The companion piece to The Flying Teapot, Angel's Egg is not your usual
progressive rock album. Very quirky, with many, mostly brief compositions,
the album is a tad less spacy than Teapot, with just a few psychedelic-inspired
lyrics, and it's very technically adept. Angel's Egg opens with a true
space rock cut (one of the few on the album), filled with the usual Smyth
space whispering and Allen voicings, then leads into the cleverly titled
"Sold to the Highest Buddha," with Hillage and Malherbe prominent
figures. The instrumental "Castle in the Clouds" finds Hillage
coming into his own, with a sound identical to his solo work. "Givin'
My Love to You" sounds like a bar song, with no music and a cluster
of seemingly drunken fellas trying to sing. The instrumental "Flute
Salad" gives way to "Oily Way," a showcase for Malherbe's
jazzy flute. "Inner Temple," an instrumental space rock track,
moves along with a jazz edge, provided by Didier's sax. The final three
tracks are the real highlights on Angel's Egg. "I Never Glid Before"
is a fantastic prog-rock tune, replete with blistering Hillage solo, primo
Allen lyrics and vocal, and the precise percussion of new bandmember Pierre
Moerlen. This eclectic composition travels through several movements and
time changes, and comes across as a perpetually progressing piece. The
imaginative and jazzy "Eat That Phone Book Coda" brings the
album to a close.
(by David Ross Smith, All
Music Guide)
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