Gong - Rejoice! I'm Dead

  by Paul Waller

published: 23 / 8 / 2016

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Review

Last year Daevid Allen,the co-founder of Gong passed away...I had no idea how or what state Gong would continue to exist in or even if they would or should but with the release of ‘Rejoice, I’m Dead’ it’s clear that they have and I must say that Allen would be proud with the results on this album. It makes no sense that after so long a band can still equal and in some cases surpass their early work. For this album, track by track there is little in the way of filler. Sure, Gong borrows here and there. One of my favourite moments, ‘Model Village’, wouldn’t sound out of place amongst Pink Floyd’s best work and as for ‘The Unspeakable Stands Revealed’, it’s twelve minute running length takes a splash of prog, blends it with some jazz and the entire Gong back catalogue then sticks it in a blender with some breathtaking results. You can feel the life running through the track listing. They sound hungry, which is mad when you think of how long this group, which first formed in 1967, in all its guises has been producing music. So yeah, simply put 'Rejoice! I’m Dead' is fantastic. Will it gain the band new fans? Probably not. Will this go down as an all-time classic? Again, probably not. But right now I want to listen to nothing else. Sometimes that is enough.

Track Listing:-

1 The Thing That Should Be
2 Rejoice!
3 Kapital
4 Model Village
5 Beatrix
6 Visions
7 The Unspeakable Stands Revealed
8 Through Restless Seas I Come
9 Insert Yr Own Prophecy

Band Links:-

http://www.planetgong.co.uk/
http://planetgong.altervista.org/
http://www.macgraphic.co.jp/ich/gong/i
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Gong-Ba

Label Links:-

http://www.madfishmusic.com/
https://www.facebook.com/madfishlabel
https://www.youtube.com/user/madfishmu
https://twitter.com/madfishmusic