X-COMMUNICATION

When I heard this, the first Brand X album in ten years, I thought, "This is very good, but there's something missing here." What's missing is Robin Lumley, or more generally, a keyboard player. While John Goodsall's guitar playing is as fast and as interesting as ever, Percy Jones bass playing is as great as Percy Jones almost always is, and Frank Katz' drumming makes you forget that singer who used to be a drummer, the lack of a keyboardist leaves the songs without that lushness and high-speed precision that Lumley added to the band.

Now, mind you, the songwriting is still like classic Brand X (without the Phul Colons pop songs, thankfully), and the entire disk from start to finish provides for a fantastic listening experience. So, for me, it's best to not try to compare this with the classic Brand X albums, and just sit back and enjoy.