1979 LP Charisma 1147
1989 CD Blue Plate CAROL-1390-2
1989 CD Passport 9840
1989 CD Plan 9/Caroline 1390
1989 CD Virgin CASCD 1147
From the LP liner notes:
Produced by Brand X with Colin Green and Neil Kernon Recorded at
Startling Studios, Ascot, England, April 1979 Remixed at Farmyard
Studios, Surrey, Trident Studios, London, and Startling Studios
June/July 1979 'Soho' and 'Wal to Wal' recorded at Old Croft, Surrey
(Engineered by Phil Collins).
Thanks to [...] the invaluable Brian (Jaws) Murray hyphen Smith, Uncle
Tony Cashflow-Smith and Hit and Run, [...] the Vibe Cats (Cloth Ears
and Cuthbert), Occasional Title and Handclaps by Edward Carson, The
Belvedere Airship Hangar, Ascot.
Ambushes furnished by Robinson/Lumley Ltd. Authentic Animal Noises by
Authentic Animals Research for 'Soho' by B.M-Smith + J. Goodsall
Entertainment by Basil, Sybil, Polly, Manuel, Linda Lovelace Costumes
by I. Taked'Ehemupp WHAT THE CRITICS SAID.... "Fantastic, I laughed
'til I stopped!" (A. Whicker) "A fantastic year for sheep" (A. Sheep,
[Min. of Certain Things]) "What a fine body of men they nearly are."
(Mr. O. W. A. Giveaway) "GR ST " (Mr. Jo Sm) " EA UF " (Mr. Oh I) " T
F" (Mr. Hn Th) "Eeeaaayyyeeeaaagh!" (E. Waring)
Description:
For even a frenzied bunch like Brand X, PRODUCT stands out as a
particularly chaotic release. Drummer Phil Collins was back in the fold
after a one-album absence, and his presenceis keenly felt (he even
lends his vocal talents on the decidedly mainstream rocker "Don't Make
Waves"). The expandedline-up attempts rampantly different styles, such
as the moody and complex "Dance of the Illegal Aliens", with its sudden
guitar and keyboard bursts, sauntering rhythm and thick atmosphere, and
"Rhesus Perplexus", which lifts a page or twofrom fusion-lite players
like Steve Khan and Pat Metheny, with Goodsall's guitars reflecting an
almost traditional sound. The closing "April" is prog in jazz clothing,
all dawningbass and searching guitar fragments, and, like the best prog
rock, imbues old contexts with new meanings.
Brand X's most eclectic album to date, Product is perhaps most notable
for its attempts at a pop crossover in the Phil Collins-sung "Don't
Make Waves" and "Soho." The range of styles presented here — hard
and soft fusion, pop, progressive rock — results from the
now-interchangeable nature of the Brand X lineup, which, in addition to
the returning Collins and Robin Lumley, is expanded to include bassist
John Giblin and drummer Mike Clarke (Chuck Burgi having left after
Masques). While the pop songs have a tart, new wave sound to them that
is oddly ingratiating, they're likely to leave longtime fans scratching
their heads. (Genesis fans may hear in "Soho" the musical inspiration
for "Illegal Alien," and in Percy Jones' "Dance of the Illegal Aliens"
its titular inspiration.) Despite the presence of the original quartet
— Collins, Goodsall, Lumley, Jones — the four don't appear
together on Product, although Goodsall is present for all but one song
(the lone pairing of fretless bassists Percy Jones and John Giblin on
"Wal to Wal"). Many of this album's tracks have found a place in the
band's career retrospectives, including the airy fusion of "Dance of
the Illegal Aliens" and the engaging "Algon." While Mike Clarke's
impact on the music often goes unnoticed, John Giblin adds a new
dimension to the band's sound with two soft, evocative songs: "Rhesus
Perplexus" (in which Goodsall's acoustic guitar crosses into Pat
Metheny territory) and "April." The remaining tracks, "Not Good Enough
— See Me!" and "...And So to F...," are pleasant instrumentals
with a more prominent role for the percussion; Collins thought enough
of the latter to include a live version of it on a couple of 12"
singles from his subsequent solo career. By nearly doubling the band's
size, Product is able to indulge in an interesting game of musical
chairs that occasionally overshadows the music itself. The band clearly
has talent to spare, but can't seem to agree where to strike.
All Music Guide, Dave Connolly
Brand X: Phil Collins, John Goodsall, Mike Clarke, John Giblin, Robin
Lumley, Peter Jones, Peter Robinson, Morris Pert. Additional producers:
Colin Green, Neil Kernon, Brand X. For even a frenzied bunch like Brand
X, PRODUCT stands out as a particularly chaotic release. Drummer Phil
Collins was back in the fold after a one-album absence, and his
presence is keenly felt (he even lends his vocal talents on the
decidedly mainstream rocker "Don't Make Waves"). The expanded line-up
attempts rampantly different styles, such as the moody and complex
"Dance of the Illegal Aliens," with its sudden guitar and keyboard
bursts, sauntering rhythm and thick atmosphere, and "Rhesus Perplexus,"
which lifts a page or two from fusion-lite players like Steve Khan and
Pat Metheny, with Goodsall's guitars reflecting an almost traditional
sound. The closing "April" is prog in jazz clothing, all dawning bass
and searching guitar fragments, and, like the best prog rock, imbues
old contexts with new meanings.
CD Universe
Product (1980) sees Phil Collins return, but something is wrong: he
authors just two tracks (Soho and ...And So to F...) and... sings.
Don't Make Waves (pure "made in" Goodsall rock) and Soho are two of the
three true songs published by Brand X (the third one, Act of Will, can
be found in Do They Hurt?) and, together with ...And So to F..., would
get a better place in a solo album of Phil's (who is becoming a bit
intrusive). Not so bad, but terribly trivial. Maybe Phil Collins's
reappearance is due to his need to promote himself, because he is
releasing Face Value (1981); considered that Soho is also the "A side"
of the two sole singles ever published by the band, the marketing
strategy becomes manifest. So Brand X drift to a somehow easy listening
rock-fusion: Product lacks Unorthodox Behaviour's class. A positive
side is that bassist John Giblin joins the band: at that time he plays
with Peter Gabriel (Peter Gabriel III) and he will then join, among
others, Simple Minds (Live in the City of Light and Street Fighting
Years), Kate Bush and the italian singer Alice (Park Hotel). He authors
Rhesus Perplexus, Wal to Wal (the synthesised percussion line and the
bass fast rhythm variations are quite remarkable) and the quiet and
melodic April, which are some of the best tracks in the whole
album.
superEva
At this point Brand X really becomes a mess, and it'd take a specialist
to analyze this period of activity. Phil Collins and Robert Lumley
return to the band as actual members, yet it's not like any of the
others are out. Rather it's, uhm, a "collective" project, somewhat
similar to Yes' Union (well, relax, that's not necessarily bad or
anything). Let's see, we have Phil on drums and vocals, Lumley on
keyboards, Percy Jones on bass, Goodsall on guitar, then there's the
new regular drummer Mike Clarke and another bassist, John Giblin, and
another keyboardist, and Morris Pert credited for percussion, and a
whole bunch of producers, too.
And despite the chaos, it's still the best Brand X album in years.
Sure, in a perfectly conscious tongue-in-cheek manner it was dubbed
Product because it dared to actually include two pop songs with Collins
on vocals - blasphemy! But if you ask me, I don't see how putting a
couple lightweight poppy numbers on here makes this any more of a
'product' than the preceding Masques. Maybe Masques had less commercial
potential, but it was all built on the same, absolutely stagnated,
formula, whereas Product at least offers some diggings into new
territory.
Not that the two pop songs are tremendously interesting. Goodsall's
'Don't Make Waves' is essentially a loud-sounding nothing, maybe
something that pretends to be a jazz-influenced power-pop send-up, but
it's hardly inspired at all. It does sound a bit similar to the way A
Trick Of The Tail opened, a huge, bombastic tune with a tricky verse
structure (and Collins sounds just as inexplainably pissed off as he
did while singing 'you gotta start doing it right'), but it's just not
memorable at all. Nor impressive, all you people who say I overrate
memorability. There, I said it, a song can be impressive without being
memorable, but this one is neither. Say, do you have the least idea why
my Brand X reviews turn out to be so boring as I'm getting them out of
my system? Me, I don't have the least idea. Such an exciting, thrilling
band. 'Soho' is, like, one of the best songs ever written this side of
Foreigner's 'Cold As Ice'!
Seriously now, 'Soho' is pretty good, totally in the vein of Collins'
early Eighties Genesis, and with a well-expected bit of social critique
as well (actually, 'Don't Make Waves' is supposed to be a protest song,
too. It's just with such an obviously mainstream guy like Phil, you
don't even notice how many violent anti-The Man and anti-The System
songs he's ever written. Which is his safety belt - when put to trial
for murder like 'Hold On My Heart', he can always get away by saying,
'hey, I did "Land Of Confusion" and "Jesus He Knows Me", too!'). These
two songs, one mediocre and one sympathetic, don't really seem to fit
with the rest of the tunes, traditionally instrumental, but they add a
solid touch of diversity. Me happy.
As for the rest, I'd say it's still a slight improvement over the
flawless boringness of Masques. Instead of turning every song into a
vehicle for Goodsall's "look at me playing faster than John McLaughlin,
it's getting better every day!" routine, they occasionally go for an
atmospheric punch (again!), and try to alternate generic fusion with
Genesis-like mid-tempo prog-rock, which in turn was already involving
into Genesis-like mid-tempo pop-rock; I'd even say that Product is a
must for any Genesis fan because it illustrates the direction of their
transformation better than just about anything else. 'Dance Of The
Illegal Aliens', for instance, which later provided a name for Phil's
well-known 1983 hit, at times sounds like 'Los Endos' from 1976 and at
other times like 'The Brazilian' from 1986... well, approximately so,
but you get the idea. It's very light and dancey, but every once in a
while you get something weird, like a dissonant bass solo.
Elsewhere there's still some of generic fusion ('Not Good Enough' is a
typical offender which I can't really tolerate because I've had my fair
share of that stuff on the preceding album). BUT: 'Algon' is something
that rather comes close to instrumental adult contemporary, very slow
(except when it speeds up for a few minutes in the middle), very moody,
with very carefully and meticulously placed guitar chords without any
hints at finger-flashing; 'Rhesus Perplexus' is more pure jazz than
anything else, with Goodsall's Pat Metheny-like chops (okay, so I
copped that reference from the All-Music Guide, but at least I have the
guts to admit it) and a soothing lax climate overall; 'Wal To Wal' is a
strange drum-machine based number with the bass guitar as the most
prominent instrument - hey, doesn't that song give us the first example
of "drum'n'bass"?; 'And So To F' is a b-i-g optimistic number
representing spring, hope, love, Krishna and pepperoni pizza; and
'April' is more of an ambient mood-emphasizing closer than an actual
tune, but it's a good closer.
But of course, it's not like I'm reveling in the splendour of all this,
I don't actually find even a single great song on the album.
Essentially, it's mood music like almost everything else this band
recorded - the good thing is, it ain't annoying mood music. I could
easily put this on without the risk of annoying anybody in the same
room with me, because really, when Masques is playing and Goodsall
plays his electric current arpeggios for the fiftieth time in a row,
it's like, "man, this isn't even funny any more". And I concur.