EKSEPTION

Ekseption won a record deal while participating in the Loosdrecht Jazzconcours. The recordings they made for this album, however were rejected. To come up with something new they decided to mix classical music with pop music. They recorded The 5th, released it as a single, and it finally became a huge hit in the Netherlands. Now they could record the debut album and it consisted of covers, except for one track, Little X Plus. The music on this album is what makes Ekseption both loved and hated for. On it you'll find reworkings of well known tunes from the classics. It is not very original, but the keyboard playing of Rick van der Linden really stands out. Essential in the Ekseption sound is also the brass sound of trumpet and sax. For me the best track of the album is the Jethro Tull cover Dharma. It has a good flute solo by Rob Kruisman, the drum solo in the middle however takes some of the fun away. Air is also a good track with the keyboard parts that sound like a harpsichord to me. The album was recorded in a studio with only four tracks and this is one of the reasons it doesn't sound particularly good. This was a very successful album, but I don't really like it. I think the best Ekseption albums were the second and third.