GONG LIVE, ETC

Live Etc is one of the only live albums of Gong and works as a kind of 'Best of Gong' encompasses three years in the life of the band. Angel's Egg highlights are here as well as tracks from You and Radio Gnome Invisible, the three best studio Gong albums in my opinion. The live versions of Going material encapsulates the high strangeness that we know and love about the group, sometimes they border on the satirical, at other times try to be serious, without success. Throughout we are treated to the driving rhythms that are present, notably from Hillage's guitar and Malherbe's saxophone and flute. This is definitely worth a listen and features some of the weirdest versions of beloved Gong tracks, for instance there is the lyric-less version of 'The Isle of Everywhere', and 'Oily Way' sounds even better than the original, with kookiness unprecedented on a stage, since Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention days.

Other highlights include 'You can kill me', 'Zero the hero & the witch spell', 'Flying Teapot', 'Ooby-scooby doomsday or the D-Day DJ's got the D.D.T. blues', 'Radio gnome invisible', and 'Inner temple'.

Gong are eternally surreal cosmic adventurers who always strive to produce the wackiest spaced out music on the planet and once again a live stage is the perfect venue for unleashing experimental music and bizarre lyrics, that have cemented the band's reputation as essential for prog rock fans. They have notably been referred to as 'an invisible ideological empire' more than a band and the live versions of their repertoire is no exception, approaching the improvisational at times, spiralling wildly out of control yet maintaining a calm insanity, if that were possible. Notably 'Ooby Scooby Doomsday' and 'The D-Day DJ's got the DDT Blues' are finally available after years in the aborted can, and were worth the wait in every respect.

If you are into Gong or prog that is totally off-kilter but brilliantly executed by virtuoso musicians don't bypass this CD.