Released 7 December 1973 Angel's Egg
(1973) You
(1974) Release date December 1973 Label Virgin Records | Length 45:14 Artist Gong Producer Giorgio Gomelsky | |
 | ||
Recorded August 1973 in France
by the Manor Mobile Genres Progressive rock, Psychedelic rock, Space rock, Jazz fusion, Canterbury scene Similar Gong albums, Progressive rock albums | ||
Angels Egg is the fourth studio album by the progressive rock band Gong, released on Virgin Records in December 1973.
Contents
It was recorded using the Manor Mobile studio at Gong's communal home, Pavillon du Hay, Voisines, France, and mixed at The Manor, Oxfordshire, England. The album was produced by "Gong under the direction of Giorgio Gomelsky".
Angels Egg is the second in Gong's Radio Gnome Invisible trilogy of albums, following Flying Teapot and preceding You. The trilogy forms a central part of the Gong mythology. The original album did not have an apostrophe in the title.
The original vinyl edition came with a booklet containing an extensive explanation of the mythology, including lyrics, a glossary of terms, and profiles of characters in the story and band members. This edition also had a gatefold cover (omitted in later pressings), a plain inky blue innersleeve to match the gatefold and booklet, and had the original black and white Virgin label which was discontinued after 1973; it was one of the last albums to use the original label. Some copies had a sticker over top of the female nude in the moon on the cover..
The CD version released by Virgin Records, and later reissued on Charly Records contains an extra track: "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or The D-day DJ's Got the D.D.T. Blues", that ends with a male voice choir glissando (questionably regarded by some as a parody on Pink Floyd's "Echoes"), starting with "Ahhhh" and ending with "Chooo", mimicking a sneeze. The track was originally released on the Live Etc. album but was excluded from the CD release (which reissued that double album as one disc), and included on this album instead.
Track listing
Unusual spellings are as listed on the cover of the original edition.
- "Other Side of the Sky" (Tim Blake, Daevid Allen) – 7:38
- "Sold to the Highest Buddha" (Mike Howlett, Allen) – 3:10
- "Castle in the Clouds" (Steve Hillage) – 1:13
- "Prostitute Poem" (Gilli Smyth, Hillage) – 6:05
- "Givin My Luv to You" (Allen) – 0:42
- "Selene" (Allen) – 3:42
- "Flute Salad" (Didier Malherbe) – 2:46
- "Oily Way" (Allen, Malherbe) – 3:01
- "Outer Temple" (Blake, Hillage) – 1:09
- "Inner Temple" (Allen, Malherbe) – 3:21
- "Percolations" (Pierre Moerlen) – 0:40
- "Love is How U Make It" (Moerlen, Allen) – 3:25
- "I Niver Glid Before" (Hillage) – 5:37
- "Eat That Phone Book Coda" (Malherbe) – 3:10
- "Ooby-Scooby Doomsday or The D-day DJ's Got the D.D.T. Blues" (Allen) – 5:09
The instrumental section at the end of "Sold to the Highest Buddha" is referred to as "6/8 sax" in the cover notes, and became a separate piece titled "6/8" on Live Etc. "Selene" is a completely different song from one with the same title on an earlier Gong album, Camembert Electrique.
Later CD editions add more bonus tracks, including demo vocal versions with altered mixing.
Personnel
Note: Pseudonyms and absurd instrument names selected by Daevid Allen are used on the album credits; real names are used in composer credits, and are shown in brackets.
Songs
1Other Side of the Sky7:39
2Sold to the Highest Buddha4:28
3Castle in the Clouds1:12