''Expresso II'' is the eighth studio album released under the name

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

and the ''de facto'' second album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. It released in February 1978. Featuring an all-instrumental

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

-driven sound, notable for the prominent use of

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist ...

, it has little to do with the psychedelic

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

Daevid Allen Christopher David Allen (13 January 1938 – 13 March 2015), known professionally as Daevid Allen, sometimes credited as Divided Alien, was an Australian musician. He was co-founder of the psychedelic rock groups Soft Machine (in the UK, 1966) ...

, even though the two bands share a common history. Although the album was issued by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), Tom Newman. It ...

under the "Gong" name for contractual reasons, and the name "Pierre Moerlen's Gong" would not be adopted for a few more months, the lineup involved and the nature of the music are that of the Moerlen-led band. This was the final Gong-related album released by Virgin; the band continued on Arista Records.

Track listing

Personnel

;Pierre Moerlen's Gong *

Pierre Moerlen Pierre Moerlen (23 October 1952, Colmar, Haut-Rhin – 3 May 2005, Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines, near Strasbourg) was a French drummer and percussionist, best known for his work with Gong and Mike Oldfield and as Pierre Moerlen's Gong. Biography Pi ...

– drums,

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in ...

, glockenspiel,

tympani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

tubular bells Tubular bells (also known as chimes) are musical instruments in the percussion family. Their sound resembles that of church bells, carillon, or a bell tower; the original tubular bells were made to duplicate the sound of church bells within a ...

* Benoît Moerlen – vibraphone, marimba, percussion, tubular bells, glockenspiel,

claves Claves (; ) are a percussion instrument consisting of a pair of short, wooden sticks about 20–25 centimeters (8–10 inches) long and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter. Although traditionally made of wood (typically rosewood, ebony o ...

, xylophone *

Mireille Bauer Mireille Bauer (born 24 August 1951, Barr, Alsace, northeastern France) is a French percussionist and former member of Gong. Through her then boyfriend Pierre Moerlen, she first worked with Gong in a session capacity on '' Angel's Egg'' and ''You' ...

–

marimba The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...

, vibraphone *

Hansford Rowe Hansford Herndon Rowe Jr. (May 12, 1924 – September 5, 2017) was an American film, stage and television actor. Early life and education Rowe was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of Virginia Isabel (née Willis) and Hansford Herndon Rowe, ...

– bass, rhythm guitar (2) ;Additional personnel *

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: ''Let It Bleed'' ...

– lead guitar (1) * Allan Holdsworth – lead guitar (3, 4, 6), rhythm guitar (1) *Bon Lozaga – lead guitar (2), rhythm guitar (3) *

Darryl Way Richard Darryl Way (born 17 December 1948 in Taunton, Somerset, England) is an English rock and classical musician who was a founding member of Curved Air and co-writer of their Progressive Rock seminal albums from 1970 to 1976. He is best kno ...

– violin (3, 5) *François Causse – congas

In popular culture

The track "Heavy Tune" is featured on

Fusion FM ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's ''Grand Theft Auto: San Andr ...

radio in the game

Grand Theft Auto IV ''Grand Theft Auto IV'' is a 2008 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2004's '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', and the e ...

References

*Macan, E. L., Macan, E. (1997). Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Germany: Oxford University Press. p. 243 {{DEFAULTSORT:Expresso Ii 1978 albums Gong (band) albums Pierre Moerlen's Gong albums Jazz fusion albums Virgin Records albums