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Brand X - Missing Period CD (album) cover

MISSING PERIOD

Brand X

Jazz Rock/Fusion


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Sean Trane
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Prog Folk
4 stars The lost album myth rises again and it will keep coming back if the quality is such - This reminds me of the context and the quality of the Lost Trident Session of Mahavishnu with the perspective that this last band was much more groundbreaking . I just wish this had been released at the times , because it would've gathered more of my attention. not surprisingly, this is the B X album that is spinning most often in my HI-FI.
Report this review (#23123)
Posted Thursday, February 5, 2004 | Review Permalink
jcarr73729@ao
4 stars The first 5 tracks are the complete BBC sessions, re-named for some reason.

Tracks 1, 2 and 3 were recorded at the BBC in February 1976, with Goodsall, Lumley, Jones and Collins in attendance.

Tracks 4 and 5 were recorded at the BBC in July 1976, with the same band, plus Preston Hayman on percussion.

The sixth track is a live improvisation.

Report this review (#23124)
Posted Saturday, October 2, 2004 | Review Permalink
rogerhouston2
2 stars Recordings like this are somewhat interesting but they hardly represent the essential work of these artists. It's interesting to hear Phil Collins when he still lived in "players" culture but the music pales in comparison to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report, Zappa, or any of the other various models for this work. As far as John Goodsall's guitar work, as much as it shows early promise, it falls short of his great work with Zoo Drive and Fire Merchants, particularly "Landlords of Atlantis"(Renaisance/1994).
Report this review (#40693)
Posted Thursday, July 28, 2005 | Review Permalink
Evolver
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR
Crossover & JR/F/Canterbury Teams
4 stars This album is a collection of recordings made in the BBC studios before any Brand X albums were recorded. It shows the band in the process, almost complete, of coming up with their unique brand of fusion, featuring tight, fast playing and exciting compositions.

The songs show many of the themes and melodies that would come to comprise some of the songs on the first few albums. The sound quality isn't quite as good as their official studio albums, but it is still very good.

While I would recommend most of the albums that do not have Phil Collins the singer on them (Phil Collins the exceptional drummer is a different story) before this one, it is still a nice album by one of the premier fusion bands.

And anything with Percy Jones get an extra star from me.

Report this review (#296922)
Posted Tuesday, August 31, 2010 | Review Permalink
3 stars The missing period before developing the tunes to 5 star quality.

This recording released in 1997 is actually a collection of tunes from 1975 and onwards. Undeveloped pieces that later appeared on BRAND X's first albums in much better interpretations. To the point that respected Jazz magazine "Down Beat" had voted the band the best in Jazz-Rock for three years in a row. This immature collection would have failed, though.

Pretty good, no doubt, but in comparison, not quite there,yet. What's missing here is the later addition of MORRIS PERT (percussions) whose contribution has defined the band much more than COLLIN's showing off his painfully rigid attempt at being associated with Jazz.

In comparison with the first few albums, this one represents little excitement. 3.5 at the most.

Report this review (#1089694)
Posted Saturday, December 14, 2013 | Review Permalink
4 stars I urge all musicians and bands to dig through the attic, the garage, the basement, and forgotten storage areas of friends and family for lost tapes! You just might dig up a real treasure like what happened to Brand X with this release. Family members gave guitarist/ founder, John Goodsall a box of Brand X memorabilia, aka olde band junk and ancient reels of tape were discovered aneath it all. Oh boy! They were the earliest known recordings of the band, circa 1975-76, predating their debut album release. So how's it sound? Excellent is the word for both quality and content. This is super-fun fusion in that classic Brand X, off-beat, funked up, jazz rock groove. Extended soloing, tight unison lines, virtuoso musicianship fill every nook and cranny of each tune. If you are a Brand X or fusion rock fan, this is a must-have. Many of these tunes were never released for twenty years and now we are just too lucky. Some tracks are early versions of songs later released but I dig these ancient versions just as much if not moreso. Hear Goodsall melt his axe with riffs galore, Jones slay the bass, Collins decimate the drums, Lumley go hay-wire on keys, and Heyman tickle the percussion. Get into 70s fusion all over again with this rare treat! Highly recommended!
Report this review (#2582066)
Posted Thursday, July 29, 2021 | Review Permalink

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