Monday 7 October 2013

Gong (Cathedral, 1978)

First, a disambiguation note: this is a song from the "Stained Glass Stories" debut album by Cathedral, the US '70s prog band, not to be confused with the more recent UK band bearing the same name. "Gong" it's a instrumental synphonic rock jewel, IMHO. The rythm is enthralling, the plots are rich and intricate, the tempo changes are surprising and the band's performance is perfect. What else? I think this 7 minute track melts very well all the band's influences, from Genesis to Yes and from King Crimson to Gentle Giant, but the result isn't a simply derivative song: "Gong" has its own character.

Unfortunately, the band waited some 30 years to release
the follow up of "Stained Glass Stories".

Do you know why? Because you'll find no weak moments here: each passage is exacly where it had to be, each instruments comes in when it had to, each musical idea is developed to the very end and gives place to the next one without any useless pause. This song was a pleasant surprise to me when I first listened to it, I hope the same will happen to you.

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