




Canterbury Scene

4.27 | 679 ratings

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Prog Reviewer
5 stars This is the only GonG album I've heard and is easily the best spacey record I've heard too, This album is perfect for relaxing, passing time and sleeping (I mean that in the best possible way), it's so effective at tapping into that majestic, spiritual emotions I don't know how I ever lived without it.

'You' starts off innocuously enough with the opening track 'thoughts for naught' somewhat reminiscent of a lullaby and the silly 'a P.H.P.'s advice' before slowly drifting off into another world with 'magick mother invocation' which is pretty much just the introduction to the best song on the album 'master builder'. Master builder is in my view the perfect song for what it is a psychedelic fusion space jam of epic proportions, I couldn't love this song more or sing higher praises of it, easily one of my all time favourites. 'A sprinkling of clouds' is up next and is just as spacey and jamalicious as 'master builder' only in a different way, it starts off with a dreamy spacey synth building up into a nice jam with a synth soloing over the top.

Next we have the intermission song really another short and silly one in 'perfect mystery' before we wade out into the cool waters of space jamming in 'the isle of everywhere' with some bass driven funky space jam action before in the final song 'you never blow your trip forever' the sillier side of gong and the prolonged jamming side of gong are merged with somewhat mixed but ultimately positive results.

The musicians on this album are great my personal favourite is drummer Pierre Moerlen - he creates such amazing rich textures with his drumming, it's so frenetic and jazzy and always appropriate, it just adds so much to the music and fills a void I never knew drums could occupy, the drumming on 'master builder' is some of my favourite of all time. The bass is the main rhythmic component holding things together and is what your head will be swaying too more often than not, there are some seriously deep bass grooves on this album as there is in all good space rock jamming. The guitar is fairly subdued in this album but when it comes it it does so in force, there are some great solos and jamming moments here from the guitar. The synth is one of the greatest parts of this album, it's so varied and interesting it is primarily responsible for the feeling of spaciousness and it's odd because rarely does it occupy the foreground of the music. The introduction to 'A sprinkling of clouds' is one of my favourite uses of synth of all time (I'm saying that a lot aren't I? - with good reason) very spacey, never cheesy pretty much sums up the synth. The vocals are fairly hit and miss, you can live with them or without them they don't really have much bearing on the music overall. The saxophone is a great touch and adds that extra jazziness to the music when the jams are in full swing, there's nothing like a good sax wailing to get the blood rushing.

Overall 'You' is a fantastic album that should be owned by anyone serious about space/rock, fusion jamming and psychedelia. I've introduced about a dozen friends to this masterpiece now and every single one has shared the same opinion of it as me, the best thing about it is it's good for listening anytime and anywhere, if you want to go to sleep it will put your mind at ease, if you're on public transport then you'll zone out from what's going on around you, if you're on a road trip or a plane it will make the time pass quicker, if you're just sitting in bed by yourself with the lights off listening to it with headphones - it will satisfy you.

FruMp | 5/5 |




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