j o e

The debut, all-instrumental album by Brand X transports us back to Phil Collins' "Anakin Skywalker" days, as a frighteningly talented drummer who wasn't singing things like "Hold On My Heart" and starring in crappy movies called Buster. This was recorded in September-October 1975 (to provide some context, Genesis' A Trick of the Tail was recorded in October-November 1975), and is a mostly overlooked, classic fusion recording. What kind of fusion, you may ask? Well, if the Mahavishnu Orchestra sounded like a ferocious lion ready to tear apart a pack of hapless gazelles, Brand X might have been the sly, limber cheetah gazing bemusedly from a distance. This group had a light but still undeniably powerful sound, driven particularly by Collins' drumwork and bassist Percy Jones' inimitable bubbly fretless. There are no substantially weak moments I can think of on this disc. As for the remaining members of the band, "Nuclear Burn" features some fiery guitar from John Goodsall, while Robin Lumley injects "Euthanasia Waltz" with a subtle and clever keyboard solo. Also, note that the title track strikingly recalls Jones and Collins' contemporaneous performance on "Over Fire Island" off of Brian Eno's Another Green World. Anyway, to anyone who is convinced Phil Collins is the Antichrist, get this baby! At the very least, it should paint a more three-dimensional picture. review by Joe McGlinchey — 2-8-00 —

e r i c

The reason I purchased this disc was due to Phil Collins. I do listen to jazz/fusion, but by no means am I very knowledgable on the genre. Collins is surprising here, he is very intense and yet subtle, alot of nice accents with the snare and hi-hat. His playing with Genesis is also very musical, with all the little subtleties that most rock drummers leave out. He has not played like this in years. Enough on Phil; the band really puts together a fine set of material. "Nuclear Burn" opens the CD and is my favorite track, with Goodsall upfront on guitar, but also some synth playing that reminds me of Happy the Man. "Euthanasia Waltz" opens with Phil and mates just kind of going wild and making noise for about a minute and then go into an acoustic guitar based track. The funky "Born Ugly" smacks of 70īs all the way through. The playing is very good and Goodsall is just not into playing as the songs have some great melody to them; but as much as I like it, I donīt find myself playing it often. Fans of fusion will enjoy this, and those interested in hearing some intense drumming from Collins that shows a jazzier side to his playing, check it out. review by Eric Porter — undated —