Brand X reunited and touring!!

Cost effective but no remastering evident, I posted readings over at DR. Also, doubt over royalties to Brand X, according to PJ's fb page apparently.

 

True the title track is an excellent jam (out-take from the Unorthodox Behaviour sessions) and worth hearing.... but I still can't recommend anyone buy the album..

That box set was remastered apparently, there is even a remastering engineer credited... but there was no compression used (a good thing), so the DR numbers are similar, although the actual peaks vary slightly, indicating it's not an exact copy of the earlier CD masterings... I still haven't heard that box set so can't comment on the sound. You are correct about Brand X not getting any royalties... Percy told me personally that he's never received a penny from sales of the old Brand X albums (same for Goodsall and the other guys apparently)... he said Universal claims he has a debt to them, something like over 10,000 pounds, and they won't account for it... it's a rigged system designed so the musicians/songwriters never make any money...

 

There isn't on mine (which I bought before knowing any of the business sordity ). I'm not sure why Universal would pay for the remastering of a limited appeal catalogue, they didn't for It Bites etc... in the same series, not that I mind, there was nothing wrong with the originals IMO.

 

You're right, it says mastered at Abbey Road, but no engineer credited...

 

I have old CD releases of some of the albums collected on Nuclear Burn. Product and Do They Hurt? and Masques are on the Caroline label, circa late 80s, and I don't recall whether Unorthodox Behaviour was the 1980s Passport or the Caroline CD, and can't check right now (they're all ripped to a hard drive)

Using software to compare frequency profiles of old to new shows that Masques and Product and Do They Hurt? aren't so much remastered on Nuclear Burn, as simply slightly volume adjusted. The EQ is the same as what it was on the old single CD versions. In other words, you'd get the same effect using your volume control. Dynamic range is essentially identical (varies by a few 10ths of a dB per channel)

But Unorthodox Behaviour has different EQ, particularly above 10kHz. New version had very slightly more dynamic range (like 0.5-1.0 dB per channel) which could be entirely due to the EQ difference. Is it remastering, or a different source tape?

I only checked one track on each album, so results for other tracks may vary, but I doubt by much.

All the audio I checked was very 'dynamic' (>19dB difference between peak and average levels).

I don't own previous releases of Livestock or Moroccan Roll so I can't compare those.

 

More dates added, including some east coast....

 

Is there Anything About is actually not a bad record and the sound quality is quite amazing actually. Possibly one if my best sounding records. The Giblin track is called 'A Longer April' which is an extended version from Product.

 

Any reviews of some of these recent shows?!?! Seeing them tomorrow in NYC! Brand X with Kenwood.... this is going to be incredible

 

Saw the Cleveland show. Fantastic. Not to be missed. They played about two hours.

 

i would shred this show if they came to the west coast. do u know renaissance too, has done lots of US touring in recent years, but never west coast

 

I caught the late set at the Iridium in NYC on 10/27. I haven't been so excited to see a band in a long time... and this met my expectations. The set list included (from memory, not in this order), Nightmare Patrol, Isis Mourning, Born Ugly, Hate Zone, Nuclear Burn, Macrocosm, Malaga Virgin, and they finished with And So to F....
They sounded great, the new keyboardist Chris and percussionist Scott more than held their own. It was really nice having the percussion there - Brand X last played with a percussionist in 1980 (Morris Pert). Goodsall was in a great mood and provided brief moments of comedy. I see Percy play from time to time in NYC, so I know he can still play (at 68 years old!), and he nailed all those old Brand X tunes and still has his signature sound. I had never seen Kenwood before and he was very impressive - clearly a first rate drummer, and having a former original member in the band brought even more credibility to the whole experience. In previous Brand X reunions John & Percy were the only original members.

They will be back there (and so will I) on January 2&3, and I heard they are working on more dates in January.

 

This was recently re-issued, albeit with a different cover than the original CD:
https://www.amazon.ca/X-Communicati...TF8&qid=1479633086&sr=1-1&keywords=brand+x+cd

 

I´m one of those that consider the albums after the first three "watered down", sorry . The albums from their initial trio are wonderful, especially “Unorthodox Behavoiur” and “Moroccan Roll”. However, Masques and Product sound well. “Moroccan Roll” is one of my favourites fusion albums of all times since I heard it in the last seventies (along with Billy Cobham “Spectrum”, RTF “Romantic Warrior”, etc). My order of preference is:


Genuine Brand X music.

1. Moroccan Roll
   
   
2. Unorthodox Behaviour
   
   
3. Livestock

Less genuine Brand X music.

4. Masques

5. Product

Brand X begin to lose his essence.

6. Do they hurt?

7. Is there anything about?


Other albums…..…….

 

Why such a downer on Masques ? ok no Lumley, Collins but still a fantastic disc ...

 

Ok. I´m agree. It´s still a good album too and for that reason it´s my fourth album in the list.

 

I agree with your list for the most part.

Until recently, I was unaware that there are a large number of hardcore fans who consider Masques to be a step down from the first three. For me, Masques is a special album (especially Deadly Nightshade).

Product was my first Brand X purchase. Although the band was certainly in transition, I appreciate this album.

 

Don´t forget the nice album Nova "Vimana" (1976). This has three members of Brand X. It was produced by Robin Lumley with Phil Collins on percussion and Percy Jones on bass. It´s a brilliant 70´s Italian progressive album where Percy´s work on bass remember what he was doing with Brand X at the same time. If you like fusion of the mid 1970s, this is a must. In the mid 1970s, in Spain there was an amazing jazz-rock band called Iceberg (5 albums) with a wonderful instrumentation and highly recommended.

 

I am going to see them again tonight in NYC. They are supposed to be doing 4 new songs (mostly from Masques) this leg of the tour. Plus they will be recording all this week for a future live cd and dvd of the reunion tour. Here is my New Jersey Stage story on the reunion from last month: Brand X Rides Again! »

 

4 new songs (mostly Masques)... I might have to see this leg of the tour!

 

Especially since four songs from Masques would be more than half the album!

 

Yeah, I also heard from a little birdie they may try "The Poke"... "Deadly Nightshade" was mentioned, but that song and a couple others on Masques are just downright hard to play... lots of unison lines with guitar/keyboards etc... that album definitely has a more prog-ish vibe. I'm game to hear them play anything they haven't done before.

 

Another fine show at the Iridium last night (Jan 2, 2017). Setlist spoilers below....
They sounded great, a couple of new tunes thrown into the set. They opened with "The Poke", it might've been a little rough, but they haven't played it live in almost forty years, and that must be one of the hardest tunes for anyone to play... but it was great and fun to hear. Good crowd reactions for the whole show as well. They actually did two sets. The band members came onto the stage one at a time, and it went a little something like this:

Recorded intro, with some halloween-ish sounds >
Goodsall guitar soloing >
The Poke
Why Should I Lend You Mine
... Maybe I'll Lend You Mine Afterall
Born Ugly
Isis Mourning
Nuclear Burn

set2:
Magic Mist [from Percy's new MJ12 CD...highly recommended btw]
Nightmare Patrol
Euthanasia Waltz
Hate Zone
Tomorrow Never Knows
And So To F...
Malaga Virgin [encore]


That's right, they did a Beatles tune, it was great!

 

Wow I imagine it sounded somewhat like 801's version, must have been great!

 

Here is the set list from last night's Brand X show at The Iridium in NYC which s a little different from Super Fuzz's above:

1st Set:
Recorded sounds Intro...
The Poke
Why Should I Lend You Mine
Born Ugly
Isis Mourning
Nuclear Burn

2nd Set:
Percy Jones Solo - Magic Mist
Nightmare Patrol
Euthanasia Waltz
Kenwood Dennard Drum Solo
Hate Zone
Sun In The Night Intro into The Beatles's Tomorrow Never Knows
And So To F...

Encore: Malaga Virgen

Band was very tight and exiting! Show was sold out!

 

About the encore Malaga Virgen

Malaga Virgen is a tasty Spanish sweet wine especially suitable to accompany desserts at the end of a good meal. As indicated was to play that theme at the end of the concert
I think it was a drink appreciated by Percy Jones