Genre: Psychedelic Rock, Progressive Rock, Jazz Rock
Country of origin: Japan
Year of disc release: 1989
Publisher (label): Virgin Records
Catalog number: VJD-5017-19
Country: France
Audio codec: FLAC (*.flac)
Rip type: image+.cue
Audio bitrate: lossless
Duration: 01:58:04

Tracklist:
1975 - Shamal 00:40:44
01. Wingful of Eyes (Howlett) 08:19
02. Chandra (Lemoine) 07:16
03. Bambooji (Malherbe) 05:21
04. Cat in Clark's Shoes (Malherbe) 07:45
05. Mandrake (Moerlen) 05:07
06. Shamal (Bauer, Howlett, Lemoine, Malherbe, Moerlen) 08:58

Personnel:
Pierre Moerlen – drums, vibraphone, tubular bells
Jorge Pinchevsky – violin
Mireille Bauer – percussion, glockenspiel, xylophone, gong, marimba
Sandy Colley – vocals
Didier Malherbe – flute, bansuri, wind, gong, soprano sax, tenor sax
Miquette Giraudy – keyboards, vocals
Mike Howlett – bass, bass guitar, vocals
Patrice Lemoine – organ, piano, synthesizer, keyboards
Steve Hillage – acoustic guitar, guitar, electric guitar

1976 - Gazeuse! 00:39:46
01. Expresso (Pierre Moerlen) 05:58
02. Night Illusion (Allan Holdsworth) 03:42
03. Percolations: Part 1 (Moerlen) 03:52
04. Percolations: Part 2 (Moerlen) 06:09
05. Shadows Of (Holdsworth) 07:48
06. Esnuria (Moerlen) 08:01
07. Mireille (Francis Moze) 04:12
"Shadows Of" is a reworking of Allan Holdsworth's "Velvet Darkness" from his 1976 album of the same name.

Personnel:
Pierre Moerlen – drums, Drum kit, vibraphone, marimba, timpani, glockenspiel
Allan Holdsworth – guitars, violin, pedal steel
Benoit Moerlen – vibraphone
Didier Malherbe – tenor sax, flute
Francis Moze – bass, gong, piano
Mino Cinelu – percussion
Mireille Bauer – vibraphone, marimba, glockenspiel, toms

1978 - Expresso II 00:37:33
01. Heavy Tune (Pierre Moerlen) 06:22
02. Golden Dilemma (Hansford Rowe) 04:51
03. Sleepy (Mireille Bauer) 07:17
04. Soli (Hansford Rowe) 07:37
05. Boring (Mireille Bauer) 06:23
06. Three Blind Mice (Benoit Moerlen) 04:47

Personnel:
Pierre Moerlen - drums, glockenspiel, xylophone, tubular bells, tympani, vibraphone
Hansford Rowe - bass, rhythm guitar (2, possibly also at the end of track 3)
Mireille Bauer - marimba, vibraphone
Benoit Moerlen - glockenspiel, vibes, xylophone, tubular bells, claves
Francois Causse - congas
Allan Holdsworth - guitar (1,3,4,6)
Mick Taylor - guitar (1)
Darryl Way - violin (3,5)
Bon Lozaga - guitar (2,3)

Gong is a rock band oriented towards progressive rock, whose style is also called space rock. It was formed in 1967 in France by Australian musician David Allen. From the very beginning, Gong began to perform very complex compositions, which equally contain elements of art rock, jazz, and Western European folklore, the backdrop of which is spectacular synthesizer improvisations. Lyrically, Gong's compositions are a cross between beatnik poetry and hippie "mythology", and to this day are one of the best examples of versification in rock music.
The composition of the group was international and changed frequently. During its existence, the group has included musicians whose work has had a huge influence on all modern performers working at the intersection of jazz and avant-garde art rock: Steve Hillage, Diedier Malherbe, Tim Blake.
The work of "Gong" has had a huge influence on all modern performers working at the intersection of jazz and art rock. The group, founded by composer, singer and guitarist David Allen, has always been distinguished by rare instability in its composition. An Australian beatnik who first came to England in 1961, Allen was a founding member of the band Soft Machine. He later returned to Paris, where, along with singer Jilly Smythe, he began playing with various touring musicians. After releasing a couple of albums with them in 1970, Allen announced the creation of Gong. The discs "Camembert Elecrique" and "Continental Circus" were the announcement of a new group, which included Jilly Smythe, Christian Tritsch and Didier Malherbe (saxophone, flute), as well as drummer Pip Pyle, who soon left and was replaced by Lauri Allen. Francis Mose (ex-Magma) became the bassist. At this time, Gong were one of the most popular groups working in France. From the very beginning, the team began to perform very complex compositions, a kind of mixture of art rock, jazz and European folklore. Lyrically, Gong's compositions were a cross between beatnik poetry and hippie mythology. Allen, who was the absolute leader of the group, believed in creative democracy and wanted to make room for it by creating a group with evenly distributed responsibilities. However, in early 1972, he disbanded Gong and concentrated on composing, reviving the ensemble at the end of that year.
Malherbe, Smythe, Lauri Allen, Treach and Mose retained their places in the new team, to which guitarist Steve Hillage and synthesizer Tim Blake were added. This lineup recorded the album "The Flying Teapot", which was the first part of the "Invisible Radiognome" trilogy conceived by Allen. After the release of the last album of the trilogy, Allen retired from active musical activity and went with Gilly to Mallorca. Steve Hillage seemed like a natural replacement for Allen, but after a short time it turned out that Hillage's best time was on the album "You" and the development of the group did not go beyond imitation. The next, more fundamental transition was made on the "Shamal" disc. But before him, the composition of the group underwent a number of changes. Pierre Merlin left the group twice; the first time he was replaced by Bill Bruford (ex-King Crimson), and the second by Brian Davison (ex-Nice and Refugee). Steve Hillage gave up his seat to Alan Holdsworth at the end of 1975. The producer of the Shamal disc was Nick Mason from Pink Floyd, which led to a sharp increase in sound quality. The recording of this album featured musicians who had previously collaborated with the group: Frenchwoman Mireille Bauer, who played the xylophone and drums on the sessions for the discs “Angel’s egg” and “You”, Argentine violinist Georges Pinchevski, who helped the group on their English tour in 1975, and keyboardist Patrick Lemoin played with the group in Strasbourg in 1973. This composition disintegrated quite quickly. Then significant changes occurred in the ensemble again. With its best lineup: Allen, Malherbe, Merlen, Blake and Hillage, the group gathered for a reunion concert in May 1978 year gathered for a reunion concert.
Although this action led to the appearance of a new magnificent album, "Vive Gong / Gong Est Mort", the rivalry between the two companies - "Virgin" and "Tapioca" - quickly poisoned the atmosphere of harmony. From that moment on, each of the musicians who were the pride of the old “Gong” began his own business. The former name was used by both Pierre Merlin's group and David Allen's new ensemble. The composition of "Pierre Moerlen's Gong" was the heir to the group from the time of the discs "Shamal" and "Gazeuse!". In addition to Merlin, it included Mireille Bauer, Benoit Morlin, conga player François Jose, and American bassist Henny Rowe. The Gong group itself remained almost stable, only Mireille Bauer left and was replaced by Ross Rico. But if the predecessor disc was filled with boiling ideas, then the album "Expresso II" was enclosed in a calmer framework. But the records “Downwind” and “Time Is The Key” turned out to be strong. In 1980, the group disbanded by mutual agreement and its name was retired. After a period of inactivity, Gong dramatically revamped its line-up in 1986 and released the album Breakthrough. But basically their activities were limited to occasional performances. Gong reunited in 1992, touring Europe and recording the studio album Shapeshifter. In October 1994, David Allen staged a concert to celebrate the band's 25th anniversary. In 2000, Gong (with David Allen, Didier Malherbe, Mike Howlett and new saxophonist Theo Travis) reunited to record the powerful album Zero To Infinity, the fifth installment in the Radiognome saga. During the tour, the group also recorded the live album "Live 2 Infinitea". (hardrockcafe)