One thing you should note here is that the short last tracks on side a and side b are locked grooves, so rather than being short they would go on until you went over and stopped them. I very often fell asleep to side b and woke up the next morning to that sound.
Thanks for this one Justin. My introduction to the world of Gong and the Divided Alien. A punky psychedelic album, containing some of their greatest songs. 'Fohat Digs Home In Space' is easily my favourite Gong song extant! 🕉
My dad bought this in the 70s and still has the 50p price sticker on the LP. Fohat Digs Holes in Space is the one that stood out for me as I was growing up, love it!
My favorite Gong album. I laughed so much with it when we listend to it with my wife in the late 70'. The french talking is so funny. The last song doesn't last the few seconds you say. It lasted forever on our old vinyl players as long as you didn't stop it. On some it slowly stopped as it was engraved on the last cercle of the vinyl. The words say “Do you want a camembert cheese ?”. By the way I like camembert a lot. If you want to try strange cheeses come to France. There are some I can't eat anymore, too strong, smell too special.
Smoked Gouda. Thanks for the shoutout & for doing a full reaction to my favourite Gong album! A much heavier prequel/introduction to the Flying Teapot Trilogy that followed. At this point in Daevid Allen’s career he was a a big fan of American minimalist composer Terry Riley. Riley is known for his repetitive music style that would sometimes use tape loops or other manipulations like delay & echo. This is why you get the little intro/outro & interludes like "Wet Cheese Delirium".
Probably your best listen ever. I just love to see folk getting into music I've been into for forty odd years, its like hearing in new again. Have you heard New York Gong - About Time? It's Allens punk album with Material. You might also like Inner City Unit, Blyth Power and The Lovely Eggs. They all have something on the tube. A few other bands
I tend to forget what a great album this is. Thanks for the reminder. This was probably the first time I've listened to it in headphones, and it made me realise that is the best way to enjoy it. "Tried so hard" sounds a lot more like Gong's first album, Magick Brother (apart from the drumming, of course), and I guess it was written earlier than the rest of the album and prior to the Planet Gong mythology. So if you enjoyed it, you could do a lot worse than check out that album as well. (As for cheese: Appenzeller. Or Swedish White Caprin, which is a goat's cheese to die for.)
Yes, I got it for whatever that low price was, along with Amon Duul II Live in London and a Faust album - The Faust Tapes, iirc. Never acquired a taste for Faust, but I still love Gong and ADII.
Stilton. One of these 'let's just have a few drinks, a little smoke, ignore all these silly rules and see what happens' type albums. Probably their most Hawkwindy release, who else would add the silly bookending tracks? Who else would do a track like 'I've Been Stoned Before'? Who else would have a space whisperer (it's not like any other singing that I'm aware of) doing exactly what they want? Who else would have the skill to knit the very disparate elements together into such a rocky album? This just needed the guitar excellence of Steve Hillage to really move it into the next dimension but that was to come! btw, the lyrics of 'Wet Cheese Delirium are 'Tu veux un camembert?' which is French for 'Do you want a camembert?' Profound stuff.
It's very appropriate that you're doing this album while we have the Paris Olympics going on. As most have seen by now, the French have a certain... *unique* relationship with absurdity.
The sharpest possible cheddar, sharp enough to cut a pineapple in half. A Gong album is like a 45-minute acid trip, which is perfect if you don't have all day.
It means consciousness, the internal u cannot be switched off ,which is cold comfort if understood as a result of this expression of us up stream, terrified is a good representation of the absolute reality far enough to be sure enough
Love this album! Bought it about 9 years ago when I was just a grocery bagger. Now I make slightly more money! :'D If I may recommend your next album, it'd be Soft Machine Vol. 2. Great album that sadly doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
My fave cheese, Cambozola, a soft, creamy, blue cheese. As the name suggests, its like the love child of a Camembert, and a Gorgonzola. No cheeseboard is complete without it :)
Such a Great LP. It's the First I heard by them and I was Hooked. Here & Now with Deavid Allen did a great Live LP in 79 as Planet Gong called Live Floating Anarchy. There is also one called About Time from aboot 1980 called About Time done under the name New York Gong.
Thank you JP for another cracking review. The scat singing goes back to Daevid Allen's roots in the late 50s early 60s beat poetry scene. The lines 'wicked old target' and 'your finger on the trigger of your body burning up' can be heard on the very first recording ever of the Canterbury lot - a live recording from 1963 - 'The Daevid Allen Trio' - Daevid Allen, Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper (Mike Ratledge also appears on piano for several pieces). Frankly it really is not very good!! but it is interesting if you are a completist / fanantic!! No I don’t think ‘Fohat …’ is too long - I think it’s exactly the right length - live it would be (and was) somewhat longer!!!). ‘Tried so Hard’ is purportedly about Kevin Ayers - Kevin formed Soft Machine with Daevid Allen in 1966 and Kevin joined Gong briefly prior to this LP.
I had never heard an entire album by GONG before now. I sort of lumped them in with Van de Graaf and other European prog. But, no. To me they sound more like the Residents, but better humoured. I see they have gone through one or two personnel changes over the years. The current version was on tour in 2023, with a new album. That's wonderful! Thank you, Justin, for giving this music a 'serious' listen. Space Cacaphony!
My favorite cheese is Brie actually - a nice triple cream, or maybe a Camembert... Yes, if you like Brie at all you should try it, especially after this. It has a slightly lower butterfat content, and I find it milder than Brie, with a nuttier flavor. Definitely nuttier. I like any of them young and sweet though, not ripe, runny, and stinky. I've never tried applying electricity to them, but I imagine that would taste about how this album sounds. Seriously, this album is anything but serious, though it is extremely yummy. It definitely rocks out, and melts your face, all at once. A good Camembert should melt well. It's definitely one of their best albums musically and very interesting melodically, and one of their more hogwild and eccentric, even for them. I do miss Hillage, Howlett, and Blake, but everyone shines, radiates, shreds, and drips. Hey, you really should hear Clearlight Symphony for a genuine prog epic featuring Hillage, Blake, and Malherbe - just do it, it's really greatness. I can't remember what I was thinking, but I feel really good. It's nothing I could eat every day (could that be a lactose intolerance?), but it's quite an exquisite snack, or even a meal of epicurean proportions. I think I'm losing my sense of proportion, if not my senses, though getting this senseless can be quite sensible at times, don't you think? Bon appetit.
Hi Justin. Dave from London. My, this is a Strange Band, mixing brilliant jazz rock with trippy nonsense. Much prefer when Didier Malherbe, terrific throughout on woodwind, got together later with Pierre Moerlen and Steve Hillage. As for favourite cheese, i'm torn between Swiss Emmental and mature British Cheddar. P.S. my song ref Strange Band is by Family.
You ever noticed how alot of daevid allen era gong has these almost mantra-esque vocal repetitions? "I'll be seein you again, i'll be bein you again, i'll be dreamin you again, Again and again and again" Its what makes daevids lyricism so unique imo, when you learn all these lyrics in the first 4 gong records its a mantra when you sing them. And of course "Master builder" is quite a blatant one. "IAO ZA-I ZA-O MA-I MA-O TA-I TA-O NOW"
Finally. Thank you for showcasing this genius album.
One thing you should note here is that the short last tracks on side a and side b are locked grooves, so rather than being short they would go on until you went over and stopped them. I very often fell asleep to side b and woke up the next morning to that sound.
Oh yes and please do listen to 'Floating Anarchy 77' the live album by The Here and Now Band with Daevid and Gilli Smyth it will blow your mind - man!
Thanks for this one Justin. My introduction to the world of Gong and the Divided Alien. A punky psychedelic album, containing some of their greatest songs. 'Fohat Digs Home In Space' is easily my favourite Gong song extant! 🕉
'Digs Holes' Oops.
My dad bought this in the 70s and still has the 50p price sticker on the LP. Fohat Digs Holes in Space is the one that stood out for me as I was growing up, love it!
My favorite Gong album. I laughed so much with it when we listend to it with my wife in the late 70'. The french talking is so funny. The last song doesn't last the few seconds you say. It lasted forever on our old vinyl players as long as you didn't stop it. On some it slowly stopped as it was engraved on the last cercle of the vinyl. The words say “Do you want a camembert cheese ?”. By the way I like camembert a lot. If you want to try strange cheeses come to France. There are some I can't eat anymore, too strong, smell too special.
Chaumes. Smells of rotten metal.
Great band! We used to listened to this album, along with the Radio Gnome trilogy, in some varied other worldly head states.
Smoked Gouda.
Thanks for the shoutout & for doing a full reaction to my favourite Gong album! A much heavier prequel/introduction to the Flying Teapot Trilogy that followed.
At this point in Daevid Allen’s career he was a a big fan of American minimalist composer Terry Riley. Riley is known for his repetitive music style that would sometimes use tape loops or other manipulations like delay & echo. This is why you get the little intro/outro & interludes like "Wet Cheese Delirium".
A good gouda is good! :D
Probably your best listen ever. I just love to see folk getting into music I've been into for forty odd years, its like hearing in new again. Have you heard New York Gong - About Time? It's Allens punk album with Material.
You might also like Inner City Unit, Blyth Power and The Lovely Eggs. They all have something on the tube.
A few other bands
Thanks so much Seamus!
Best cheese is edam. Thanks for doing this album. Begging on my knees for more Cardiacs if you get a hankering for some in the future.
Jibber and twitch 😂
I tend to forget what a great album this is. Thanks for the reminder. This was probably the first time I've listened to it in headphones, and it made me realise that is the best way to enjoy it. "Tried so hard" sounds a lot more like Gong's first album, Magick Brother (apart from the drumming, of course), and I guess it was written earlier than the rest of the album and prior to the Planet Gong mythology. So if you enjoyed it, you could do a lot worse than check out that album as well.
(As for cheese: Appenzeller. Or Swedish White Caprin, which is a goat's cheese to die for.)
Just so psyched to see this pop up, what a treat for the weekend!
Hope you enjoy! :D
As I remember, this album cost the princely sum of 59p!
That would have been approx $1 back then. A bargain whichever way you look at it!
Bargain indeed!
Yes, I got it for whatever that low price was, along with Amon Duul II Live in London and a Faust album - The Faust Tapes, iirc. Never acquired a taste for Faust, but I still love Gong and ADII.
I picked a hell of a week to quit cheese.
Floating anarchy and the 1st 4 albums..(some of their stuff is MILES ahead of its time]
Stilton. One of these 'let's just have a few drinks, a little smoke, ignore all these silly rules and see what happens' type albums. Probably their most Hawkwindy release, who else would add the silly bookending tracks? Who else would do a track like 'I've Been Stoned Before'? Who else would have a space whisperer (it's not like any other singing that I'm aware of) doing exactly what they want? Who else would have the skill to knit the very disparate elements together into such a rocky album? This just needed the guitar excellence of Steve Hillage to really move it into the next dimension but that was to come!
btw, the lyrics of 'Wet Cheese Delirium are 'Tu veux un camembert?' which is French for 'Do you want a camembert?' Profound stuff.
My introduction to live Gong was on a small stage with 300 fellow passengers on board "Cruise to the Edge" in 2019. An experience I will never forget!
My first and only Gong album.
Try Steve Hillage after this: the Green album and Unidentified/UFO over Paris. Produced by Floyd’s Nick Mason in 1977 ❤
Great suggestion.
Green is a little masterpiece.
@@pentagrammaton6793 One of the things that make it a little masterpiece is the superb funky drumming of a certain Joe Blocker!
He's listened to Fish Rising. I'm rooting for Motivation Radio.
@@dannylgriffin Also Brilliant. I’m rather partial to the hippy funk of Open too. And L
It's very appropriate that you're doing this album while we have the Paris Olympics going on. As most have seen by now, the French have a certain... *unique* relationship with absurdity.
Hahaha
You Can't Kill Me is my all time fav.
The sharpest possible cheddar, sharp enough to cut a pineapple in half. A Gong album is like a 45-minute acid trip, which is perfect if you don't have all day.
lol! 🍍
1st album I bought... along with Soft Machine 2
Two amazing albums right there! I look forward to when JP reacts to Soft Machine's 2nd album, which happens to be my favorite!
What a crazy (great) record. Glad to have been along with you, I'm familiar with Gong but had never listened all the way through on this one.
It means consciousness, the internal u cannot be switched off ,which is cold comfort if understood as a result of this expression of us up stream, terrified is a good representation of the absolute reality far enough to be sure enough
Manchego. Glad you like Camembert Electrique - Live Etc. Is my favourite GonG album - fantastic live versions of all the great GonG SonGs
Love this album! Bought it about 9 years ago when I was just a grocery bagger. Now I make slightly more money! :'D
If I may recommend your next album, it'd be Soft Machine Vol. 2. Great album that sadly doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
I definitely agree with Soft Machine 2 - Soft Machine 2 agrees with me
@@Elvin_Pelvin One more vote for Soft Machine 2 here!
My fave cheese, Cambozola, a soft, creamy, blue cheese. As the name suggests, its like the love child of a Camembert, and a Gorgonzola. No cheeseboard is complete without it :)
Such a Great LP. It's the First I heard by them and I was Hooked. Here & Now with Deavid Allen did a great Live LP in 79 as Planet Gong called Live Floating Anarchy. There is also one called About Time from aboot 1980 called About Time done under the name New York Gong.
The first album by Gong I ever listened to, I was 15 or 16. Loved it then love it now and I'm in my mid 60s.
Thank you JP for another cracking review. The scat singing goes back to Daevid Allen's roots in the late 50s early 60s beat poetry scene. The lines 'wicked old target' and 'your finger on the trigger of your body burning up' can be heard on the very first recording ever of the Canterbury lot - a live recording from 1963 - 'The Daevid Allen Trio' - Daevid Allen, Robert Wyatt and Hugh Hopper (Mike Ratledge also appears on piano for several pieces). Frankly it really is not very good!! but it is interesting if you are a completist / fanantic!! No I don’t think ‘Fohat …’ is too long - I think it’s exactly the right length - live it would be (and was) somewhat longer!!!). ‘Tried so Hard’ is purportedly about Kevin Ayers - Kevin formed Soft Machine with Daevid Allen in 1966 and Kevin joined Gong briefly prior to this LP.
I had never heard an entire album by GONG before now. I sort of lumped them in with Van de Graaf and other European prog. But, no. To me they sound more like the Residents, but better humoured. I see they have gone through one or two personnel changes over the years. The current version was on tour in 2023, with a new album. That's wonderful! Thank you, Justin, for giving this music a 'serious' listen. Space Cacaphony!
Glad you enjoyed it Ed!
There’s no bad Gong! 😊
@@shyshift The live 'Gong Est Mort' is a touch ragged!
@@Owlstretchingtime78 I was referring to studio albums.
@@shyshift Are you including all the Pierre Moerlin's Gong?
@@Owlstretchingtime78 Yes and Paragong.
When that came out in the UK in 71.the price was 50p or half a dollar
Maybe I got it wrong, but I thought it was 59p. It was a very hazy time! 😂
You could be right.i was only 11
@@Stevieboy481 could you imagine an 11yo buying something like that today? Haha!
My favorite cheese is Brie actually - a nice triple cream, or maybe a Camembert... Yes, if you like Brie at all you should try it, especially after this. It has a slightly lower butterfat content, and I find it milder than Brie, with a nuttier flavor. Definitely nuttier. I like any of them young and sweet though, not ripe, runny, and stinky. I've never tried applying electricity to them, but I imagine that would taste about how this album sounds. Seriously, this album is anything but serious, though it is extremely yummy. It definitely rocks out, and melts your face, all at once. A good Camembert should melt well. It's definitely one of their best albums musically and very interesting melodically, and one of their more hogwild and eccentric, even for them. I do miss Hillage, Howlett, and Blake, but everyone shines, radiates, shreds, and drips. Hey, you really should hear Clearlight Symphony for a genuine prog epic featuring Hillage, Blake, and Malherbe - just do it, it's really greatness. I can't remember what I was thinking, but I feel really good. It's nothing I could eat every day (could that be a lactose intolerance?), but it's quite an exquisite snack, or even a meal of epicurean proportions. I think I'm losing my sense of proportion, if not my senses, though getting this senseless can be quite sensible at times, don't you think? Bon appetit.
Trippy. 🎉🎉
Hi Justin. Dave from London. My, this is a Strange Band, mixing brilliant jazz rock with trippy nonsense. Much prefer when Didier Malherbe, terrific throughout on woodwind, got together later with Pierre Moerlen and Steve Hillage. As for favourite cheese, i'm torn between Swiss Emmental and mature British Cheddar.
P.S. my song ref Strange Band is by Family.
Mmn, Family. Don't think Justin has reacted to them....yet!
@@lemming9984 He did Burlesque about 6 months ago.
@@gaiaeternal5131 Justin did Burlesque about 6 months ago!!!!! - crikey I think we should see this!!! (or perhaps not!)
My favourite album of all time❤
Brill
Odd that you find Tried So Hard to be sunny, I always found it to be the sad part of the album, like the regret of a morning after.
PS, if i remember right, the average price of an album at that time was around £2.49.
Did you recognize the bass line in the last song was reused in Perfect Mystery from You?
Although I like Steve Hillage's solo work, I'm not a big Gong fan outside of Shamal. If you are going to to outside the box groups, try Camel.
Great album
This was sold for 59 pence UK when released and aroused a lot of interest and hence fans following this pricing!
Aka Electric Cheese, lol !
I'm a sharp cheddar kinda human. This album is almost like hippy punk, if ever such a thing exists.
Also, I never feel that Fohat Digs Holes In Space is too long, it's the kinda song that takes you on a ride. It's a great song to drive to.
tried so hard is so wonderful. very jefferson airplane. I think it may have been released as a single but not sure
It's an interesting, and frequently crazy collection of sounds, but they didn't hit their stride until The Flying Teapot (as I think you know). 🙃
Agreed.
I woukd say my favourite cheese is Turkish white cheese, beyaz peynir, like feta, but betta!
You can't kill me, is one of his better songs.
a gruyere cheese ❤
Take Me Back reminds me of a Monkees track.
Venezuelan Beaver Cheese.
Not today, sir, no.
Roquefort by the way
Nome
Tu veux un Camembert ?
The word gnome is pronounced nome….g is silent my friend.
Not all the time. Allen often pronounces the g in many of their composition.
@@Owlstretchingtime78 don’t be a moron.
Gong jokingly pronounces the g; just following suit 😉
Que nenni, buddy: just like gnose, gnomon,, and unlike gnognote or gnorgnongzola. ecco.
American
You ever noticed how alot of daevid allen era gong has these almost mantra-esque vocal repetitions?
"I'll be seein you again, i'll be bein you again, i'll be dreamin you again, Again and again and again"
Its what makes daevids lyricism so unique imo, when you learn all these lyrics in the first 4 gong records its a mantra when you sing them. And of course "Master builder" is quite a blatant one.
"IAO ZA-I ZA-O
MA-I MA-O
TA-I TA-O NOW"