Search - Gong :: Wingful of Eyes

An excellent summary of their mid-70s career

08/25/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Several hardcore Gong fans claim that Daevid Allen's first Gong incarnation ("Radio Gnome Trilogy") was the only one artistically important. But I think that's totally unfair to this mid-'70s jazz rock outfit led by drummer Pierre Moerlen. Actually this formation is called Pierre Moerlen's Gong in order to separate it from the other Gong incarnation like Mother Gong, Gongmaison, New York Gong,..to many to mention! "Wingful Of Eyes" contains ever 4 out of 6 tracks from "Shamal" and "Expresso" and 3 out of 6 tracks from "Gazeuse!", so you may be satisfied without buying the original albums, except you're a completist. "Wingful Of Eyes" provides a more accessible and structured sound than the early Gong releases and features some guest stars like Mike Oldfield, Allan Holdsworth and Steve Winwood. For all lovers of jazz rock music with a touch of hard rock guitars ("Heavy tune", "Night illusion") and ambient sounds ("Bambouji"), this is a must-have collection."

Gong - 'A Wingful Of Eyes' (Caroline)

Mike Reed | USA | 10/05/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"First off,this is NOT Gong.It's actually Pierre Moerlen's Gong.I was going to give this CD a two star rating,but 'A Wingful...' seems to be a decent compilation of mid-'70's Daevid Allen-less Gong.It pulls tracks from three lp's,'Shamal','Expresso' and 'Gazeuse'.Neither of those lp's have been able to hold my full attention all the way through.Simply just to jazzy for my taste.However,having all three lp's compiled together on one disc isn't bad.Two of the tunes I thought showed some good playing were "Night Illusion" and "Soli".I know a few fans who would probably end up enjoying this title a LOT more than I did.For avant garde fanatics and Gong completists ONLY."

Excellent compilation

WillieB | 10/05/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a compilation disc of the years 1975 - 1978 when Gong were playing jazz fusion. The tunes come from Shamal (4 cuts), Gazeuse! (3 cuts), and Expresso II (4 cuts). If I were to burn a CD from those albums I would have picked the same tunes, however, I would have placed them in chronological order - they are not this way on this disc. What made Gong's style of fusion stand out for me was the use of vibes, which is not the norm. It added a color and timbre to the music that made it sound open, warm and unique. Of course the stellar musicians including Allan Holdsworth on the latter two releases didn't hurt either. There seems to be a division between Daevid Allen's Gong and this lineup of Gong. Personally I liked both, and I wouldn't recommend this to those who don't like fusion, but for those who do, and don't want to buy all three releases, this is an excellent compilation.



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