The Annotated Discography
Supplement #1:
Peripheral Works
Supplement #1:
Peripheral Works
Musicians (on 1, 2 & 12):
Tracks:
This is a truly great album in its own right, and for many listeners the finest work in the extensive Eno catalog. Percy's distinctive work is obvious on the tracks where he appears. And, as the right honorable Mr. Fripp would say, he is to be commended for his "Admirable Restraint" elsewhere on the album. It can be purchased from CDNow!
|
|
Tracks:
|
|
An all-star cast of British musicians contributed to this ambitious effort, and some really fine moments resulted. A few tunes, most notably those involving the Duck and the Cat, are downright smokin' in the classic Brand X fashion. Unfortunately, it makes for rather awkward listening in spots, with some musical styles that fail to blend, and a general loss of its creative punch by about the two-thirds mark. It may be that the Lancaster/Lumley team faltered when attempting to flesh out the work with some radio-friendly pulp, of which track 19 is a remarkably nauseating example. It is worth seeking out mainly as a novelty, or perhaps a significant piece of contemporary music history. The LP version included a full-color, 12-page, LP-sized booklet, with the story printed in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish; my CD copy is not equivalently endowed.
A note from Jack was added for the 1993 CD re-issue (Viceroy, USA), and is reprinted here without permission:
This item is painfully out-of-print worldwide. On behalf of several folks who've inquired, a search is ongoing for the vendor who can deliver it.
Tracks:
This is an enjoyable album, though not terribly reminiscent of any other Brand X related works. Appropriate to the subject matter, it is cohesively spacey and ethereal, with all participants obviously dedicated to the overriding atmosphere of the presentation. Sadly, it now appears to be completely out of print.
The liner notes speak effectively for it, and I hope Jack and Robin don't mind if I dumped them here:
The result was a magical journey to the planet Mars... A kind of soundtrack to an imaginary movie. Our intention was picture-making through music, so we concieved Marscape as one piece, divided up into audio sketches of the events emotions that might be experienced by voyagers traveling from Earth to the red Planet. by the end, we surmise that the visitors realize that they are not visitors at all, but have actually returned home after a very, very long time away.
- Robin Lumley and Jack Lancaster
Tracks:
The first of two really solid (if nearly redundant) metal-fusion releases. If, while listening to some Brand X, you ever imagined what John would sound like playing Rock, this might have been what it sounded like. That probably sells these tunes short, though, sporting rhythms and changes that delve well out into the fusion realm, if not beyond. This first release is out of print and rather tough to find, although Pangea has threatened to reissue it someday.
Tracks:
Overall it doesn't cover any more artistic or instrumental ground than it's predecessor, but I find this one slightly more cohesive. While both flirt precariously with the dreaded "Butt-rock" zone, there are some interesting and inspired tunes hiding among the abundance of shameless, hopped-up, power-chord riff-fests. The reprise of "Healing Dream" works well-- it's a different-but-equal pass at one of the more restrained songs on X-Communication.
Tracks:
On "Carpet Crawlers," John plays guitar with Michael Zentner on vocals, along with a full band which includes Jeff Berlin on Bass. The guitars are very prominent throughout the tune. John's rather extroverted sound has a distinct effect on the flavour of the song overall, which is considerably more active and aggressive than any Genesis performance of it. Zentner's voice is somewhat reminiscent of Tiny Tim's at times, but if you can get past that it's quite an enjoyable revision.
If your are a Genesis fan, get this disc; it's really entertaining. Particularly notable are "Watcher of the Skies," "Firth of Fifth" and "Entangled," which stand out as inspired accolades, very true to the original spirit and power of the tunes. "Back in N.Y.C." is incredible; I never much cared for the original, but here it is impressively updated and intensified. With all due respect to Peter and the wonder and greatness of The Lamb, I'd call this interpretation a massive improvement on the original.
A couple of the songs are rather weak or odd in the vocals department, particularly "Squonk," which sounds frighteningly reminiscent of the Christian Butt-Rock band Stryper. But the only real stumbling point of this tribute is "Ripples," in which Annie Haslam's tender Joan Baez effect totally destroys what slim hope the song ever had of not being elevator music. This title is available from CDNow!
Both are faithful and respectful treatments. "Red" is a little stripped-down and perhaps a bit softened by synthesized rhythm chords, but as the other stab at the song on this disc also testifies, it's tough to play it without sounding urgently sinister. John obviously had fun doing it, and even threw in a few snippets of classic Fripp-aping on the solo parts.
"Neal and Jack and Me" was kind of an odd song originally, so the current Brand X sound complements it well. Percy is delightfully all over, and Frank's Lionel Richie impression is surprisingly at home where Adrian Belew once crooned frenetically.
Overall, this disc is a bit difficult, suffering from the bewildering diversity and range of the source material. Any truly die-hard Crimso should certainly pick it up, but I don't think it's quite the success that Supper's Ready turned out to be. Nonetheless, KC completists can purchase it from CDNow!
Mail me if you have questions or comments about this or anything else.
Back to Brand X: The Annotated Discography
Updated
©1998-2006, Ambiguous Productions
This page has a yellow sign.