An interesting project led by two Israelis who started playing together in 2007 in Israel, but beginning with their debut album in 2009 they have been based in Chicago and have left quite the mark on that city's live scene. These guys play a ton and in fact they try to replicate what they do on stage in the studio when they record, live of course. Hundreds of shows every year mean that this is a band to check out if they are ever in your area. Eleven studio albums in fourteen years with the duo(guitar/sax) adding and subtracting musicians as they go.

A couple of former Pat Metheny Group members have been involved with this band starting after their 2009 debut was released. Metheny's former rhythm section have been playing many live shows with MARBIN and also playing on their studio albums like here. Essentially they are a four piece here with about 15 guests adding stuff. Fourteen tracks over 55 minutes. Tracks are between 2 and 5 1/2 minutes.

Funny but this record feel like a Prog Rock album with sax as opposed to a Jazz record with Rock tendencies. Does it matter? I'm just not feeling it with this album despite the impressive playing. Two tracks stood out in "The Ballad Of Daniel White" and the self titled closer. I prefer the sax more on those two, and understand that this is soprano sax so it can be a challenge. Guitar and sax are the solo instruments here and the chosen instruments of those two Israelis when they first got together in 2007.

Good album but not a keeper in my opinion. They have some interesting recurring themes on their album covers and I do like the cover art here.

Following the departure of original members saxophonist / flautist Sacha Van Geest and drummer Marco Vrolijk who suddenly lost their interest in crafty complex prog music after three phenomenal albums, SUPERSISTER carried with keyboardist Robert Jan Stips and bassist Ron Van Eck picking up the pieces and taking the opportunity to reinvent the band into a completely different beast altogether. After recruiting a veritable replacement in the form of Charley Mariano formerly of Embryo and the US jazz-rock outfit Osmosis, Mariano came to the team with not only competent skills in playing saxophone and the flute but also added his talents on bass clarinet as well as the exotic South Indian double reed instrument called the nadaswaram. With 60s psychedelic drummer Herman van Boeyen of many bands including Blues Dimension, the new lineup was complete and a completely new chapter of SUPERSISTER was born.

The band tackled a completely new sound on its fourth album ISKANDER, a concept album about Alexander The Great. The album title is the Turkish name for the Macedonian king who reigned from 336-323 BCE). While not totally abandoning its Canterbury creds as heard on the Soft Machine organ and bass work, the album took on the most serious nature of SUPERSISTER's career with a wildly unpredictable ride through a mostly instrumental album that narrated the emperor in nine tracks that added up to just over 42 minutes of playing time. The album found a cameo from Pierre Morelen on marimba and percussion on "Bagoas" as well as former member Sacha van Geest dropping in for a flute performance on the closing "Looking Back (The Moral Of Herodotus)."

The album has been a divisive one with many fans of first three albums finding it to be too dramatically different from the first three but for those with a sense of adventure and an appreciation for a brilliant album outside the usual scope of a band's established sound, ISKANDER is actually a phenomenally brilliant album showcasing extremely strong musicianship and clever composiitons but then again unlike many of its Dutch counterparts, SUPERSISTER never released a single bad album out of the five that emerged under its name in its 1970s run. ISKANDER begins and ends with the sounds of antiquity with the opening "Introduction" and closing sounds of "Looking Back" but quickly embarks on a superb journey of jazzy progressive rock that showcases the band's new style as well as allowing the new members to prove their worthiness.

The first true track "Dareios The Emperor" establishes the sax as having replaced the dominant flute sounds on previous albums and also displays a firm control on excellent compositional fortitude with clever arrangements that offered diverse motifs, plenty of shifting time signatures, tempo changes and abrupt hairpin curveballs into completely unrelated yet logical extensions of the varying musical motifs that alternated into a greater sum of the parts. The music adds an exotic ancient Greek feel with various musical scales being implemented but for the most part ISKANDER is a veritable mix of jazz-rock, symphonic prog, scatterings of Canterbury jazz and wild eclectic styles from various sources. While sounding nothing like the previous SUPESISTER albums, Stips' keyboard antics are imprinted all over the album's run. The music is as dramatic as what one would expect from a great king from a faraway time and place with mood swings and stylistic shifts that dominate the soundscapes offering a journey through sound into that world. The album is surprisingly effective in evoking the spirit of its subject matter.

The album should by no means be compared with SUPERSISTER's previous albums as its really a stand alone in the band's canon but one that showcases an amazing display of prog virtuosity as well as an ability to convey a concept primarily through tones, timbres, rhythms and dynamics. The album finds scattered vocals throughout with "Bagoas" and "Babylon" featuring the most lyric oriented moments but even here the vocals are subdued and very subordinate to the musical prowess of the four members delivering an amazing powerhouse of a concept album. I honestly cannot fathom why everyone doesn't love this album. While the stylistic approach may not have been expected during its time of release, this album is absolutely brilliant on so many levels and best of all highlights how SUPERSISTER could totally reinvent itself an still deliver an above average product unlike fellow Dutch prog act Focus which quickly dropped the ball after "Hamburger Concerto." While not up to par with the band's first two masterpieces, ISKANDER is an album i enjoy thoroughly from beginning to end and am truly exhilarated by its ingenuity every time i experience it. One that deserves much more appreciation than its gotten so far :)

One of those projects that proves Daevid Allen was nothing more than an interdimensional pixie floating around like a butterfly and sampling all the fertile musical nectars wherever they may reside. After leaving GONG to Pierre Moerlen after the Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy, Allen was all over the world collaborating and cross-pollinating with like-minded freethinkers far and wide. By the late 70s, the extended GONG family had blossomed into a diverse family of related band's all held together by the familiar GONG moniker inserted into their namesakes. One of the many projects that Allen himself was involved in was this bizarre little one-off project called NEW YORK GONG which these days is more often referred to as the origins of Bill Laswell's involvement in the mutant disco band Material as well as the launching off point for his involvement with the more skronky post-Henry Cow project Massacre.

Around 1978 Allen found himself in The Big Apple, a time when not only funk, disco and dance music were all the rage but also an uglier underground such as no wave, hardcore punk as well as their friendlier cousin new wave. Initially starting out as the Zu Band and created in 1978 by producer Giorgio Gomelsky who moved to New York in the hopes of promoting progressive rock bands, the changing musical tides dictated otherwise. The band included bassist Bill Laswell, guitarist Cliff Cultreri, keyboardist Michael Beinhorn and drummer Fred Maher but spontaneously and suddenly at an October 1978 performance at the Zu Club, lead singer David Allen adopted the band name NEW YORK GONG and it pretty much stuck after that point.

As NEW YORK GONG only one studio album resulted, the 1979 release ABOUT TIME which offered a very strange mix of GONG inspired psychedelia mixed with punk rock, new wave and mutant disco. The project also proved that Allen wasn't the kind of artist who could adapt to a band situation very well as his idiosyncratic personality guaranteed it sounded like an Allen project but nevertheless ABOUT TIME showcased a rather unique chapter in the greater GONG universe. The album of nine tracks at nearly 37 minutes found Allen writing the majority of the tracks but also found a few collaborative efforts from other band members. Starting with the psychedelic intro "Preface" where Allen welcomes all aliens, humanoids and other freaks of nature, the album jumps into an accessible form of punk rock with "Much Too Old" but finds Allen delivering his unique psychedelic rapping style that was prevalent in his early GONG days. "Black September" sounding more punk in nature actually finds Allen singing but he proved to be no Joe Strummer, Johnny Rotten or Jello Biafra.

The album's inconsistent nature is one of its charms as well as a hinderance at least for any points in trying to be a New York punker! "Materialism" jumps into a mutant disco style that's both danceable and psychedelic with some nice progressive moves as far as changing up the musical motifs and completely instrumental with some jittery guitar riffs. "Strong Woman" drifts into a more 70s hippie vibe with Allen's classic glissando guitar antics accompanied by tribal drumming and that sort of Talking Heads inspired sound that King Crimson was experimenting with in the 1980s. Allen's contemplative singing also finds him in outbursts of what sound like shamanic chanting trying to break into some sort of throat singing! The short "I Am Freud" breaks into unadulterated new wave synth-pop only with brief moments of sax squawks inserted into micro-breaks.

"O My Photograph" at over 9 minutes long is the strangest track on board as it showcases Allen as the hippie punk rocker with a punk bass groove accompanied by Allen's psychedelic guitar and his greatest poetic prose turned into as many ways as expressing it as possible. The longevity of the song allows the mutant disco bass groove on high energy throughout its entirely to allow many psychedelic moments with Allen and is surprisingly danceable all the while as trippy as anything Allen conjured up in GONG! The closest thing to an actually GONG song of yore was the early 70s sounding "Jungle Window" which wouldn't have sounded out of place on 1973's "Flying Teapot" as it sounds like one of those classic moments where Allen raps about multi-dimensional creatures backed by Laswell channeling those classic Gong bass grooves along with funk guitar and a feisty tenor sax cameo provided by Gary Windo. "Hour's Gone" finishes the album starting off with a strange guitar style and then sounding like an electrified Bob Dylan before bursting into a punk rock song!

While touted as a Daevid Allen punk album, this sole offering from NEW YORK GONG is really a smorgasbord of various ideas with punk as one of the ingredients. I'm sure it became obvious to the other members that this quickly became the Daevid Allen show and that his collaborative efforts always found his dominate persona and stylistic approach steering everyone into that that psychedelic mindset. Once Allen departed the rest of the band would continue as the dance-punk / mutant disco band Material but for a brief moment NEW YORK GONG offered a wild ride through the lens of Daevid Allen interpreting the world of punk rock and new wave. The album is actually quite fun if you don't take it too seriously. No this is not an essential piece of the greater GONG universe but it certainly is one that sounds like no other and given all the styles juxtaposed together in strange new ways it's actually must've sounded a bit refreshing for anyone dissatisfied with any formulaic approach of the era. Definitely worthy of a spin now and again as it showcases Allen in both fully psychedelic hippie mode only with a bit of attitude thrown in for good measure.

MOOM was an oddball act to emerge from Northampton, England during the prog revival of the 1990s and existed long enough to release a couple albums on the Delerium Record label which was a cutting edge prog label that was siphoning up the newbie prog acts of the era including a fledgling Porcupine Tree as well as many of the psychedelic rock revivalists. The band consisted of Kristian Hartridge (guitar, vocals), Greg Myles (drums, vocals), Andy Fairclough (keyboards), Mark Astill (guitar) and Jim Patterson (bass). The band formed somewhere around 1992 but remains a bit obscure as it has very much remained an underground unit.

The debut album TOOT was released in 1995 and was guided under the tutelage of Robert John Godfrey of The Enid who helped the band go through the processes of recording and releasing albums. TOOT is a wildly strange ride of varying styles and although the band has latched itself on to the Canterbury Scene for moments that are reminiscent of of Hatfield & The North and other moments of the 70s scene, the album is actually all over the place with just as much time dedicated to alternative rock, folk, American jam bands and even references to Zappa.

After the short prelude, "Sally" showcases a feisty funk guitar sound that eventually shifts into a vocal led resembling classic Caravan with classic Canterbury keys and a bit of whimsy. The track also features some nice classic guitar licks. While "Sally" indicates a connection to Canterbury, the album quickly deviates into a world of organ dominated sound of a singer / songwriter with a bit of country twang with steel lap guitars on "Astronought" and the following "The Void Is Clear" offers a bit of ska syncopation but offers varying parts with keyboard led rock as well as faster guitar soloing segments. "Babbashagga" does evoke a classic Hatfield & The North sound only set to an easier listening style that sort of mixes Canterbury with 90s Britpop. At its heart MOOM was just a more adventurous pop rock band that was more creative than the average act of its day.

"The Higher Sun" is actually pretty psychedelic with some sort of didgeridoo type of instrument towards the end. "The Crocodilian Suite" does indeed start off with those herky jerky Canterbury rhythms only set to an alternative rock context however the organs do bring a neo-psychedelia band like Phish to mind for its long psychedelic jamming at the end. This is actually one of the more interesting tracks notable for its quirky rhythms, nice melodies and the Canterbury warmth not only in the musical scales but in the keyboard tones. The guitar soloing is tasteful and the vocals aren't as annoying as they can be as on some other tracks.

"Eye" is another quirky one with stellar bass grooves, trippy organs and lots of progressive time signature guitar moves including a long dub sequence with trippy synthesized sound effects. The lengthiest tracks is the closing "I Can't Remember the '60s... I Must Have Been There" and despite the lengthy playing time is more reminiscent of a more progressive Grateful Dead jam than anything with lengthy Jerry Garcia type guitar solos however the trippy keys and organs offer a touch of modern neo-psychedelia and the Canterbury warmth is present in the key tones and bass grooves.

MOOM's music is as quirky as the band name and TOOT, the debut is very strange indeed. Existing somewhere between an amateurish garage rock band, a Vermont hippie jamming collective and a fully dedicated prog band, MOOM excels at nothing and yet delivers a little of everything. The album is lighthearted and never delves into serious subject matter and TOOT offers a playful approach of mixing all the various styles in a new way that nobody had thought of before. While the ideas are pretty cool, the execution isn't as proficient as i'd hoped and although i'm totally fine with slacker band types tackling musical styles from a different angle, MOOM rubs me wrong the most in the vocal department. It's certainly an entertaining album in its own right but not really want that beckons return visits either. A strange anomaly in the extended Canterbury family, MOOM certainly delivered something unexpected and unique with TOOT in 1995.

With Faust now getting back into a swing of things with C'est com... com... compliqué and Faust Is Last, and in a decade that thrives upon making experimental music due to the likes of Secret Chiefs 3, Xiu Xiu, and The Mars Volta, it was certainly a good time to be a Faust fan, especially after getting their 2011 record, Something Dirty.

Whilst C'est com... com... compliqué was more of a back to basics for Faust, Something Dirty pushed things into a much heavier direction, implementing noise rock, psychedelia, and an almost Legendary Pink Dots sort of feeling resonating throughout each track, creating a very mystical, and, as the title suggests, dirty atmosphere that feels as though I am walking through a sandstorm with nothing but goggles upon me to protect my eyes.

This is also probably the first Faust record since Faust Wakes Nosferatu to have most of the tracks listed here to be consistently good in my opinion. The actual songs here feel both fractured, yet still consistently delivering, with nothing in the way to make things too egregious. I especially like the track of Lost the Signal. It is a nearly 9 minute piece of sound that has this super cool and foreboding atmosphere, one that reminds me of some of the songs off of Swans' Soundtracks for the Blind, but as the song progresses it turns more into a track that you'd see Faust make in their heyday, with dissonant guitars, lots of flavorful textures, and just some personal love for the entire album that makes this song a pretty masterful experience, especially in regards to the album as a whole.

Sure some tracks, particularly two of Thoughts Of The Dead and Save The Last One, aren't good, but they aren't all that bad comparatively to other lacking tracks the band has made. In fact, they are probably the best of the best in terms of bad Faust tracks. Thoughts of the Dead is pretty creepy, with speeches that give me ideas of some of David Tibet's more atmospheric workings, and while Save the Last One is very short, it is a fine little acoustic jingle to warm up for the last track. Still wouldn't say these tracks are all that stellar, but still they are pretty interesting to me.

Speaking of speeches, this certainly has some of the best vocals ever since Faust IV. Faust have never really been a band that likes to sing, but they did manage to get some good vocal numbers here and there with the help of British painter Geraldine Swayne, who's voice works quite well with the dissonant sounds that the band provides in my opinion, creating an extra unique layer that makes Something Dirty all the more special.

While it may not be as recognized as THE Faust album like Faust IV or The Faust Tapes, nor is it my personal all time favorite like Faust Wakes Nosferatu, Something Dirty still captures a joy that does get pretty close to being the best of the best. It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I certainly don't mind its noisy, dissonant rock elements at all, and see it as the next best step from both C'est com... com... compliqué, and Faust Is Last. Definitely listen to it if you have time.

Best tracks: Something Dirty, Lost the Signal, Dampfauslass 1, La sole dorée

Worst tracks: Thoughts of the Dead, Save the Last One

This prog pop duo from Ontario scores points with me for their wink to underexposure and critical thinking on their bandcamp page: "See why critics are calling this Space Kitchen's second EP". I enjoyed their first EP, in particular the smart melodic numbers, and little has changed on "What's Cookin'". Again, it's a mixed bag, with the tracks that straddle the crossover divider being most enjoyable. The clean guitar lines and pop savvy harmony vocals of "Lovin' 9 to 5" and "Life at Sea" are the picks for me, "Believer Deceiver" and "My Love to You" being not catchy enough and too catchy respectively. I'd like to see what SPACE KITCHEN could serve up in terms of a full course album, even if it means waiting a little longer.

The first lights from the ELP from 90's

ELP never ends at last. In 1983, Asia makes a Budokan Show with Greg Lake on vocals singing Only Time Will Tell (a most famous Song for Asia around the world) at side of Carl Palmer. In 1985, ELP haved a plans to return, but Palmer was have a long gigs (or shows) with Asia because your third album. In Palmer's place, Cozy Powell, a Heavy Metal drummer, take a drums and a percussion. This project makes born the Emerson, Lake & Powell and your first and unique album from 1986.

This album do a relative sucess with Touch and Go single. In 88, a 3 band bring back Palmer to drums, but Greg Lake stayed occuped with a mysterious work.

In Greg place, Robert Barry take a vocals of this line-up. Still in 88, Greg reunites with a Yes keysman, Geoff Downes, and produced this album.

The sound of this work is a oriented for a Hard Rock in a plus with synthetizers, while constructs a true Power Rock. Three of this songs are a revisited from ELP in 1990. Money Talks turns into a Paper Blood, a Country Prog song from Black Moon, in 1992. Meanwhile, Affairs of The Heart, gained a definitive and better version in Black Moon too. The great modification is for Street War. The new arrangments are a so diffrent for your early version. In the In Hot Seat album, this song is most accelerated.

The other songs have a great energy, but continues with a pop feelings from 80's (particulary, i'm like a 1980 sonority). This album it's was a produced in 1987 to 1988, but, i don't known the labels holding this at to 2015, one year before Greg Lake's pass.

Well, in 1980, Greg Lake take a distance from Prog, and navigate in a 80's Power Rock (at last i feel King Crimson in Someone in your first album, Greg Lake (1981)). Any Prog references are so shift here, but is a certanily a good register. 3 stars.

The Live Record!

Wow! This is the holy grail for Camel fans! We get here the Live at the Marquee Club 1974, the Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1976, and the Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1977 - all three of which are presented in full! Also, there is the complete Royal Albert Hall show from 1975, Live at the Colston Hall 1977, as well as the Pressure Points live album (the latter being from 1984, so the dates in the title of the release are misleading).

Some of these recordings were previously featured on the 1978 double LP A Live Record, but while that was a compilation of tracks from various sources and line-ups, here we get the full gigs for the first time.

The Marquee Club 1974 catches the band after the release of Mirage, and features songs from that album and from the self-titled debut, as well as a selecton from the at the time upcoming Snow Goose album. They also play the non-album track Ligging At Louis' and Homage To The God Of Light - a Peter Bardens number they used to play in the early days. The recordings have been recently remixed, and the sound quality is amazingly good for an early 1970's live recording! It is fantastic to have this live document available now, and it is a stunning live album.

The Royal Albert Hall 1975 show consists of the Snow Goose album performed with orchestra, as previously released on A Live Record, but with the added encore of Lady Fantasy. This one is not my favourite, I prefer the band without orchestra.

The Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1976 is from the Moonmadness period and features the original line-up performing the bulk of that album, plus some earlier songs. Another very strong live album.

Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1977 and the Colston Hall gig from the same year features the new line-up with Richard Sinclair and Mel Collins. Here they play mainly material from Rain Dances. This used to be my least favourite Camel period, but I really warmed to it and now I just love it! The band are on fire here! The Hammersmith '77 recordings are another live masterpiece while the considerably shorther Colston Hall gig is of equally high quality, but somewhat redundant here.

Finally, there is the Pressure Points album from the time of Stationary Traveller. It is all very good stuff, but I already have it on both CD and DVD, so having it included here again is not very interesting.

My two personal favorites here are the Marquee Club 1974 and the Live at Hammersmith Odeon 1977, both of which merit the highest rating.

Very highly recommended!

It should probably be mentioned that this is a digital only release, available as a download and on various streaming sites. However, all of the material is also available in the recently released, massive box set Air Born.

— First review of this album —

"Unicursal" is the second full-length studio album by US, Florida based death metal act Nocturnus AD. The album was released through Profound Lore Records in May 2024. It´s the successor to "Paradox" from May 2019, so it´s been five years betweeen the two album releases. There haven´t been any lineup changes, so the lineup who recorded "Paradox" is intact on "Unicursal".

Although the current incarnation of the band formed in 2013, drummer/lead vocalist Mike Browning has a long history in US death metal, being the original drummer and vocalist in Morbid Angel. After leaving Morbid Angel Browning formed Nocturnus and performed on their two classic albums "The Key" (1990) and "Thresholds" (1992) before being fired from the band he co-founded. He shortly formed Nocturnus AD in 1990 but changed the band name to After Death. In the period 2000-2013 After Death released quite a few demos (all material from the demos can be found on the 2007 compilation album "Retronomicon"), but in 2013 Browning opted to change the name back to Nocturnus AD. He always felt that Nocturnus was his creation and he wanted to carry on the legacy of the band, but since he had lost the rights to the name, he added the AD to avoid legal action from his previous bandmates who still owned the name. When playing live Nocturnus AD also play Nocturnus songs, so in effect (since Nocturnus haven´t been active since 2002), this is the closest you get to the real deal.

"Unicursal" is a concept album continuing the sci-fi story of Dr. Magus which was initiated on "The Key" and continued on "Paradox" (a sci-fi story mixing anti-christian themes, with futuristic sci-fi themes, and fantasy mystical themes). Stylistically the material on "Unicursal" naturally continue the sci-fi themed old school death metal featuring prominent use of keyboards, which the band also played on "Paradox". Browning is a raw shouting/semi-growling type vocals, and while his vocals aren´t the most powerful death metal vocals I´ve encountered and his staccato delivery can get a bit one-dimensional and tedious, he has a personal style which is more than you can say about a lot of other death metal vocalists.

While the core of the compositions is more or less thrash oriented old school death metal the dominant use of keyboards and the blistering lead guitar work are some of the features which set Nocturnus AD apart from other death metal acts with the same base elements. The music on "Unicursal" isn´t terribly different from what Nocturnus put out in the early 90s, but I guess that´s the whole point. The novelty of having a permanent keyboard player in a death metal band wore off a long time ago, but that doesn´t mean the addition of keyboards to Nocturnus AD´s death metal music isn´t effective and atmosphere enhancing, because it certainly is. To my ears the keyboards have at times maybe become a bit too dominant and provide the music with an epic symphonic feeling, that´s a bit generic if you compare them to how the keyboards where used on the original Nocturnus albums, where they either provided an eerie effect or even worked as a lead instrument.

"Unicursal" is a well produced release, sounding clear and powerful, and featuring a lot of details. Producer Jarrett Pritchard has done a great job here. So upon conclusion "Unicursal" is another good quality death metal release from Nocturnus AS, cementing their return to the scene and showing the world that they still have lots to give. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.

(Originally posted on Metal Music Archives).

Review Nº 779

Brand X is a British progressive rock band that was founded in London in 1975. Brand X was a British jazz rock fusion outfit formed by Genesis drummer Phil Collins and Atomic Rooster guitarist John Goodsall as a side project from their regular groups. Their initial line up also included keyboardist Robin Lumley and bassist Percy Jones. All over the years Brand X released some of the best works that belong to the jazz rock/fusion style. Brand X is considered one of best British representatives of jazz/fusion style and they're also considered one of the best acts on that style in the world.

"Macrocosm: Introducing?Brand X" is a compilation album with fourteen tracks that was released in 2003. It comprises tracks that belong to six albums of the band. So, from "Unorthodox Behaviour" we have "Nuclear Burn", "Euthanasia Waltz" and "Touch Wood". From "Moroccan Roll" we have "Hate Zone", "Sun In The Night", "...Maybe I'll Lend You Mine After All" and "Macrocosm". From "Masques" we have "Black Moon". From "Product" we have "Don't Make Waves", "Algon (Where An Ordinary Cup Of Drinking Chocolate Costs £8.000.000.000)" and "...And So To F...". From "Do They Hurt?" we have "Voidarama". From "Livestock" we have "Isis Mourning, Pts 1-2".

"Hate Zone" begins with a solo by Collins that kicks it for several seconds. Jones then joins in on the euphoric piece, followed by the rest of the band. This is a very hard grooving track that clearly moves towards the jazz rock style. "Sun In The Night" is a laid back piece, one of the few pieces of the band that has words. It's a very rewarding track with some pleasant sitar work and great spacey vocals from Collins. The intensity grows as the song progresses. This is a peculiar, but yet fascinating piece of music. "Nuclear Burn" is a great track where Collins and Jones erupt in unison. Phil and Lumley enter to introduce us to the song and Goodsall who, together with Lumley, exudes a wonderful solo. The 70's jazz fusion flavour is perfectly audible here. "Euthanasia Waltz" is a calm track. It follows the repertoire with a melodious and dynamic piece that finds Goodsall playing captivatingly and where the acoustic guitar is the dominant instrument here. Collins and Jones' cuts are stunningly precise. "Don't Make Waves" is a pretty bland pop/rock song that spreads a certain Genesis' atmosphere, especially through vocals and drums. They never sounded so like Genesis as on this song. It sounds like prog/pop/jazz rock. So, it wasn't a surprise that it was also released as a single. "...Maybe I'll Lend You Mine After All" is a brief piece, a slow track, a logical continuation of the previous track of "Moroccan Roll", "Why Should I Lend You Mine". It could well be the coda of that previous first track. It's a pity that both parts weren't chosen to be part of this compilation. Both give the real atmosphere to the piece. "Algon (Where An Ordinary Cup Of Drinking Chocolate Costs £8.000.000.000)" represents Brand X's fusion rock at its best. It's complex and eerily percussive, never forgetting the melodic line. It's not a Brand X's masterpiece but this is nice stuff. "Black Moon" is a rather generic and delicate piece with a very catchy mid paced tune. It's a foray into the smooth jazz that stands out with its massive relaxing energy. I think this is a lovely piece, a great find for any Latin jazz lover, really. "Isis Mourning, Pts 1-2" is a slow blues piece. It begins with relaxed drums and percussions, gently accompanied by the keyboards. The guitar joins them in the same laid back fashion while the bass holds everything together. It sounds incredible with the space they allow, room to breathe as it were. "...And So To F..." is a great song very well played, certainly one of the most rounded pieces from Brand X. The band plays it as if from a single mould. The piece experiences an almost unbearable climax and it's one of the perfect live favourites of the band. "Touch Wood" opens with intricate guitar as the piano comes in. It's a piece with a great delicacy where Lancaster's nuances with his soprano sax the Goodsall's acoustic guitar and the Lumley's keyboards, which fill us with warmth, especially at the end of it. "Voidarama" is a very guitar-oriented track. It begins with a nice and catchy relaxed melody. In the middle section Goodsall dares to play somewhat more complex parts. This track is a reminiscent of the Mahavishnu Orchestra style. "Macrocosm" is an energetic jazz rock piece, a celebration of the jazz/fusion, being intricate and uplifting and a showcase for the individual skills of all musicians. It shows why Brand X has been one of the jazz fusion bands with relevance for so many years.

Conclusion: "Macrocosm: Introducing?Brand X" is a 14-track budget-priced compilation of Brand X that covers their career between 1976 and 1980. It's a compilation album with a very decent appetite whetter, featuring three tracks from "Unorthodox Behaviour", four tracks from "Moroccan Roll", two tracks from "Livestock", one track from "Masques", three tracks from "Product" and one track from "Do They Hurt?". So, we can say this is a very good compilation album of Brand X that is very well representative of the band's career. However and despite what I said before, fans gain nothing by having this compilation album if they've already these original works from the band, except another sexually suggestive sleeve image by Hipgnosis. But we can't say the same for the newbies because this is a great intro to them.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)