Expresso II

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox album | name = Expresso II | type = studio | artist = Gong{{efn|This incarnation of the band was later named Pierre Moerlen's Gong}} | cover = Gong.Expresso.II.jpg | alt = | released = March 1978 | recorded = July–August 1977 | venue = | studio =Pye & Matrix, London | genre = Jazz rock | length = 37:17 | label = Virgin | producer = * Gong * John Wood | chronology = Gong | prev_title = Gong est Mort, Vive Gong | prev_year = 1977 | next_title = A Wingful of Eyes | next_year = 1987 | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = Pierre Moerlen's Gong | type = studio | prev_title = Gazeuse! | prev_year = 1976 | title = Expresso II | year = 1978 | next_title = Downwind | next_year = 1979 }} }}

{{Album ratings | rev1 = Allmusic | rev1Score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/expresso-ii-r8409 |title=Expresso II - Gong | AllMusic |first=David |last=Ros Smith |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |accessdate=24 June 2011}}</ref> }} '''''Expresso II''''' is the eighth studio album released under the name Gong and the ''de facto'' second album by Pierre Moerlen's Gong. It released in February 1978.

Featuring an all-instrumental jazz-driven sound, notable for the prominent use of vibraphone. Although the album was issued by Virgin Records under the "Gong" name for contractual reasons, and the name "Pierre Moerlen's Gong" would not be adopted for a few more months, the lineup involved and the nature of the music are those of the Moerlen-led band.

This was the final Gong-related album released by Virgin; the band continued on Arista Records.

==Track listing== {{Tracklist | total_length = | title1 = Heavy Tune | writer1 = Pierre Moerlen | length1 = 6:22 | title2 = Golden Dilemma | writer2 = Hansford Rowe | length2 = 4:51 | title3 = Sleepy | writer3 = Mireille Bauer | length3 = 7:17 | title4 = Soli | writer4 = Hansford Rowe | length4 = 7:37 | title5 = Boring | writer5 = Mireille Bauer | length5 = 6:23 | title6 = Three Blind Mice | writer6 = Benoît Moerlen | length6 = 4:47 }}

==Personnel== *Pierre Moerlen – drums, vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel, tympani, tubular bells *Benoît Moerlen – vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, glockenspiel, percussion, claves, tubular bells *Mireille Bauer – marimba, vibraphone *Hansford Rowe – bass, rhythm guitar (2) ;Additional personnel *Mick Taylor – lead guitar (1) *Allan Holdsworth – lead guitar (3, 4, 6), rhythm guitar (1) *Bon Lozaga – lead guitar (2), rhythm guitar (3) *Darryl Way – violin (3, 5) *François Causse – congas

==In popular culture== The track "Heavy Tune" is featured on Fusion FM radio in the game Grand Theft Auto IV.

== Notes == {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

*Macan, E. L., Macan, E. (1997). Rocking the Classics: English Progressive Rock and the Counterculture. Germany: Oxford University Press. p. 243

{{DEFAULTSORT:Expresso Ii}} Category:1978 albums Category:Gong (band) albums Category:Pierre Moerlen's Gong albums Category:Jazz fusion albums Category:Virgin Records albums