Gong was too weird for commercial success, but they took the kinds of musical risks that gave them instant cult status. The Best Of Gong Vol. 1 does a great job of portraying their integral moments, most of which occurred during the Daevid Allen-fronted era. “Mystic Sister” from 1969 opens with trickling piano and meandering flute that plays under seductive female moaning pumped through analogue tape delay. The following counterpart “Magick Brother” takes a more linear form by braiding those sounds with a solid folk-based tune. “Mister Long Shanks: Oh Mother I Am Your Fantasy” blends bits of Dada-inspired jazz with trippy atmospheric soundscapes and female singing that comes together to sound like the more psychedelic moments on Linda Perhacs’ Parallelograms. Gong’s penchant for proggy arrangements surfaces in “Dynamite I Am Your Original” where smooth, analogue synths nicely contrast Steve Hillage’s warbling wah-wah guitar licks. “Radio Gnome Invisible” from 1973’s Flying Teapot blends the British-flavored psych of early Pink Floyd with sideways arrangements and Eastern instruments.