WELL CUT

I just noticed that this band had been added to PA and that no one had reviewed this album so far which does not really surprise me.

I bought this album when I was not even a teenager (I was aged twelve). How comes that a young boy would buy "Well Cut" ? Well there are some reasons for that.

The first one is that I have always been curious (and this album is a curiosity). The second is that JK is Belgian rock band (and in these days - but nothing has changed in the meantime - there weren't so many). The third (and the most important probably) is that at the time of release, this record (believe or not) had some exposure in my country (Belgium).

Why's that shall you ask ? Because of P. Rapsat ? No, not really. Just because the person responsible for the lyrics was no one else than the most famous rock critics in Belgium : Piero. He used to write his reviews (concerts and records) every week in "Télémoustique" a very well known ... TV magazine in Belgium.

Due to his fame, some good reviews in the Belgian press (the members were both Flemish and French speaking, so they were exposed in the whole country, not only in one part) and some airing on the radio were the elements that encouraged me to buy it.

I remember that I played it a lot. Compositions are on the hard side, even if the keyboard will add a special taste to it. The best comparison might well be Uriah Heep.

My preferred song of the album was "The Moderate". I even wonder if they didn't release it as a single because I was able to hear it on the radio (but I am not sure of this). The opener "Pain" and the closing "Trip To Paraside" are also good numbers.

This review is based on my memory (but I am referring to almost thirty-six years ago) because there has been an extremely long time that I haven't listened to this record. Actually, when I saw it available for review this morning, I tried to get hold of the vinyl album (not to listen to it because my pick-up needs repairing but just to look at the sleeve) and I couldn't find it anymore. Hopefully I find it back somedays, because its commercial value is now pretty high (some 150 ? on the Internet).

Three stars.

Out of the mists, buried deep under time and space comes the voice of the belgian band Jenghiz Khan. Obscure, yes it is. I have been aqcuainted with this band for many years but it is only recently I have come to the conclusion it deserves a review. Sadly there's only one review of the album and though I dare say that mine will not differ all that much from that one I still think it's just and proper to grace it with at least two.

Jenghiz Khan made one album and then disappeared. What you hear on the album is all there is, I suppose, and what is it the then? I hear a band that has spent a lot of time listening to Uriah Heeps first album and checked out other, similar bands, like Deep Purple. The vocalist tries hard to sound something like David Byron with the high pitched screaming and he manages to pull off quite a holler. There's a lot of the old Hammond organ, and that appeals to me greatly. The sound of the album is raw and dirty, primitive and earthy. The soundscape resembles "Very 'eavy, very 'umble" and "In rock" which gives it all a very rough sounding edge.

The quality of the songs range from "okay" to "great" and comes in equal amounts. The real winners are the opener "Pain", the heavy and moody "The moderate" and the sort of epic closer "Trip to paradise". The two songs "Campus A" and "Campus B" are nothing but two rock'n'roll numbers that leaves me indifferent. "The lighter", "Hard working man" and "Mad lover" are nice enough but not much to write home about. The opener and the closer are absolutely the best with shifting moods and tempos. Great stuff.

When pondering on what rating to give I became, at first, blinded by the three great tracks and losing sight of the target but after carefully thinking and calculating I came to the conclusion that it is impossible for me to give the album anything else than three stars. It's a nice album, well worth a listen, but it does not land in the category excellent as a whole. One wonders what might have been had they released another album.

Raw, heavy and at times really excellent.