Gong – Shamal

The A side's production & musical chops are in place, but the material doesn't cut it for me, And don't ask me about vocals on jazz fusion records.
But flip it onto its B-side and all your doubts are erased as you enter prog heaven. (3.5)

I assume that the 1st press could sound even better to this reissue but.. what could be better than one release masters by George Peckham? This reissue sounds excellent to my ears.

I have had this copy since it was New…still Dead Quiet and Super HiFi… great rhythm section and dynamic presentation

No bar code under Stereo OVED 17 on my copy

Excellent Gong album, I would categorize this album as funky prog music. This is really an enjoyable record from start to finish The one I have is the first UK pressing, sounds fantastic. A Must Have even for the funky people.

All I can say is if you have the opportunity to buy this album, grab it… you won’t be dissatisfied. It’s everything you’d hope it to be.

Absolutely essential for any music fan and record collector. Gong is one of the great unknown, shoulda, woulda, coulda been HUGE!!! Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but they are definitely more or less unknown to the world. This album in particular, for me, as a young, aspiring musician, studying and performing jazz in college during the mid/late 90s, opened my eyes to whole new world of vital, game-changing jazz/rock fusion. Of course we fusion fans know Weather Report, Return to Forever, The Head Hunters, and Mahavishnu Orchestra, and rightfully so, as these bands and artists were jazz fusion pioneers, the best of the best, if you will. However, if not at the same level as the aforementioned bands, Gong is right there, banging on door, ready to smash right through!!

I have a similar Shamal (green labels etc., V2046 on cover, V 2046 on labels), but with matrix runout barcodes (etched):
A: 28 V2046 A1 EG +ong
B: 35 V2046 B1 EG master room
With best greetings "vinyylikakut"

this album is a work of immense beauty and power if you can get past the vocal parts , mireille bauer steals the show here .
i played this album for the first time last night and found myself playing it for hours at a time.
it;s safe to say this is my favourite pierre moerlin gong album so far with "gazeuse" coming in second .
can't wait to further explore the moerlin gong albums.

Referred to as a transitional album between the Pot Head Pixie-era and the Pierre Moerlen-led fusion-era, Daevid Allen, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, and Tim Blake had left (Hillage does appear as a guest, but basically left to pursue his solo career, as Fish Rising already came out before Shamal). Didier Malherbe, Mike Howlett, Pierre Moerlen, and Mireille Bauer remain, and brought in keyboardist Patrice Lemoine, who played for Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes. Thanks to Allen's absence, Mike Howlett took over vocal duties (but he would leave after this album), so half the album contains vocals from him, the other half are instrumental. Ethnic influences can be found here with Didier Malherbe's flute playing, most prominent on "Bambooji", but also "Wingful of Eyes". Argentinean Jorge PInchevsky provides violin, where some tango influence can be found on "Cat in Clarke's Shoes" (although his violin playing seemed more mariachi-like to my ears but with a tango rhythm). Plenty of fusion to be found, despite Patrice Lemoine's previous experience with Catherine Ribeiro + Alpes, his keyboard playing here stick mainly to electric piano and Minimoog done in typical fusion style. "Chandra" finds Jorge Pinchevsky playing violin in a more typical Jean-Luc Ponty style of fusion violin playing. Pierre Moerlen and Mireille Bauer provides tons of percussion (Moerlen provides the drumming, and both tons of percussion like xylophones and marimbas). Not so much space rock as the Daevid Allen version, it's still a very good album in its own right, and fans of the later, Pierre Moerlen-led version would not have too much problems adapting to this (aside from, perhaps, Mike Howlett's vocals).

I happen to own two LP copies of this. One being the American copy (CBS distribution), with no gatefold, different typefonts, and a different picture of sand dunes. The other being the UK gatefold edition I just recently acquired. The US copy I've had since 1995. Not surprisingly the American copy I have uses the famous blue label with the twin ladies (as it was still used in the states until 1978 when the label was bought out by Jem in the States), but surprised to find the UK version using that same label, as I was certain that label was phased out in the UK sometime in 1975 (Shamal was apparently released in February 1976, despite the 1975 copyright on the label). Either Virgin in the UK brought the old label back temporarily, or Gong insisted on using that label (of course the somewhat later UK pressing features the green label with the ladies in a circle, and then the more generic green on one side, red on the other side label Virgin used after 1978).