By 1978 Daevid Allen had activated a new lineup of Gong and started touring as “Planet Gong” or just “Gong” while this version of Gong was still active. Expresso II was released primarily as a Gong album, but it was decided to release this one under the moniker of “Pierre Moerlen’s Gong” in the US market to avoid confusion and Moerlen would officially switch over to using that name for all future releases.
This was the first non-Daevid Allen Gong LP I had ever ever and I admit I did not really connect with it for some time. I thought is was generic jazz rock but my take has evolved considerably as I’ve grown to love the album. There’s some killer tracks and the interplay between the bass and drums is kind of nuts at times. A returning Alan Holdsworth (a rarity itself) injects more insane guitar into the sessions pushes it all home.
1978 US pressing on Arista. My copy has a corner cutout and some dildo wrote on the back, but it’s otherwise solid.
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