Review of Gong's Camembert Electrique

Released 1971

" Well help me help me sing this song, I wanna stay living for much too long. Now I wanna ride this big brass gong. Where am I babe? You don't know!"


I can't help but smile when I think of this album. Not only is there is a great deal of humor in the album itself, but as a student this was one of a few select records whose oddness when broadcast on the communal music centre in the hall of, brought forth looks of incredulity from the 'straights' and helped to cement the unfavourable reputation myself and my cohorts quite deliberately built up and relished.

Remarkably I can't recall which of these cohorts first purchased Camembert Electrique. I certainly acquired a vinyl copy at some point and I am now on my second CD copy. Whoever introduced the first copy to the group did us a favour. Gong are a band who are a form of musical marmite, inspiring either fervoured devotion or mild horror.

I knew nothing about Gong before Camembert Electrique, other than their associations with pixies and teapots through various other album covers spotted in the second hand bins. Clearly they were bonkers. I guessed their Frenchness contributed to this mania and eccentricity.

There's really no point trying to draw comparisons between Gong and any other mainstream prog band. Indeed it is their individuality which is so endearing.

The record starts with a brief introduction in French to the Planet Gong by a non human entity. This segues into You Can't Kill Me, heavy on sax, chemically enhanced female backgrounds, some excellent percussion and largely free form lyrics. The bursts of guitar, very low in the mix, are heavy on distortion and bent notes. It is highly repetitive with hints of jazz influence and unhealthy catchy.

I've Bin Stoned Before does exactly what it says on the tin, being a tirade of stoned monologue underpinned by gorgeous sax and grand hammond. Bonkers but brilliant.

It is difficult to pin down whether there is a theme or concept behind the album other than being the collective free form jamming of a bunch of French hippies. Not that this is a bad thing. Honest.

There are odd interludes which work very well through the headphones: Wet Cheese Delirium for example combines an indefinable sound effect with a largely incomprehensible repeated lyric. It lasts less than a minute but adds to the overall madness.

The highlight of the record is undoubtably Fohat Digs Holes In Space. It starts with mystical sound effects, weird female lyrics, a repeating percussive theme which builds in intensity with early Floydian type keyboards before culminating in hilarious drug referencing lyrics and a tremendous guitar solo.

Tried So Hard is very sedate by comparison, with a more orthodox rhythm, lyrics which invite you to sing along with a quite punky vocal style morphing through more gentle verses becoming about twelve songs in one. Listening to it again as I type, I had forgotten just how complex and deliciously effective this track can be.

Overall, it's a hugely enjoyable record with outstanding playing, massive prog credentials and long term appeal. All these years later, I can find at least as much to enjoy as I did as a student still relatively new to the world of prog.