X-COMMUNICATION

Unlike GENESIS, when Phil COLLINS left BRAND X the level and commitment to musical creativity and originality did not die. In fact I enjoy the post Phil COLLINS era BRAND X as much as that with him. "X-Communication" features the line-up of Percy Jones, John Goodsall and Frank Katz who blend rock, jazz, funk and fusion into this masterful recording. This powerful trio get into some pretty wild musical moments with heavy instrumental workouts and complex performances. "X-Communication" showcases the fretless bass action of Percy Jones with the complex rhythms of Frank Katz and the agile fingerings of john Goodsall. Without a question "X-Communication" is a magnificent album and is highly recommended to all fans of progressive rock.

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.

Brand X will, for me, forever and always be one of the preeminent Fusion bands. Certainly one of the most important Fusion bands to grace Britain in the '70s! And certainly the band itself was graced with such a unique and powerful leader in John GOODSALL (1953-2021). Now that I am writing, I'm thinking too how integral John was to the development of "Guitar Fusion" to follow them and their peers.

I am definitely writing this review, a week or so following his untimely death, in honor of him and his great legacy. I'm terribly sorry I never got to see them/him perform in person. And what's most unbelievable about it all, is that he (I assume he) fell ill and they were then looking to postpone the show in my hometown just a month ago... Pretty surreal. Rest in Peace, sir. Rest in Peace, as Robin LUMLEY put it, to BRAND X.

X-Communication was released ten years after their last effort (and effort is a good enough descriptor of it, in my opinion), Is There Anything About? (1982). Interesting to think that there was a whole decade between it and this release. Then again, we are yet to see anything following their final studio album in 1997 today.

To a point above, I think this is the strongest effort the band has had since 1979's Product, a personal favorite of mine. It's relatively consistent, in feeling and, for the most part, in compositional knack. There's some really very interesting tracks on this, ranging from brooding to "Eastern" and exotic. My personal favorites are "Xanax Taxi", "Liquid Time", "Mental Floss" and "Kluzinski Reprise". To keep this shorter, I'll end this here.

True Rate: 3.5/5.0