Gong-Gazeuse! (1976)

By the time the Franco-British band Gong released their eighth album, "Gazeuse!", their style was clearly focused on full-fledged jazz-rock, yet the humorous, zany, and experimental spirit of their former frontman, Daevid Allen, still lingers at certain points throughout the album. With a solid lineup of established British and French jazz-rock musicians such as Allan Holdsworth, Francis Moze, Mireille Bauer, Benoit Moerlen, Pierre Moerlen, and Didier Malherbe, the group manages to create a repertoire of well-written songs that contrast with one another but simultaneously fit together perfectly within the album's overall sound. Pierre Moerlen's extensive use of instruments like marimbas, xylophones, and glockenspiels adds color and relaxing moments to the music, while his precise drumming shines equally brightly. In addition to all of this, Allan Holdsworth's guitar work is sublime, showcasing intoxicating riffs that contribute significantly to all the compositions and interact with the exquisite contributions of Malherbe's saxophone and flute. Frenetic tracks like "Expresso" and "Esnuria", brilliant percussive canvases like "Percolations Part One", and the superb jazz-rock "Shadows Of" lead this album to be considered one of the jewels of European jazz-rock, driven primarily by the percussion instruments.