LIVE AU BATACLAN 1973

excellent live album of Gong with a Pierre Moelen in überform. two of the tracks, "You can't Kill Me" and the track which is here listed as two tracks under the names "Tic-Toc" and "Taliesin" (which is in reality one track named "Zero the Hero") already appear on the "Live Etc." album which was published on the Virgin label, but for some strange reasons Virgin cut out parts of the sax and guitar solos from these tracks. on "Live au Bataclan" you can hear these solos in the full version. Gong were really inspired on that day, especially Moerlen who simply seems to burst with ideas, and I can fully understand why Friede chose him as her idol and personal drum God. the cheerful anarchy that always was a part of Gong is definitely present on this album; one can hear the musicians had lots of fun

As with many bands of the era, if you've only heard Gong's studio efforts you've only really had half of the story on them. The Live Etc. double album release was ultimately a bit of a fragmentary affair, drawing on a swathe of different performances from a sequence of different Gong lineups, with the result that it didn't really reflect how their live shows actually went.

This recording of their 1973 show at the Bataclan - recorded just as Flying Teapot was on the cusp of release and featuring material from that, Camembert Electrique, and some early takes on pieces from Angel's Egg - goes some way to correcting that, offering a decent-sounding set which finds them expanding on their studio numbers organically as the mood takes them.

Note, however, that the truly definitive version of this gig isn't this set - it's the 2CD collection taking in the entire Bataclan set released in the recent Love From the Planet Gong box, which contains the entire, unexpurgated setlist with corrected track names. (Whoever was doing the track names on this one for Mantra was basically guessing half the time.)

If your thinking bout a live GONG album I would strongly recommend this one from 1973. This is actually an archival release that didn't see the light of day until 1990 or so. We have the classic lineup of Allen, Smyth, Hillage, Moerlen, Howlett, Blake and Malherbe. And I also like that this is from one show recorded in Paris, France. My biggest surprise was at how spacey and atmospheric this is. Tim Blake is busy. Gilli Smyth might be the star here though as she really offers up a performance vocally that needs to be heard.

The two tracks that standout for me are the longest piece "Dynamite-I'm Your Animal" at over 17 minutes and "Taliesin". Both feature that spacey atmosphere and Smyth doing her awesome vocal performance. I have to mention Malherbe too mostly for his sax work but also the flute on "Flute Salad" which is pretty cool. The other track making my top three is the closer and encore track "Wet Drum Sandwhich". I'm impressed with the second half of this song where it turns more serious. Some killer sax too.

A must for GONG fans.