01	Other Side Of The Sky						07:40
	02	Sold To The Highest Buddha						04:24
	03	Castle In The Clouds						01:15
	04	Prostitute Poem						04:52
	05	Givin My Love To You						00:48
	06	Selene						03:38
	07	Flute Salad						02:09
	08	Oily Way						03:37
	09	Outer Temple						01:08
	10	Inner Temple						02:33
	11	Percolations						00:46
	12	Love Is How Y Make It						03:28
	13	I Never Glid Before						05:37
	14	Eat That Phone Book Coda						03:13
	15	Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or The D-Day DJ's Got The D.D.T. Blues						05:08

Virgin (CAROL 1662-2)
UK/France 1973

Daevid Allen, vocal, guitar;
Tim Blake, synthesizers, vocal;
Steve Hillage, guitars, vocal;
Mike Howlett, bass, vocal;
Didier Malherbe, woodwinds, vocal;
Pierre Moerlen, drums, vocal;
Gilli Smyth, vocal

Bob Eichler:
I think this is overall my favorite album from the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, but that may just be because it was the first one I heard. This disc strikes a nice balance between the lyric-heavy first album and the largely instrumental third album. Flying Teapot set up the characters and plot (such as it is), Angel's Egg continues the story but also goes off on whimsical tangents that outline Daevid Allen's philosophies as much as they do the universe of the Pot Head Pixies.
Musically the album is a bit more song-oriented than You, but there are still a few long, spacey interludes. These tend to be more laid-back and atmospheric than the ones on the third album, but occasionally take off into upbeat, jazzy territory particularly in the second half of the disc.
Overall, if you're just in it for the music, start with You. If you also want a taste of Allen's quirky and charming lyrics, start here.
I should also mention that the final song in the track listing, "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday", is a bonus track - the first CD I bought didn't have it. I ended up buying the album again for that song. The track's not bad, but don't go out of your way looking for a copy with it. Besides which, "Eat that Phone Book Coda" brings the album to a definite conclusion, so having another song after that seems kind of anticlimactic. Whenever I'm listening to the entire trilogy, I use the Angel's Egg disc without the bonus track.

Joe McGlinchey:
The second album in the Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy, Angel's Egg features all the familiar sound elements of classic-era Gong. Here the emphasis is not on blissed-out, psychedelic-fusion jams like the next one, You, but more on shorter vignettes developing Allen's Zero the Hero story. If one can say that it has any development. Daevid Allen's work is a very acquired taste, and even if you acquire it, there's usually bound to be a couple of annoying tunes (for me, that would be "Selene" and "Ooby-Scooby etc."). Still, there's also a few that take off quite well (e.g. "Oily Way"). Anyway, Angel's Egg is definitely inferior to You and I generally find it to be overrated with a good chunk of filler, but it's still got some enjoyable moments. Would...you...like some...tea?




Gong - Angel's Egg: Radio Gnome Invisible Part II

Member: KidAmadeus 6/06/03

Eclectic, spacey, technical, and jazzy are just a few of the words that can describe Angel's Egg Part 2 of 'The Radio Gnome Invisible' trilogy by Gong. The Pot-Head Pixies really outdid themselves here with a work of psychedelic prog-jazz that wouldn't be matched until, well, their next album You.

Released in 1973, this work features the blistering guitar work of a young Steve Hillage, the jazzy drumming and percussion of Pierre Moerlen, the sonic psychedelia that are Tim Blake's synth bubbles and Gilly Smyth's space whispers, and of course the lyrical mind games of Daevid Allen. Add to that Bloomdido Bad DeGrass' kick ass woodwinds, and bass playing by Christian Tritsch.

What? Don't know what pot-head pixies, synth bubbles or space whispers are? Don't know who Bloomdido Bad DeGrass is? Angel's Egg is "The Two Towers" of Gong's trilogy of concept albums based around space aliens, heroes named Zero, and (apparently) some very good weed. Head to the website for details...but only after you pick up the CD.

Angel's Egg is equal parts Canterbury Prog, Meddle-era Pink Floyd spaciness, jazz, Greatful Dead psychedelic jamming, Syd Barrett lyrical wierdness...all without sounding like any of these groups. And while the hippy-dippiness of the whole affair may be more than a little dated (some find it annoying), it has a quaint novelty to it. One of these novel moments is "Prostitute Poem" a song full of sexual innuendo, space whispers (ghostly echoed scream/moan- singing) over a waltzing piece of music that reminds one of a Parisian street cafe, until just a hint of near-east musical styles creep in.

This is then followed by "Given My Love To You", a tune which will remind you of gathering around the piano in a bar somewhere in England with several singing drunk friends. Actually, I think they may have gotten this idea from Gracious first album. "Love Is How Y Make It" is a short clip that reminds me for some reason of Pink Floyd's "Grand Vizier's Garden Party" percussion section. "I Never Glid Before" seems to cross music boxes with Balinese Gamelin music. As I said, eclectic.

There is truly some outstanding playing to be found here. Fans of synths will find some very intriging use of arpeggiated, filtered, and modulated synths creating the previously mentioned space bubbles. Pierre's drumming seems to be a cross of Bill Bruford's rockiness with Billy Cobham's virtuosity. Hillage's guitar playing is fabulous, and hints of the many great things to come from him in the future. And while Daevid Allen isn't exactly Freddie Mercury, his unorthodox vocalizations are very appropriate for this recording. He touches on psychedelia, north africal tribal harmonies, space rock and jazz.

The song pairing of "Flute Salad" / "Oily Way" was, from what I've heard, a minor hit back in the day...oh my how radio has changed! In fact the only modern release that I can think even slightly resembles this would be Stereolab's "Sound Dust"...the resemblence is vague at best.

If you are familiar with Gong, you probably already have this in your collection...for those of you that don't, do yourself a favor and pick up either this or You. Not only will you discover a very interesting band, you may also discover the true meaning behind the nicknames of some progear members like Zero The Hero or Octave Doctor.