Search - Gong :: Time Is the Key

Jazz-Rock exceptionnel

Manon Dubois | Plessisville, Qc. Canada | 10/20/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Le mélange de percussion (marimba, timbales, batterie, etc...) est très impressionnant. La dextérité des musiciens est étonnante, emplie d'une étonnante mélodie bien orchestrée. À posséder absolument!!!"

Bells of sweetness

loteq | Regensburg | 05/16/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

""Time is.." augments PMG's instrumentation with keyboards, and basically, it sounds like a more accessible and lighter version of 1978's virtuos "Expresso II". However, the songwriting isn't as varied and strong as on "Downwind", and the vibraphone melodies are always the same throughout the whole album. The line-up features some members of the "Expresso"-outfit (Moerlen, Rowe, Holdsworth, Lozaga), but also a couple of new players. Rowe's funny, pumping bass and Lemer's crystalline synth sounds provide the most interesting parts of this album. The first few tracks are a bit too lightweight and repetitive. The second half is much stronger, containing such fine songs as the richly textured "The organ grinder", the furious rocker "The bender", the airy "Esnuria part II", and "Arabesque intro/Arabesque", which casts a clever eye back to the Eastern flavor of 1975's "Shamal". Moerlen's drumming is more focused than ever before, and amazingly, the music still manages to sound fresh and uplifting today. It's even palatable for people who usually don't care about fusion and jazz-rock."