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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
You is my favourite of the classic Flying Teapot trilogy and marks the exact halfway point in the band's evolutionary arc between an anarcho-buddhist comedy collective and a seriously groundbreaking jazz-rock outfit. As such, this album, in a certain sense, is the best Gong album, being the best of both Gongs.
I haven't owned this for about 25 years, and when my copy arrived the other day the memories immediately came back of lying on my back, unable to move and being 10,000 miles long and made out of electric watercress, this amazing music bouncing off the walls. Life's never been the same since really.
The mystical idealism is still a major ingredient, courtesy of Daevid Allen, but the musicianship and production have blossomed into something extremely accomplished. Steve Hillage has always been a fine guitarist with an extremely melodic and structured approach, but this is somehow melded with a wild, fierce, chaotic quality that never turned up again on his studio albums (It was there in the big First Glastonbury triple album). Pierre Moerlin on Drums and Mike Howlett's bass are very tight. Tim Blake's keyboards/synths were quite unique at this time but have left a huge legacy in the dance era. Beautifully crafted sax and flute solos from Didier Malherbe, glocks and zylers from Mirielle Bauer, plus the myriads of tiny vocal details provided by Gilli Smythe and Miquette Giraudy peeping out from under the flowerpots.
If the journey of Zero the Hero through the Isle of Everywhere, populated by Pot-Head Pixies, Radio Gnomes and Octave Doctors sounds a mite silly to you, then you will probably find this album a bit embarassing. But if you find this world just not quite silly enough (in the nice sort of way) then come in and join us :- Aum
I haven't owned this for about 25 years, and when my copy arrived the other day the memories immediately came back of lying on my back, unable to move and being 10,000 miles long and made out of electric watercress, this amazing music bouncing off the walls. Life's never been the same since really.
The mystical idealism is still a major ingredient, courtesy of Daevid Allen, but the musicianship and production have blossomed into something extremely accomplished. Steve Hillage has always been a fine guitarist with an extremely melodic and structured approach, but this is somehow melded with a wild, fierce, chaotic quality that never turned up again on his studio albums (It was there in the big First Glastonbury triple album). Pierre Moerlin on Drums and Mike Howlett's bass are very tight. Tim Blake's keyboards/synths were quite unique at this time but have left a huge legacy in the dance era. Beautifully crafted sax and flute solos from Didier Malherbe, glocks and zylers from Mirielle Bauer, plus the myriads of tiny vocal details provided by Gilli Smythe and Miquette Giraudy peeping out from under the flowerpots.
If the journey of Zero the Hero through the Isle of Everywhere, populated by Pot-Head Pixies, Radio Gnomes and Octave Doctors sounds a mite silly to you, then you will probably find this album a bit embarassing. But if you find this world just not quite silly enough (in the nice sort of way) then come in and join us :- Aum
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Along with "Angel's Egg", "You" has been faithfully restored in a superbly sounding remastered version. Overseen by Mark Powell, much trouble has been taken to ensure that this is the best version available of this, the third instalment of the Radio Gnome Trilogy. The sound, remastered by Paschal Byrne is crystal clear and brings out all the nuances of the musical collage that was Gong.
Recorded by the classic lineup of Gong, "You" is probably the most musically involving album by the band. Daevid Allen's input was receding, with guitarist Steve Hillage coming more to the fore. There is less of the whimsy and all round good humour associated with "Angel's Egg", but this still remains a classic recording from Virgin Records golden era. The album includes lengthier tracks such as "Master Builder", "Sprinkling of Clouds" and "Isle of Everywhere" which enables members of the band to stretch out. The synths of Tim Blake bubble away nicely and Hillage's soaring, ecstatic sounding guitar is building up in confidence.
It's a shame that EMI/Virgin cannot secure the rights to "Flying Teapot" in order to satisfactorily complete the Trilogy. Maybe someday. But for now do get this and "Angel's Egg" to hear one of the most original and fun bands from the golden age of progressive rock, sounding better than ever.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I will not waste time talking about the `Radio Gnome Trilogy', the previous heavy concept was completely absurd and quite amusing. 'You' is so much more serious as it ties up the characters who seem to be lost in hyperspace. The realisation is at the end of Angel's Egg that the Planet Gong is a figment of anyone's imagination, the conclusion at the end of the trilogy is that you am I and I am you. I hope that does not spoil the ending, but the journey is what is important and what a journey it is. 'You' just improves the more times you listen to it. Everything seems to stem from this album, space rock is one aspect especially the Steve Hillage factor where 'The Glorious Om Riff' is born and this is basically what Ozric Tentacles seemed to base their sound on. Psy Trance and quite a lot of electronic dance music seems to be derived from this album to some extent. It is a polished sound not only in the beautiful CD master but in the composition. The synths are pure and everything is processed very carefully. The album builds to a more and more amazing song, from it's early 'invocation' through 'Master Builder' and the Steve Hillage/Tim Blake masterpiece 'A Sprinkling of Clouds' with slightly quirky asides at times from Daevid Allen, through to 'Isle of Everywhere' and 'You Never Blow YR Trip Forever'. If you like psychedelic music you cannot pass this by, it never fails to trip me out in a most enjoyable and uplifting way, it is not as jazzy or difficult as the other parts of the trilogy, it also works on it's own as the story is less detailed and more universal, the concept is philosphical and not narrative. Especially recommended for Pink Floyd, Hawkwind and space rock fans, it is not as warped sonically as Hawkwind or Krautrock as the way it has been put together is much more precise and careful without distortion, it is clean sounding. This is not to say that this is lightweight in anyway. Do not ignore this if you have never heard it, also if you can find it check out the remix CD of it modern dance and ambient versions of the material, lovingly re-contextualized and presented in a similar way to 'Panthalassa' by Bill Laswell/Miles Davis.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Here come the Octave Doctors
'You' is the last album by Gong as a fun, spaced-out band, and even then it displays much of the greater cohesion of the subsequent, jazzier 'Shamal' and 'Gazeuse' releases, both... Read more
Published 2 months ago by D. J. H. Thorn
Great original, appallingly poor recording
I have long treasured the vinyl version, and decided to get a CD as "backup". It is a VERY poor recording, and in comparison with the vinyl version sounds like it has been through... Read more
Published 15 months ago by A. Glowinski
PIFFLE!
amount of tracks:9
excellent :0
v.good :0
good :0
fair :2
poor :7
holy cow, id forgotten just how terrible this band were. Read more
excellent :0
v.good :0
good :0
fair :2
poor :7
holy cow, id forgotten just how terrible this band were. Read more
Published on 21 Sep 2007 by The evil hippy
Just magnificent
I've had this treasure for well over thirty years now, and I'm still amazed at the depth and breadth of this album; it's pure magic. Read more
Published on 26 July 2007 by ngaio1
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