Release date: 1988
Label: Line Records
Production: Pierre Moerlen
Length: 71:12
Genre: jazz rock fusion/progressive rock
Rating: 7/10
The second half of the eighties was definitely not among the most inspired stretches in the career of French drum and percussion wizard Pierre Moerlen, who earned his worldwide reputation mainly as the leader of his own jazz rock fusion version of the legendary Gong, and as an occasional live collaborator of Mike Oldfield, who also influenced him as a composer.
»Second Wind« picked up where its not exactly successful predecessor »Breakthrough« (1986) left off, but it was a welcome step in the right direction: it had fewer synthetic keyboard elements and stayed true to the instrumental form of percussion-driven jazz rock fusion that Moerlen had been nurturing ever since he started leading his own Gong faction. Moerlen also learned his lesson that his vocal attempts were a pretty poor investment, so on »Second Wind« he dropped them. Of the members of the Swedish prog rock band Tribute that Moerlen worked with on »Breakthrough,« only guitar virtuoso Ake Zeiden remained, and he really shines with his sparkling guitar feats on the track »Beton,« while the only one left from the old collaborators is future Gongzilla bassist Hansford Rowe.
Zeiden gets properly carried away with his guitar improvisations every now and then, but the central role on most of the »Second Wind« pieces, as you can already hear on the opening title track, goes to Moerlen’s assorted percussion, led by the vibraphone and the gongs, which he liked to play best with the mallet-style version of drumsticks. The easygoing ambient feel and melodic structure of most of the »Second Wind« material, with the standout being Pierre’s ‘feature-length’ three-part drum solo titled »Crash & Co,« while here and there you can also hear some elements of prog rock and world music, were the guarantee of one of the most accessible forms of jazz rock fusion, so ‘trouble-free’ that it suits any occasion, even as background music for yoga or for eating Grandma’s Sunday lunch.
Compared with its more synthetic predecessor »Breakthrough,« »Second Wind« was a noticeable improvement, but it still ranked among the less interesting achievements of Moerlen’s Gong, especially when you put it next to Pierre’s albums from the seventies. Even before the release of the live album »Full Circle Live ’88« (1991), Moerlen decided to retire his version of Gong, but he revived it in 2002 for the album »Pentanine« (2004), which was recorded with Russian musicians. That was his last musical effort before his unexpected death in 2005. Rowe, guitarist Bon Lozaga and Benoit Moerlen are still active today as Gongzilla, the closest possible approximation of Moerlen’s version of Gong.
Review by: Peter Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
1. Second Wind (6:10)
2. Time And Space (5:31)
3. Say No More (5:37)
4. Deep End (4:20)
5. Crystal Funk (4:27)
6. Exotic (5:52)
7. Beton (3:53)
8. Alan Key (5:38)
9. Crash & Co., The first (5:53)
10. Crash & Co., The second (8:52)
11. Crash & Co., The third (15:27)
Pierre Moerlen’s Gong:
Pierre Moerlen – drums, percussion, synthesizer, backing vocals
Benoit Moerlen – percussion, synthesizer
Hansford Rowe – bass guitar, guitar
Ake Zieden – guitar
Frank Fischer – keyboards
Stefan Traub – percussion, synthesizer
Guest musicians:
Alex Sanguinetti – drums (9-11)
Simon Pomara – percussion
