AIR

Ekseption is a band with two sides. They became well known for their reworkings of classic tunes but they also wrote some interesting material themselves. On this compilation both sides of the band are present. CD one contains the "classic" material and cd two contains the selfpenned material (with some exceptions). Altough Ekseption made albums well into the eighties, the bulk of the tracks on this release come from '69 - '73.

The first cd opens, of course, with Bach's "Air". Many of the Ekseption trademarks can be heard in this track, the brass section and the jazzy keyboards. The only thing that is missing is the hammond, so wonderfully played by the late Van der Linden. On the other tracks this shortcoming is restored. Almost all the tunes on this cd will sound familiar. Some will sound a bit silly like "El Barbero" and "Sabre Dance", but there are also some great reworkings such as "Flight of the Bumble Bee", "Adagio", "The Lamplighter" and "Peace Planet".

On the second cd you will find the material Ekseption wrote themselves (except for three tracks). This is also the cd I prefer most from this set. It contains some excellent tracks like "Julia" and "Another History" both with vocals from Michel van Dijk; "Morning Rose" and "On Sunday They Will Kill The World" with vocals by Steve Allet. And the great organ track "Lonely Chase". But unfortunately it also includes a track like "Ramses" with just spoken words by Ramses Shaffy. Why this was included no one knows.

If you are interested in the music of Ekseption, this double album is a good start. It gives a good overview of the music they made. But when you just want to listen to their best albums, I would suggest Beggar Julia's Time Trip or 3. These albums are their most progressive.