MINDMIRROR

This is the second album of Ekseption without Rick van der Linden, and it is better than their previous one which sounded a bit 'dull'. The opening track is a track from the Average White Band, 'Pick up the pieces', followed by an inspired arrangement of Bach's Bourree by Hans Hollestelle, the guitarist of the band, Jan Vennik and Hans Jansen. I can't help wondering what the track 'Ramses' is doing on the album; it's a short track with some spoken text from Ramses Shaffy. The longest piece of the album (a little over 17 minutes) is the title track, 'Mindmirror'. It's a piece of music that is very pleasant to listen to, and all in all this album (although it failed to achieve the same commercial success as previous Ekseption albums), although not excelling, is not a bad one either. After this record one more album was released by Ekseption without Rick van der Linden, 'Back to the classics'. The members wanted to get away from the typical Ekseption formula, so they simply broke up Ekseption, re-baptised themselves 'Spin', and recorded two (good) albums under that name.

Well, I recently found this album in a cassette format and it's still in an excellent condition so that I can enjoy the music. This album is basically a mixed of genres as I can see there is huge difference n style from one track to another. For an extreme comparison just take the opening track "Pick Up The Pieces" where I believe some of you were aware that this one was popularized by a funky band called Average White Band. Yes, of course the music is funky or disco style. While if you compare with album title track :Mindmirror" where it is the style of progressive music that comprises multi segments / movements. This epic serves like Focus music where it has combination of guitar-led segments as well as organ. I consider this track is a good one as it moves in varied style throughout the 17 minute track duration.

Overall, it's a good progressive music collection that fits those who eant to complete their Ekseption collection. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW