Shamal (album)

Shamal
Studio album by Gong
Released	13 February 1976[1]
Recorded	December 1975[2] at Basing Street Studios, London and Olympic Studios, London; mixed at Sarm Studios, London
Genre	Progressive rock[3]
Length	40:13
Label	Virgin Records
Producer	Nick Mason
Gong chronology
You (1974) Shamal (1976) Shapeshifter (1992)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[3]

Shamal is an album by Gong, originally released in early 1976.

The album was written and recorded without the group's founder member Daevid Allen, and consequently sounds different, with fewer of the hippie-flavoured eccentricities of the previous albums. It still has a generally progressive rock-influenced approach, however, especially with Steve Hillage's guitar, slowly drifting into a jazz fusion sound. It is usually regarded as a transitional album between Allen's incarnation of the band and the Pierre Moerlen-led fusion lineup of the late 1970s. The album was produced by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason.

Track listing

Side A

1. "Wingful of Eyes" (Howlett) – 8:19
2. "Chandra" (Lemoine) – 7:16
3. "Bambooji" (Malherbe) – 5:21

Side B

1. "Cat in Clark's Shoes" (Malherbe) – 7:45
2. "Mandrake" (Moerlen) – 5:07
3. "Shamal" (Bauer, Howlett, Lemoine, Malherbe, Moerlen) – 8:58

Personnel

Musicians

• Sandy Colley – vocals
• Steve Hillage – acoustic guitar, guitar, electric guitar
• Mike Howlett – bass, bass guitar, vocals
• Pierre Moerlen – drums, vibraphone, tubular bells
• Jorge Pinchevsky – violin
• Mireille Bauer – percussion, glockenspiel, xylophone, gong, marimba
• Didier Malherbe – flute, bansuri, wind, gong, soprano sax, tenor sax
• Miquette Giraudy – keyboards, vocals
• Patrice Lemoine – organ, piano, synthesizer, keyboards

Production

• Nick Mason: producer
• Clive Arrowsmith: artwork, photography
• Phil Ault: engineer
• Dave Hutchins: engineer
• Ben Tavera King: engineer
• Rick Curtain: engineer
• Ben King: engineer

References