatic views of the songs, plus brief descriptions of the ongoing story. The story itself is suitably warped: "Zero loses his head which flies away up through the quim of the moon and out the other side into seventh heaven where is perpetual orgasm..". As if this was not enough, we also find an accompanying booklet with the full story and lyrics. With this plethora of amusement, it is quite easy to forget that there is actually an album to be heard lurking inside the sleeve.

To the music we must though, and this is where things start to deteriorate a bit. The spacy opener "Other side of the sky" offers an intriguingly understated appetiser, but all too soon we are into the repetitively dull "Sold to the highest Buddah". Steve Hillage tries to stir things up a bit with his "lewd" guitar on the brief "Castle in the cloud". As Zero encounters a prostitute, who appears to be French, things turn decidedly weird when she recites her "Poem" backed by what sounds like a Parissienne bar band. This in turn becomes a brief barroom sing-a-long, good fun in the context of the album, but a complete waste of space otherwise.

Things pick up here though, with the almost Beatles like "Selene", a hymn to the moon goddess of that name. The two part "Flute salad/oily way" which opens the second side sets out in decidedly spacy fashion, Didier Mahlerbe's wispy flute playing leading into a semi-spoken song with a girlie refrain.

As we enter the temple, first outer then inner, the music becomes more relaxed and soothing, and indeed more melodic. A couple of more orthodox songs then materialise, "Love is how Y make it" being a light almost pop (or as near as Gong come to pop!) number. Steve Hillage's "I never did glid before" is one of the few longer tracks on the album, running to almost 5 minutes. As the song develops, hints of Hillage's solo works become apparent. The album closes with the oddly titled "Eat that phone book coda".

"Angels egg", and indeed its two sister albums, is in reality very reliant on the concept to pull it through. Heard in isolation, it is a mishmash of sounds and styles which fit rather awkwardly together. If reference is made to the booklet which explains the events of the associated story, a significant new dimension is added to the experience. This will never rank for me among the albums I rank highly. It is however a finely crafted work which when assessed as an overall package, has much to recommend it.

I always had mixed feelings about this album. Ok, this is a real classic with some exciting and memorable tunes.

An original work in its nature, being the second chapter of the Radio Gnome saga. Original musically, blending typical Canterbury refined sound with more spacey and dreamy territories as in the opener "Other Side of the Sky".

For all this reasons, it is certainly an excellent addition to any prog music collection and, maybe, a masterwork of its genre.

Notwithstanding, the most part of it isn't what I would call exactly favourite item. It features some of the best flute playing I've heard in years, different from what you're used to listen in Tull. "Oily Way" is a stunning piece, I admit it. And it's not the only one. In fact it's matched by "Sold to the Highest Buddha". Excellent also the vocal parts and the sax playing.

On the other hand, it seems to lack in cohesion somehow. Ok, some of the remaining tracks can be suggestive and curious (there's a lot of humour that I cannot fully understand). Just listen, for example, to "Prostitute Poem" or to "Eat that Phone Book Coda". They generally fail to impress me, though. Sometimes are even boring , a little bit.

All in all this may be called an excellent album. For my taste it really has a pair of memorable moments. The remaining part is good which is not enough for a complete four stars rating.

3,5 from me.

Well this is the big tomalley.

I remember for my 11+ (soon to be discontinued) the question: as Farewell to Kings is to Rush so is _ _ _ _ _'_ _ _ _ to Gong. I smiled and filled in Angel's Egg, handed the paper to the invigilator who smiled, turned into a lamp and flew out the window ... or maybe that was a dream.

This is an absolute die hard essential gotta have album for all the space rock cadets out there. Please listen intently to the new adventures of our hero Zero and the pot head pixies. I'll wager that Tea has never played such a central part of any album.

This album has it all: a little smidgeon of funky Zappa, interspersed with that quintessential Canterbury light self-effacing humour, and sprinkled with the power and drive of Deep Purple. All of this is saturated in oceans of mind altering pots of herbal tea. (Ed: who writes this stuff???)

To be serious ... nah what's the point? This is far too much fun to be serious about. I'm not a huge Gong fan, but this album never fails to guide me through a wonderful, vision of spaced out bliss.

Simply put this is one of the very best prog albums. I reckon it's a class leader in Canterbury and spacerock. It's also tips its hat to jazz and is just a wee bit funky.

There's so much to say that it's probably better to shut up and thoroughly recommend it for your listening pleasure. ... enjoy

Angel's Egg encapsulates the high strangeness that we know and love about Gong. This is definitely one of their best albums and notably features some of the weirdest tracks of the band's repertoire. Gong are eternally surreal cosmic adventurers who always strive to produce the wackiest spaced out music on the planet. They accomplished it here.

They have notably been referred to 'an invisible ideological empire' more than a band and it is easy to see why. The concept of this album takes on the same themes as Flying Teapot. The pot head pixies are back as is Zero the Hero, and the jazz fusion and Eastern influences abound. It is all rather absurd and you have to be in the right mood and the music works better listening to it as a whole album rather than individual tracks.

This album is the second in the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy, and it is the best. We are transported to Planet Gong, via a Flying Teapot, and the allegorical tale of life and the idiocy of our heroes quest begins: a quest that is never ending but nevertheless essential in finding the meaning of that perfect life. Steve Hillage is excellent as guitar extraodinaire and he is complimented with Allen, Malherbe, Blake, Howlett and Moerlen. A special mention must be made of the sultry vocals of Gilli Smyth as she croons 'Prostitute Poem', a nice break from all the lunacy and mayhem. Gong recorded this by hanging microphones from trees and the atmospehere is present throughout. Highlights include 'Other Side of the Sky', 'Flute Salad', showcasing Malherbe's incredible flute, and 'Oily Way', 'Inner Temple' 'Love is How Y Make It' and the rocker, 'I Never Glid Before'.

The album was voted as Gong's best by Mojo readers and it is easy to see why. Coming in at Second was Camembert Electrique and You, though I have a soft spot for Live Etc, that polled number 7 in the votes. In any case Angel's Egg is quintessential Gong and one of the best albums of 1973.

Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg is the fifth full-length studio album by psychadelic jazz/ rock act Gong and the second album in the Radio Gnome triology. Gong is one of those bands that are hard to catagorize as they could fit into both a psychadelic rock catagory as well as a jazz/ rock ditto and most people find them an aquired taste. I felt the first album in the Radio Gnome triology Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 1 - Flying Teapot (1973) had some great moments but I´m not sure if I enjoy the silly psychadelic elements in their music as much as I had expected to. Normally I´m not that much of a jazz/ rock fan but I find myself liking Gong´s jazz/ rock elements more than their psychadelic ditto and that´s quite the surprise for me.

The music on Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg pretty much takes off where Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 1 - Flying Teapot ended. We have the powerful jamming jazz/ rock parts with Didier Malherbe sax playing taking the lead role but we also get lots of psychadelic parts ( where the same Didier Malherbe also gets to shine on flute) both with and without the male and female ( mostly spoken female vocals) vocals by Daevid Allen and Gilli Smyth. There are a couple of structured psychadelic rock songs but many of the 14 ( 15 if you have the CD version with the bonus track Ooby-scooby doomsday or the D-Day got the D.D.T. blues) tracks seem like they were made while jamming in the studio. Some rather stoned material if you ask me. That´s not neccesarely a bad thing but it doesn´t work wonders for me in this case.

The musicianship is good and like his predecessor Rachid Houari, Pierre Moerlen has to be mentioned for his great jazz/ fusion drumming style. A great drummer that one. The rest of the band are also well playing and the stoned vocals and strange lyrics from Daevid Allen gives the music its special identity.

The production is a bit warmer than the sound on the predecessor and it suits the music well.

Out of the two first Radio Gnome albums I prefer the first one as Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg seems a bit unfocused to my ears but it´s still a pretty good album deserving a 3 star rating. Like all the Daevid Allen era Gong albums it´s an aquired taste if you can enjoy the weird psychadelic humour but it´s definitely an album you have to have heard.

ANGEL'S EGG is the most song-oriented of the three RGI albums, yet it's one of their most enjoyable works to sit through. Yes, the extended instrumental interplay is subdued on this album compared to others, but at the same time, there's a certain charm ANGEL'S EGG has that keeps me spinning it.

There are a few extended instrumental breaks, notably the opening track's spacey grooves. There are others like the ''Inner Temple/Outer Temple'' space/jazz interlude that keep the interest. ANGEL'S EGG is mostly lyrically whimsical with many unusual moments that make you go, ''Wait a minute...WHAT?'' followed by a few chuckles. The music backs up the humour moments quite well, particularly with Hillage, Blake and new rhythm section of Mike Howlett/Pierre Moerlen taking instrumental duties and Didier Malberbe's soaring woodwinds.

Highlights are ''Sold to the Highest Buddha'' with its sudden yet fluid shifts of metre, the closing ''Eat That Phonebook Coda'', the strange hard rocking ''I Never Glid Before'', the groovy ''Oily Way'' and the marimba infested ''Love Is How Y Make It''. On certain versions, the bonus ''Ooby Scooby Doomsday'' is worth a good laugh. The whole album is worth a spot in your prog collection as ANGEL'S EGG is full of progressive little tunes that never take themselves seriously.

It's a first gong album I got ( some years ago). I new the name, but never heard the music.So, when I started to listen, it was a surprise.

First of all the album's structure was ... strange. Some chaotic mix of different style and rhythms songs, kind of psychodelic dream. But all music had it ... MAGIC. In my head I understood, that it is some "strange brew", without logic, crazy mix of jazzy psychodelic pieces with LCD lyrics, kind of mirror-of-its-time. But some golden melodies, some nuances, some perfect musical technique had strong attraction.

After some listenings nothing became more logic, or I can't say, that I understood this album better, but I started like it even more.

OK, years are gone from that time, I regularly returning back to listen that album. What can I say? I didn't understand it better, no chance. But I like it till now, most really because of it's strange magic. Gong's Magic...

I didn't listen all Gong's albums, but from some of them I had I think this one is the best.

"You" ( I own it as well) is at similar level, but less strange, less atmospheric, less crazy. It means ( in Gong's case) -less Magic. So I prefer Angel's Egg.

I think there are big circle of music fans, who can find Angel's Egg perfect. Starting from jazz/fusion guys, who will find plenty of their beloved improvisations there to progheads,who will be attracted by album's experimental and beautiful mix of everything.

The 'Radio Gnome' trilogy is one of progressive rocks most joyful projects. Gong, led by Deavid Allen, plays charismatic psychedelic hippi jazz space rock music. Among its cast of amazing musicians are Steve Hillage (Kahn) on guitar, Didier Malherbe on wind instruments and Pierre Moerlen on drums. On this concept album trilogy the listener is invited to join the group in fantasizing about 'planet Gong' and its crazy characters, whilst the music is also highly listenable without doing so. All songs have an enthusiastic psychedelic edge to them and some interludes like 'Givin' My Love to You' are like a comedy scene from a movie. Because of the eclectic mix of psychedelic songs, jazz-rock instrumentation and space rock synths the music is ideally suited for fans of eclectic and Canterbury type prog. Within the trilogy 'Angels's Egg' is my least favorite album, for I prefer the song-writing and overall pace on 'Flying Teapot' and the more condensed space jazz rock of the third installment 'You'. This album is a bit of a loose affair that only to often fails to make a point musically. Still highly recommended music by a band in its prime though!

On Gong's 4th album, the music is still as psychotic and schizophrenic as your state of mind will be after too much weed. In order to fully appreciate Gong, the two have to go together I guess: drugs and a bemused mindset.

Gong got a lot more coherent though, and kick off the album with one of their typical mesmerizing space-jazz jams. It flows into the more rocking Sold to the Highest Buddah, a groovy take on one of their obvious sources for inspiration: Syd Barrett. With 14 tracks for 45 minutes, there are many short interludes here. The jazz-rock jingle Castle In The Clouds is one of the best, very concise and to the point. Only a good minute long but still trippy. Also some of the longer songs are very fragmented. The 6 minutes of Prostitute Poem starts with a one minute of guitar and sound effects before it turns into a smoky jazz song with Middle-Eastern flavours. By the end of it we've had 18 minutes of coherent Gong material. That hadn't happened before.

After a bit of fun with Givin' My Love To You, the album has a bit of trouble to find its momentum back. Selene is quite charming but hardly essential. Flute Salad is a more interesting experiment but is sure to have you searching through all your drawers to find that last stash of grass. This music could serve as an excellent substitute to put you in higher states though. Oily Way is a pleasant psychedelic song that belongs to another era. Outer Temple / Inner Temple are way more convincing. Timeless space-jazz here and one of my most loved Gong moments.

The remainder of the album is ok but doesn't add much. With 20 minutes of passable jumble and 25 of essential material, 4 stars would be too flattering still, but it comes close.

I distinctly recall the initial attraction I had towards Gong (a time period when experimentation was EVERYTHING!) and its pseudo-hippy-trippy progressive rock that had so many followers then and today. A tribe of British /Australian exiles living on a commune in France and creating loose insanity within jazz-rock magnificence.

When your line-up reads as follows in the booklet: 1- Ten/Sop sax floot & bi-focal vocal: Bloomdido Bad de Grasse (Malherbe) 2- Space whisper & loin cackle: Shakti Yoni (Smyth) 3- basso profundo: T.being esq (Moze) 4- Lewd guitar: Sub Capt Hillage 5- Cynthia "Size A" & lady voice : Hi T Moonweed (Blake) 6- Bread & Batteur drums, vibes and marimba: Pierre de Strasbourg (Moerlen) 7- Glockenspiel: Mireille de Strasbourg (Bauer) 8- Local vocals, aluminum croon & Glissando guitar: Dingo Virgin (Allen)

Well, you just know it's going to be one hell of a loopy ride, introducing Pot Head Pixies and Octave Doctors to a new fangled über-rock philosophy that was silliness incarnate wrapped around a spaced out chinchilla, a floating anarchy of social disobedience. Gong was certainly not impressed by right wing dynamics or even the more prevalent left ?wing stuff; they were flat out anti-government in whatever shape it came in. The first part of the trilogy is the rather spontaneous but trippy "Flying Teapot" and "Angel's Egg" is the masterblaster follow up. "You" will come soon later. The arrival of Hillage is highly significant as it gave the humor an electric fizz that appealed immediately to the "rock' crowd, hungry for new sonic adventures. Also noteworthy are Blake's insidiously bubbling synths that seem to attack from the opening "Other Side of the Sky", enveloping the listener in a coating of sweeping sound, hypnotizing sequencers blending with steady blasts of saxy sex (did I get it backwards?, its okay, I am bi-lingual) , an archetypical space jam that careens delightfully in bemused zaniness (goofy mumblings about Hurdy-hurdy supermarkets ?) and the first volume-pedal induced forays from Captain Hillfish with the legendary Moerlen bashing away like a true percussionaire. The curtly zany "Sold to the Highest Buddha" is a brief vocal intro of main protagonist Zero the Hero, lewd guitar glissandos (now, would that be slide gee-tar by any chance?) hanging on to your hair and oddball blowing from Malherbe morph into "Castles in the Clouds" which in turn passes the torch to the scrumptiously erotic and very French "Prostitute Poem", a sultry sonic striptease full of giggling irony ("sad not sad, chalant and nonchalant") , very red light district Pigalle ("hey there , ya wanna?"), croaking orgasmic complaints that swim in electronic agony and carnal confusion. I guess its kind of a "kinky-prog" anthem, composed at a time when censorship of sexual themes was the rigid norm. The classic Brit pub sing-along adds more weirdness to the deal, after which the brief "Selene" enters the orbital path of Planet Gong and being a Moon goddess, well you can guess the rest! The next series of pieces are the most remarkable, creating a splendid space-rock suite that stands the test of time, "Noisette, where is it?" kicks off the spectral "Flute Salad", a warbling quiver of slippery sounds and streaming synths, blending into the lubricious "Oily Way", a thrilling slice of voice-led psychedelia featuring sing along choruses, amazing drumming and raunchy sax ("it's not the English way"), Allen delivering his finest oral obsession with some of the oddest lyrics ever. Both "Inner" and "Outer Temple" delve into the galactic exploration for which Gong is famous for, Moze putting down a simple bass riff, the Blake synths swirling around like an opaque mist and the good Count caressing his brass instrument with utter glee. All is said through Hillage's screaming lead on the brilliant "I Never Glid Before", a substantial slab of guitar solo genius is on display here as his first dozen heavy notes kick in , propelled by the manic drums, certainly one of my fave Gong tracks (and prog axe solos) ever. "Eat that Phonebook Coda" sounds almost like Pink-Panther Inspector Clouseau outtake (think about it, a recurring Gong analogy with the rather disturbed Peter Sellers style of humor). While still preferring "You", this is a tremendous lesson in serious silliness that needs respect. 4.5 loin cackles (whatever that means)

The title Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 2 - Angel's Egg makes it clear that this album is the second part of the Gong's The Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy. The band has expanded their roster by adding such key players like Mike Howlett on bass guitar and Pierre Moerlen on drums. This lineup will also be featured on Vol.3 of the trilogy.

Musically Vol.2 is a great improvement over the first one. Although I, in my previous review, mentioned that Gong couldn't make any really interesting short compositions and that they should stick to the longer material, the band basically did exactly the opposite and made it work here! Vol.2 doesn't feature a single track over 8 minutes mark where the opener, titled Other Side Of The Sky, is the only longer composition that reaches that truly space/psychedelic style that I enjoyed on Vol.1. Still there are quite a few lighter psychedelic moments well worth experiencing.

Prostitute Poem has a beautiful acoustic guitar featured underneath the layers of synth and Gilli Smyth's vocals that truly enhances the experience and turn the performance into another pleasant highlight. What I really like about the second part of the album is how nicely the compositions shift between one another maintaining an almost hypnotic style of the general atmosphere. There are a few minor disturbances of this flow with the short Percolations but otherwise its a great ride all the way to I Never Glid Before. The last two tracks is where the album goes back to the rock territory and feel very appropriate for the ending.

The production of this recording marks a great improvement and I rarely feel irritated by any minor sound inconveniences like I did on the band's previous albums. Unfortunately for Vol.2 it still fades in comparison to the next release and have it not been for that then I would have most probably given it a slightly higher rating.

**** star songs: Other Side Of The Sky (7:39) Castle In The Clouds (1:12) Prostitute Poem (4:54) Selene (3:43) Flute Salad (2:10) Oily Way (3:38) Outer Temple (1:09) Inner Temple (2:34) Percolations (0:46) Love Is How Y Make It (3:27) I Never Glid Before (5:38) Eat That Phone Book Coda (3:14)

*** star songs: Sold To The Highest Buddha (4:28) Givin' My Luv To You (0:47)

Of the three albums that make up the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, Angel's Egg is the most inconsistent and has the least interesting moments. Both Flying Teapot and You are much stronger albums. Although this is part two of the trilogy, the band went through some changes with this one. First of all, they switched labels and signed to Virgin. Second of all, this album introduces drummer Pierre Moerlen, bassist Mike Howlett and guitarist Steve Hillage. At this point Hillage was mainly known for being a part of the short lived Khan.

The production is a step up from Flying Teapot, but there is a lot more filler material here. The two standout songs are "Sold To The Highest Buddah" and "I Never Glid Before". "Buddah" has guitar mimicing Allen's vocals at the start. Good drumming in this song. A little bit of piano. I don't know if Blake plays piano or not but this is possibly the only Allen-era album to feature any piano. "Never Glid" has great rolling drums at the beginning. Good sax/guitar riff. Jazzy vocals with guitar mimicing the words. Great chorus. An awesome guitar solo by Hillage. After a while it calms down. Then a mini-bass solo. Tempo increases near the end, gets almost punk sounding.

"Other Side Of The Sky" is the longest but also most boring song. It begins with spacey noises and effects. Gilli whispers and Daevid gives a speech. Then he does a mantra. Electric piano and drums appear. Then guitar. At the end Daevid says "hare" to everything including "hare, hare supermarket". "Prostitute Poem" features Gilli playing the part of a prostitute with waltz style backing music. "Selene" is a ballad with no drums except a little bit of cymbals. I like the call and response guitars near the start.

There is a melody at the end of "Flute Salad" which gets reprised during "Oily Way". "Love Is How You Make It" starts with marimba and other mallet percussion. Then Daevid begins to sing. Before 2 minutes drums kick in. Drums stop after awhile and then a melody on mallet percussion. This is followed by drums and Daevid singing.

With the presence of Moerlen there is a stronger jazz influence than what came previously. Hillage seems to take the spotlight in the guitar department. Although Angel's Egg has Moerlen, Howlett and Hillage, the three don't quite gel like they do on You. All three will remain until Shamal. A good album overall, but you are better off hearing the other two volumes of the RGI first. 3 stars.

Of all of Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums, Angel's Egg is probably my least favourite, focusing as it does on shorter songs replete with Daevid Allen's unique sense of humour. Whilst this approach was perfectly fine on Camembert Electrique, this time around the material doesn't seem quite as strong, so it ends up wearing on me and I find myself impatient for the album to finish.

It's not completely without appeal - the extended, spacey tracks that appeared on Radio Gnome Invisible and would come to dominate You are still just about present, with album opener Other Side of the Sky being a particularly strong example of this strand of Gong's songwriting. But it is a step down to merely being kind of fun and vaguely entertaining, and is a much less compelling listen than the other two albums in the sequence.

I'm not sure why I never discovered the music of Gong in the first blush of my Prog Rock adolescence. Maybe the band was too openly druggy for my less tolerant teenage doppelgänger. Or perhaps the band's playful embrace of Buddhist philosophy was simply foreign to a sheltered young soul who hadn't yet shed his Episcopal blinders (I recall also having difficulties with John McLaughlin's MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA, for similar reasons...)

Further evidence, if any more was needed, that youth is sometimes wasted on the young. Gong in its mid-seventies prime made some of the most contrary but playful music ever catalogued under the larger umbrella of Progressive Rock. And the middle album of the celebrated RGI album trilogy was where the band really hit its stride.

The sequel to 'Flying Teapot', relating the further adventures of Zero the hero and the Pothead Pixies, is more obviously musical than its predecessor, with the band performing more like real musicians instead of a hippie vaudeville act. Despite the shorter tracks the flow is smoother, and the fusions better fused. But the album is still eclectic beyond belief, able to turn on a whim from the Berlin cabaret melody of 'Prostitute Poem', with its shadows or Marlene Dietrich and Sally Bowles, to an unexpected interlude of Arabian harmonics (in the middle of the same song), and from there to something not unlike an English wartime pub sing-a-long.

In these pages the Gong collective flies a Multi-National flag of convenience, but the 'Radio Gnome' albums were always English to their psychedelic core, finding Ultimate Truth and Inner Wisdom at the bottom of a cup of tea. Head Gongster Daevid Allen was earlier a founding member of the original SOFT MACHINE, and the two bands shared a similar deadpan attitude of musical sedition. But in albums like 'Angel's Egg' Gong took the comic irreverence of the best Canterbury bands to a new level...nay, to another planet altogether.

The second part of the Radio Gnome trilogy sees Gong moving to France and recording it during August 73' at the Manor Mobile at Pavillon du Hay, but the album was finally mixed at the Manor Studios in Oxford.The basic line-up of the group welcomes some new entries.Drummer Laurie Allan parted ways with Gong and more or less quit from music at the start of the 80's, Christian Tritsch also left Gong, the same occurs also with Francis Moze, who would rejoin them a couple of years later.Their replacements were crazy drummer Pierre Moerlen, Australian bassist Mike Howlett and female percussionist Mireille Bauer.Under the title 'Angel's Egg '', Virgin released the album at the fall of 1973, both for the French and English market.

The sound of Gong on this album is a bit more cohesive, eclectic and versatile compared to ''Flying teapot'', although the general style hasn't changed much.The album is divided into 13 short pieces, which flow from one to the other as a constant work, alternating between the established Space-Fusion trademark sound of Gong and more psychedelic parts with a bit of a dated sound.Nevertheless to combine with comfort so many different styles was some sort of an achievement and Gong did this pretty well, offering often extended instrumental parts with jazzy saxes and solid drumming by Moerlen, while Hillage's spacey guitar chops take the sound to another level.Malherbe's sax work seems to have been slightly inspired by the French enviroment during the time of the recordings, as there are some strong 60's influences in his work, which can be both romantic and angular.Lots of spacey underlines around are definitely a good thing with some obscure synthesizers delivered by Tim Blake and Hillage's guitar work always being consistent.Even some sparse flute passages by Moerlen are nicely executed and well within the bizarre, genuine atmosphere of the album.The most lyrical textures and the sporadic touches of a psychedelic past seem the hardest to get into moments, sounding rather unrelated to the intricate mood of the rest of the album.Some of Gilli Smyth's vocal parts though remain absolutely great and quite personal.

This Radio Gnome sequel is certainly an improvement over the first, uneven part.Spacey Psych/Prog with impressive jazzy influences, a style well-established by Gong on this delicate and strongly recommended work...3.5 stars.

The second Gong album with guitarist Steve Hillage, but, more importantly, the first album with virtuoso drummer/percussionist, Pierre Moerlin. When one hears the work of Pierre Moerlin one cannot help but notice. His timing and fluidity is on a par with only a handful of other percussionists I've ever heard. It's something extraordinary. It makes so many other drummer/percussionists seem/feel like horses, clods, and pugilists. What Pierre adds is special, effortless and otherworldly--as if we are privileged to call ourselves witnesses to his work. There is a lot of experimental work with sound engineering on "Angel's Egg"--employed with voice tracks, synths, saxophones, guitar tracks, flutes, etc. Gilli Smyth's performance on "Prostitute Poem" is absolutely brilliant, I just don't think it a very good "song."

Five star songs: 10. "Inner Temple" (2:34) (10/10); 9. "Outer Temple" (1:09) (4.5/5), and; 14. "Eat the Phone Book Coda" (3:09) (9/10)

Four star songs: 12. "Love Is How You Make It" (3:26) (8.75/10); 1. "Other Side of theSky" (7:39) (12.75/15); 3. "Castle in the Clouds" (1:10) (4.25/5); 8. "Oily Way" (3:38) (8.25/10); 13. "I Never Glid Before" (5:38) (8/10); 7. "Flute Salad" (2:10) (4/5); 6. "Selene" (3:43) (7.5/10); 4. "Prostitute Poem" (4:54) (7.5/10)

Politically relevant messages but a little too much silliness and dissonance for me.

With the intergalactic space whispers emerging from somewhere way out there or perhaps somewhere from a place well within, the seductive vocals of Shakti Yoni aka Gill Smyth in our dimension ushers in the next chapter of a mysterious green planet that is invisible to most but known to host Octave Doctors, magical pixies and the undetectable radio station that ultimately guides cast members such as Zero The Hero into mind-blowing, mind expansive musical journeys. Welcome to planet GONG! Magic is in the absurd and the mystery apparently is in the sax appeal and enchanting reverb.

The GONG mythology humorously continues its crazy cast of characters on the second installment of the RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE trilogy with Volume 2 - ANGELS EGG (note that the apostrophe did not exist upon first release.) Having grown ever more accustomed to the newly created universe where mythological creatures frolic in broad daylight and musical free form enlightenment has blossomed like a happy cookie expanding its tentacles into the mind's eye and making strawberry pie from those fields forever.

The star studded cast of Dingo Allen (Daevid Allen / vocals, guitar), Shakti Yoni (Gilli Smyth / vocals), Sub. Catp. Hillage (Steve Hillage / lewd guitars), Hi T. Moonweed (Tim Blake / VCS3 synth, lady voice), Bloomdido Bad De Grasse (Didier Malherbe / tenor & soprano saxes, flute, backing vocals), T. Being esq. (Mike Howlett / bass profundo), Pierre de Strasbourg (Pierre Moerlen / bread & batteur drums, vibes, marimba) and last but not least Mirielle de Strasbourg (Mireille Bauer / glockenspiel) conjures up new sonic realities with escapist vision and successfully ratchets up the trilogy a few notches beyond Planet GONG and into ultimate surreality.

ANGELS EGG was recorded at the Manor Mobile studio where GONG resided communally near Pavillon du Hay, Voisine, France surrounded by the wilds of a large forest where the flora and fauna offered their spiritual wisdom for the inspiration cast their way, all completely royalty free but with the castigating disapproval of the boar's head hanging from the wall. The residence was cleverly wired so each and every member's room was connected to the larger picture and when inspiration hit, it was recorded and sorted out later. A scheme that created one of progressive rock's most wickedly surreal and diverse albums that's not a Frank Zappa record!

International in scope, Allen brings his Aussie sensibilities to the table via the jazz-rock involvement of England's Canterbury scene whereas Hillage takes his psychedelic touches gleaned from Arzachel and Khan to freshly glisten the procedure with ample guitar echos and sonic vibes to eternity. Joining the crazy crew was Pierre Moerlen with his assemblage of percussion, vibraphones and marimbas, a feat so utterly divine that he would become the new leader once Allen decided to pack it up and shack up with some seductive female gnome he met during one of the many tea sipping parties. French elegance and Middle Eastern rhythms slink in and out and elf music joins the cast for a raucous jolly good time.

While the ANGELS EGG has not yet hatched, this crazy crew of musicians take turns incubating her with the warmth of a diverse roster of tracks that range from truly outside of reality psychedelic sound effects to French chansons, drinking songs, crazy jazzy fueled rock sessions and beyond. The second part of the RADIO GNOME INVISIBLE trilogy hops, skips and jumps randomly as if the dial to the station had somehow got set to search and on each stop, new cosmic wisdom is gleaned for later use in the eternal life journey like a magic backpack that carries with it all the essentials for true everlasting peace and hippiness.

To say ANGELS EGG is a trip would be an understatement. Psychedelic rock rarely goes to the lengths that the GONG universe unleashed onto an unsuspecting world. The original album actually contained an extensive booklet that defined the GONG mythology with lyrics, glossary of terms, profiles of characters and enchanting stories about band members. This is more like the soundtrack to "Alice In Wonderland" where after taking a puff with Chester and that caterpillar dude, you are somehow transported into an alternative reality where the unexpected lurks in forms of quirky off-kilter rhythms, zany lyrical escapades and jazzified trippiness magnified into a murky nebulous haze of philosophical nonsense that defies logic but somehow makes sense.

Everybody has their favorite episode of this trilogy and mine is without a doubt the nutter whack job nonconcentric oddball ANGELS EGG which sounds like an embryo hallucinating in a mushroom pixie patch. This album is tripper's paradise. An album so out of sync with just about every other musical paradigm before, during and after that it literally defies all rational explanation. A true album beamed down via the gnomes, unicorns and ETs or perhaps just a whispered through space channeling of lucid dreams. Let the tea be free as it pours into me but i can't imagine a better way to waste my day then listen to this one on perpetual replay because every time i take it for a spin it sounds like a different album to me. Indescribably brilliant. Masterpiece and "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or The D-day DJ's Got the D.D.T. Blues." Yeah that.