CROSS-COLLATERAL

Along with "Infinity Machine", this is probably the best of the German Jazz-Rock (actually more Rock-Jazz) combo's run of classic albums in the 1970s, all of them distinguished by the colorful surrealism of their cover art. PASSPORT was never in the same league as the MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA or WEATHER REPORT (the latter in particular an obvious influence), but the group nevertheless managed to carve their own distinctive niche in an overcrowded market: no small accomplishment at the time.

I love the way that jittery opening sequencer pattern (in what sounds like a hellishly complex time signature) suddenly gels into the easy Space-Jazz swing of "Homunculus", with Klaus Doldinger's saxophone dancing gracefully around a sparkling electric piano solo. And the 13+ minute title track covers a lot of territory, working almost like a Beginner's Guide medley to the music of PASSPORT.

In quick succession it moves from a kinetic start/stop introduction (featuring some primitive electronic percussion triggers) to a brief but lively drum solo by the incomparable Curt Cress, and from there into a relentless mid-tempo rocking section. A blast of rare high-amp electric guitar signals another change of pace, matching equal parts power and finesse before another saxophone freak-out reprise of the opening jam ends the track as it began: stopping on a dime.

Flipping the album over to Side Two (not recommended with a compact disc) doesn't offer any immediate relief, throwing the unwary listener headlong into the full-throttle punch of "Jadoo": three minutes of pure adrenalin guaranteed to raise your blood pressure a few notches. Kristian Schultze's distorted electric piano solo is totally haywire, and the whole thing is propelled by the monster beat of Cress, again proving (and not for the first time) that he was one of the most dynamic and creative drummers of the decade...at least until he later briefly joined TRIUMVIRAT in their declining years.

The rest of the album is almost a let-down after "Jadoo": three tracks of pleasant instrumental music, played with Doldinger's trademark melodic funk and flair, but still sounding tame after all the preceding fireworks. In retrospect, maybe the running order could have been rearranged to better effect.

PASSPORT was a band that was never about to change the world, but they did make it a more pleasant place to live for a while. This album would be an ideal introduction for newcomers, as easy as anywhere else in their long discography, but why not start at the top?

3,5 stars really!!

Another typical effort from Passport's first era. This album's jazz-rock is yet another classic album of the triesd and successfully tested "formula"but was also a welcome return after the two Jubilee (one of them is missing in the list) albums released the previous years.

I think that the music is fairly acurately described in Mr. Neumann's review above that I cannot add much to it. All I can say is that the Passport's influences sound more in a Canterbury-jazz-rock style but instrumental , especially in the KB dept where evidence of Sinclair/Ratledge is obvious.

A good album in their classic era.

If you want to check PASSPORT out i'd suggest this one or their debut "Doldinger", both standout for me because they have some Rock added to the Jazz.

"Homunculus" opens with some atmosphere, it's kind of spacey as the drums join in. It then changes to a jazzy mode after a minute. I like the keyboards, sax and drums here. It gets pretty intense late. "Cross-Collateral" is sort of stop and go to begin with before the sax and drums lead the way. Keyboards a minute in. The drumming is impressive before 3 minutes. Organ follows as it settles, drums continue. Some fuzz 7 minutes in. The organ and bass sound great after 8 1/2 minutes. The tempo picks up 11 1/2 minutes in. This is good.

"Jadoo" also sounds really good as the keyboards and drums lead early then the sax joins in. The bass comes in all fuzzed out. Nice. "Will-O' The-Wisp" is kind of funky with the sax playing over top. This is catchy. Some mellotron too. "Albatross Song" features some electric piano and synths to open. A beat arrives a minute in. Sax follows in this laid back, feel good tune. The mellotron helps in that department. "Damals" is acoustic guitar and sax to start. Bass joins in followed by light drums.

So an excellent album, especially the first half.

For the first time in 5 albums, Doldinger didn't change the entire line-up but continued with the exact same gang of the previous album. And how it pays off. The previous album established a new sound for Passport but lacked inspiration and heart. This time around the band sounds tight and inspired and complements Doldinger's musical ideas with varied soloing and solid interplay.

I've mentioned Ozric Tentacles in about every Passport review I've done so far and also here I need to use them a a main reference. A track like Jadoo was almost literally like copied by the Ozrics. With the lush keyboards and brighter production, Passport sound very fresh and timeless here and will also please fans of Gong albums like You. Doldinger still comes up with plenty of catchy leads but now he has reached a complexity in structure and arrangement that he never achieved before.

One of the main attractions on the album is the attention given to the bass guitar, it's not only very prominent in the mix but it also provides a solid and sweeping backbone for the other musicians. And actually nobody lets down on this album, not in the playing, not in the arrangements and not even once in the songwriting, making this the first (and last) Passport album that is consistently good.

I would suggest this album to newcomers to Passport. The first three albums are pleasant as well but this is the one where they excel themselves on all counts.

Passport can play great progressive fusion! No joke,I'm serious!

It happened I for years listened to different Passport albums from late 70-s,80-s,90-s and never could understand why this band was so popular at all. To be honest, many of later albums are recorded by Klaus Doldinger with different occasional musicians just using "Passport" trademark, but it was hardly possible to find any reason to like them .

When one day I got this their old release, I had no big expectations. And I was wrong! This album is excellent release containing explosive mix of prog rock,jazz fusion and funky groove. It's even strange for me to hear how great Klaus' sax can sound! All musicians are great, and music there is fresh ,various and absolutely on the standard of best prog fusion bands of that time (more comparative to Headhunters and later Weather Report though).

It's interesting to hear that music recorded there sounds as band's product, not Klaus soloing sax with support of back-up band. All four musicians are really competent, but ,besides of Klaus sax, I especially like keyboards (openly influenced by Hancock) and drums sounds.

Even if still with light brass band sound, music there has many components of progressive fusion and progressive rock as well. Very good album for fans of above mentioned bands, unhappily last in line of really good Passport albums for years (till now).

On Cross-Collateral Klaus Doldinger experiments with making his keyboards and synthesisers more prominent in Passport's sound, with mixed success. On some tracks, such as Homunculus or Jadoo, his newly acquired Moog adds an interesting texture to proceedings, but just as often it feels out of place. The major issue, to my ears, is that Doldinger adds the Moog to otherwise conventional fusion arrangements in which there isn't really space for another instrument, rather than structuring his compositions and arrangements in order to allow room for the synthesiser. And when you look beyond the synthesisers, what's left is a very typical Passport album along the lines of every single other album the group had put out to this point.

I only knew the band when I saw one of the song, the third track 'Jadoo' was featured in a compilation cassette titled as 'Rock'n'Jazz 2' in 1976. I was amazed with how the track is a dynamic jazz-rock composition performed in relatively fast tempo. I did not imagine by that time that jazz could be performed in such speed. Things that impressed me in addition to its fast speed, the drum work was so excellent combined with keyboard and brass section. Since then I tried to locate the full album and finally I found out that the whole album of 'Cross-Collateral' is really an enjoyable one. The opening track 'Homunculus' (6:09) is nice jazz-rock outfit with excellent drumming at opening part and as it flows with the music. The electric piano / organ solo is also nice throughout the track. But what I really like about the album despite Jadoo is the second track 'Cross-collateral' (13:38). I especially enjoy the soprano / tenor sax dynamic solo on top of dynamic drumming work augmented with electric piano work. I think the drumming style of Curt Cress is as good as Billy Cobham -- especially when I refer to 'Spectrum' album. In fact I like this track more than Jadoo.

The other tracks 'Will-O'the-Wisp' (6:15), 'Albatros song' (5:18), and 'Damals' (4:38) are also good tracks to enjoy especially if you like sax solo backed with powerful drumming. Yes, the drumming part makes PASSPORT music's quite unique and enjoyable. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW