THE WORLD OF DAEVID ALLEN AND GONG

This very generous 3-disc set actually includes THE ENTIRE RADIO GNOME TRILOGY, which makes it a highly recommended purchase for anyone interested in the so-called Canterbury Scene.

On top of that, more than 100 minutes are devoted to other Daevid Allen recordings. Daevid's first solo album, BANANAMOON, is particularly well represented: all the tracks given here (nos. 3 to 7 on the third disc) are gems. 'Memories' is a particularly fine tune, sung by Robert Wyatt (it also exists as a Soft Machine demo), and 'White Neck Blooze' is a delightful parody of the decadent kind of ballad Kevin Ayers used to wrote for his solo career. The selections from CAMEMBERT ELECTRIQUE (nos. 4 to 6 on the first disc) are fine, but strangely enough the album's best known song ('You can't kill me') is omitted. The selections from NOW IS THE HAPPIEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE (nos. 8 to 10 on disc three) are also excellent, but what a shame the compilers left out the title track, which must be Daevid's single most beautiful acoustic ballad.

If you do not own the RADIO GNOME TRILOGY, and are able to find this collection at the same price as its three separate parts added together (or perhaps even for less!) do not hesitate to snap it up. (It comes with an 50-page illustrated booklet.) The trilogy is one of those pieces of music that will give pleasure for a lifetime. Purely on the strength of all the marvellous music, I'd love to award this set five stars, but I simply don't know if the remastering is any good...

Share this GONG review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to fuxi
• Report this review (#127641)
• Buy GONG music online with PA partners
• Show all GONG MP3/Stream
• Go to GONG page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to The World Of Daevid Allen and Gong page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for GONG related discussions