Every now and
then, a band comes along that defies convention, refuses to be pigeon-holed,
thumbs its nose at comfy predictability and blows raspberries at commercial
wisdom. That band is Gong. From 1970 to the present day, Gong have ploughed a
unique musical furrow - part progressive rock, part spacey psychedelia, part
proto-punk, ambient trance, drum 'n' bass and absurdist political performance
art.







In this revised and updated edition,
long-time fan Kevan Furbank examines all the Gong albums from Magick Brother in
1970 to 2023's Unending Ascending and chronicles the stories behind each
recording. He examines the songwriting, arrangements and mythology that
inspired each track - with new insights from, amongst others, the current
fantastic Gong line-up, bassist Mike Howlett, violinist Graham Clark and
guitarist Josh Pollock.







He salutes the many great musicians who have
passed through Gong in the last 50-odd years, including guitar hero Steve
Hillage, drummer Pierre Moerlen, flute and sax maestro Didier Malherbe and, of
course, whimsical visionary and Gong founder Daevid Allen. The author also
discusses the off-shoots of the Gong family tree - including Mother Gong,
Gongmaison and Pierre Moerlen's Gong.







If you
have never heard any Gong, this book is the perfect introduction. If you have,
you will want to go back and revisit the glorious music this band has made