“You” is Gong Wringing Out New Sounds: Prog Review #38

Gong - You

Gong is another compete gap in my prog database. I’d heard of them, and that’s about it.

Allow us to Introduce You

Coming into Gong’s most acclaimed album, You, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, and what I got initially was a lot of strangeness. The first 3 tracks are all under two minutes, and each is off-putting in its own way. “Thoughts for Naught” is a pleasant flute-led number, or it would be if not for the vocals—a comically operatic male voice and a spaced-out female voice sing some vague pseudo-transcendental nonsense: “But if you prefer that old silly number zero / You'll become a master of doing nothing, being nothing.”

This gives way to the more overt funhouse stylings of “A P.H.P.s’ Advice,” which also hits the psychedelic nail more firmly on the head: “Let a pothead pixie show you what to do… Remember, you are me. I am you. All of us together. Now go.”

The last of these introductory tunes is “Magick Mother Invocation.” Here, the album moves beyond trolling into firmer prog territory (or is there a difference). A dull electronic drone with synth-horn accents signals a major shift in tone.  

All this leads into the next track, “Master Builder,” which develops these atmospheric elements, slowly building as the synths meander into a sort of melody and a rhythm is picked up on toms. Soon, flute and drums coalesce into a sax solo over roiling bass and the album truly begins. I was ready to dismiss Gong on the first listen right until this moment. It’s a strange move and a bold one to kick off an album with about 7 minutes of dullish experiments, but then I’ve also been listening to Sonic Youth’s early albums this week, and maybe there is something to atonal noise. The conceit is repeated on the second side of the album when a 4th silly track leads into two longer and stronger tracks that close the album. These shorter introductions, though seemingly superfluous on the first listen, actually do some work to lay out the musical range that the longer tracks explore, a kind of series of thesis statements.  

On the Isle of Everywhere it becomes a man to share all and everything he cares for. Everyone is everybody else is slowly melting themselves together again. -”Perfect Mystery”

A Masterful Build

In any case, I would have guessed that Gong’s oeuvre would be jazzy psychedelia in the vein of CAN, and I was only partly right. The sequence of intro songs and then the dynamism of “Master Builder” indicate a whole lot more, with bursts of energy reminiscent of the best King Crimson, and then there’s this big proto-hair metal guitar solo near the end of “Master Builder.” Later, the band’s going full-on funk with the bassline on “The Isle of Everywhere,” which also features some jazzy sax soloing.

Gong builds layer upon layer, infusing a lot of depth into their sprawling soundscapes, all with a theatrical sensibility and an ear for exciting, yet subtle, shifts in tone across the longer tracks and the album as a whole. Psychedelia and jazz are the obvious starting points on Gong’s You. There’s also a not-at-all subtle fascination with drug culture, culminating in the excellent closer “You Never Blow Your Trip Forever.” And while I typically find all these sounds and subjects uninteresting, there’s still lots for me to love here.

Rolling Stone Rankings

  1. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

  2. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

  3. Rush - Moving Pictures

  4. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

  5. Yes – Close to the Edge

  6. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

  7. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

  8. Can - Future Days

  9. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

  10. Yes - Fragile

  11. Rush - Hemispheres

  12. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

  13. Pink Floyd - Animals

  14. Genesis - Foxtrot

  15. King Crimson - Red

  16. Gentle Giant - Octopus

  17. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

  18. Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

  19. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

  20. King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic

  21. Camel - Mirage

  22. Rush - 2112

  23. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

  24. Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh

  25. The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

  26. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts

  27. Supertramp - Crime of the Century

  28. Opeth - Blackwater Park

  29. Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory

  30. U.K. - U.K.

  31. Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning

  32. Kansas - Leftoverture

  33. TOOL - Lateralus

  34. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink

  35. Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero

  36. Harmonium - Si on Avait Besoin d'une Cinquième Saison

  37. Marillion - Clutching at Straws

  38. Gong - You

ASK Rankings

  1. Genesis - The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway

  2. Supertramp - Crime of the Century

  3. Genesis - Foxtrot

  4. Caravan - In the Land of Grey and Pink

  5. Marillion - Clutching at Straws

  6. Camel - Mirage

  7. Yes – Close to the Edge

  8. Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning

  9. King Crimson - Red

  10. Gentle Giant - Octopus

  11. Dream Theater - Metropolis, Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory

  12. Genesis - Selling England by the Pound

  13. Harmonium - Si on Avait Besoin d'une Cinquième Saison

  14. Rush - 2112

  15. Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick

  16. ELP - Brain Salad Surgery

  17. U.K. - U.K

  18. Rush - Moving Pictures

  19. King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King

  20. Kansas - Leftoverture

  21. Banco - Io Sono Nato Libero

  22. The Mars Volta - Deloused in the Comatorium

  23. Premiata Forneria Marconi - Per Un Amico

  24. Gong - You

  25. King Crimson - Larks’ Tongue in Aspic

  26. Pink Floyd - Animals

  27. TOOL - Lateralus

  28. Frank Zappa - One Size Fits All

  29. Yes - Fragile

  30. Rush - Hemispheres

  31. Tangerine Dream - Phaedra

  32. Magma - Mëkanïk Dëstruktïẁ Kömmandöh

  33. Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon

  34. Can - Future Days

  35. Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

  36. Van Der Graaf Generator - Pawn Hearts

  37. Opeth - Blackwater Park

  38. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here

 

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Marillion Keeps Prog Alive Through “Clutching at Straws”: Prog Review #37