Every now andthen, a band comes along that defies convention, refuses to be pigeon-holed,thumbs its nose at comfy predictability and blows raspberries at commercialwisdom. That band is Gong. From 1970 to the present day, Gong have ploughed aunique musical furrow - part progressive rock, part spacey psychedelia, partproto-punk, ambient trance, drum ''n'' bass and absurdist political performanceart.
In this revised and updated edition,long-time fan Kevan Furbank examines all the Gong albums from Magick Brother in1970 to 2023''s Unending Ascending and chronicles the stories behind eachrecording. He examines the songwriting, arrangements and mythology thatinspired each track - with new insights from, amongst others, the currentfantastic Gong line-up, bassist Mike Howlett, violinist Graham Clark andguitarist Josh Pollock.
He salutes the many great musicians who havepassed through Gong in the last 50-odd years, including guitar hero SteveHillage, drummer Pierre Moerlen, flute and sax maestro Didier Malherbe and, ofcourse, whimsical visionary and Gong founder Daevid Allen. The author alsodiscusses the off-shoots of the Gong family tree - including Mother Gong,Gongmaison and Pierre Moerlen''s Gong.
If youhave never heard any Gong, this book is the perfect introduction. If you have,you will want to go back and revisit the glorious music this band has made
