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Let’s be honest here. Although Brand X
was and has always been the brainchild of John Goodsall and Percy
Jones, they mainly came to the attention of many musiclovers because
of the inclusion of Phil Collins on drums. Collins who then looked
like a bearded gnome is one of the many drummers on this double set.
This lavish retrospective reads like a ‘who’s who’ of drums and
bass. Phil Collins, Bill Bruford, Chester Thompson, Pierre Moerlen,
Frank Katz, Mike Clarke and Mike Barsimanto all come to spice up the
rich Brand X rhythms. Although the band’s early studio albums are
probably a much better buy due to the more detailed recordings, “The
X files” offer a nice insight into the diversity of this (mainly)
instrumental concept. Alternating live cuts with unreleased studio
outtakes and remastered material the set remains a joy both for the
occasional music buff as well as the Brand X diehard.
Please note that there’s a difference
between this release on Musea and the set which was originally
released on the Pangea label. Labelled as ‘The X-files’ disc one
sports some changes in that the opening track ‘The X-files theme’ is
credited on this release to be recorded at the Bottom Line in ’94
whilst the original release mentions Live at The Strand in ’93. A
similar difference with ‘Nuclear burn/Combodia’ which again is
credited to be from the Bottom Line gig in ’94 whilst the original
release says it was Live at the Cabaret in ’93. Also tracks two and
three have swopped places. The remastered ‘Healing dream’ is a
stunning piece of acoustic guitarwork by John Goodsall which at
times sounds similar to Al Di Meola. Recorded in Japan in ’97 ‘Born
pretty in a disco’ contains some tiny Japanese references in the
intro. Interesting here is the fact that none other than Gong
drummer Pierre Moerlen stepped in to replace Frank Katz at the very
last minute. Putting his kick drum on the upbeat drummer Mike Clarke
apparently is lightyears ahead of his time during ‘Noddy goes to
Sweden’ delivering a technique which is now commonly used in
European techno music. Fans of fretless bass will have their
ultimate wet dream with this one !
Lost for well over twenty years until
John Goodsall’s daughter returned him an old tape, ‘Kugelblitz’ is
the perfect example of the fast and furious jazzrock fusion which
woud be the unmistakable Brand X trademark during their early days.
Robin Lumley’s soft dashes of keyboards contain some of the National
Health magic as well. Backed by the improvisational talents of Phil
Colins this is 10’57” of pure studio magic. More excitement for the
Phil Collins fan as their idol also sings this time during a live
rendition of the commercialy inclined ‘Don’t make waves’. Sadly the
quality is not so good as it was probably recorded in a rather small
club using a cheap taperecorder.
Disc two goes under the name of
‘eX-tracks’. On this disc two songs have been omitted from the early
Japanese release being ‘Worlds in modulation’ by the Fire Merchants
and ‘The other side of the world’ by Zoo Drive. Instead these tracks
have been replaced by ‘Love notes’ by Floor Project and ‘L ast of
the Mohicans’ as recorded during Percy Jones’ Japanese tour in ’99.
For a while Goodsall teamed up with that other Genesis drummer
Chester Thompson and bassplayer Doug Lunn. They called themselves
the Fire Merchants and delivered what they called ‘heavy
metal-progressive-fusion’ or as someone described their music as
“Birds of fire” era Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Dream Theater.
‘Saladin’ surely is the perfect example that this description fits
the band like a glove ! In the old days I sometimes got tempted into
buying picture discs regardless of the music that was on it. I
remember one day finding a very cheap picture disc called “Pleasure
signals” by a certain Wilding and Bonus. The outer sleeve didn’t
contain much information but later on I learned that not only Phil
Collins was on this album but also John Goodsall and John Giblin. In
a way you could say Wilding and Bonus planted the seed which in the
end became Brand X. Here you’ll find the joyful uptempo ‘G storm’
with some entertaining flute courtsey of Danny Wilding. The two
following tracks were recorded with none other than Bill Bruford on
drums. The second one with vocals by Automatic Man’s Bayette
contains a funky feel and if more percussion would be added you can
hear Santana throughout. Next up are two tracks from Goodsall’s 1988
project The Floor which remain unreleased until now. Imagine
uptempo, punky stuff in Punishment of Luxury vein during ‘Animal’
whilst the slower ‘Love notes’ could come out of the Siouxie and the
Banshees songbook.
‘The
ocean’ is a loose jam session recorded in the studio of Malcolm
Bruce, son of the lenedary Cream bassplayer Jack Bruce. Nothing
interesting mind you. One man and his bass comes alive during the
live rendition of ‘Last of the Mohicans’ as Percy Jones’ hip hop
experiment is called. More dance inclined material comes in the form
of ‘Finger power’ which sounds more like a collection of improvised
sound collages other than a real track. Reggae seems to be the
inspiration for the closing track ‘From a mountain top’ which not
only sees John Goodsall singing for the very first time but also
includes some immortal lines by the late Martin Luther King Jr.
Another composition from the aborted Floor album it clearly
indicates that the second disc in this package sounds completely
different than the actual Brand X material. Therefor it will sound
normal that whenever you take this album out of your cupboard you’ll
end up playing disc one and mainly disc one. Stick to Brand X’s
first four studio albums and you’ll be much better off ! |
