http://www.progressiverock.com/The Strawberry Bricks Guide to Progressive RockCopyright 2011, Progressiverock.comen-ushttp://www.progressiverock.com/http://www.progressiverock.com/covers/350.jpghttp://progressiverock.com/guide/releases/youAs the opening tracks “Thoughts For Naught/A P.H.P.'s Advice” attest, Didier Malherbe and Daevid Allen playfully set the stage for the third and final of Gong's Radio Gnome Trilogy. For the most part though, Gong forgoes the song format of the previous album and instead rides the long and jammin' rock-solid grooves of their ace rhythm team of Mike Howlett and Pierre Moerlen. That said it's little surprise that You is Gong's strongest release yet. The mantra of “Master Builder” ignites with Steve Hillage's formidable lead guitar. “A Sprinkling of Clouds” creeps out of Tim Blake's pulsing synthesizers, again building into an instrumental tour de force. The second side again starts playfully, but descends into the mega-riff of “Isle Of Everywhere”, probably the finest example of what Gong did at their best. Both Malherbe and Hillage have plenty of room to solo over the hypnotic head-nod groove. From there Allen winds up the cosmic adventure fittingly with the spacious and sprawling “You Never Blow Yr Trip Forever.” Unfortunately Allen did, and following a bad trip before a gig in England, he and Smyth would take their leave from the band. The others would soldier on, and from here the amount of music released under the Gong banner would blossom exponentially (a good thing). The album was the only one from the band to see a US release. In 1977, Virgin released a double-album, Live Etc., documenting the trilogy-era years with live tracks and residue. That same year, the trilogy band would unite for a one- off concert at Paris' Hippodrome, their performance released as Gong est Mort, Viva Gong! on the French Tapioca label.Thu, 17 May 2012 05:44:11 -0700