I missed the original Gong and all of Daevid Allen's Flying Teapot stuff. I sort of caught up with all that via Steve Hillage, but I did get Gazeuse when it was released. A completely different beast as by then drummer Pierre Moerlen had taken over the reigns and turned the band into an instrumental, percussion based jazz-rock outfit. It really shouldn't have worked but on this album it spectacularly did. Aided by the superb guitarist Allan Holdsworth and ex-Magma bassist Francis Moze, this was a joyful set of compositions, everything pushed along by Moerlens exceptional drumming and the percussion work of Mireille Bauer, Benoit Moerlen and Mino Cinelu. Also, not forgetting Didier Malherbe's flute and sax playing, which had never been so expressive or lyrical as on this album.
It's a great sounding album, with Dennis Mackays production so smooth and lightly textured. The sleeve is completely bonkers, an explosion of colour and shapes which sort of reflected the music within and can be fully "appreciated" in the foldout poster that came with the vinyl and which also included all the credits. It has been released on CD many years ago, but visually and sonically it has never done the album justice compared to its vinyl counterpart.
As with all things, this lineup didn't last and the exuberance on display here was sadly never to be repeated. But everything came together perfectly for this one off piece of brilliance that transcended their roots in such a spectacular fashion.
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