BRAINBOX

Before guitarist Jan Akkerman and drummer Pierre Van Der Linden joined FOCUS they were part of this blues band called BRAINBOX. Both would leave after this record and BRAINBOX would release another album in 1972 before packing it in until that comeback album in the 10's. The attraction for most people to picking up this album is that FOCUS connection of course and really the only redeeming thing about this record is listening to these two play.

This was released in 1969 and we get seven tracks four of which are covers. The three originals are disappointing although the opener "Dark Rose" is an energetic piece that has it's moments. But the short and bluesy 2 1/2 minute "Sinner's Prayer" and the epic(not) 17 minute closer "Sea Of Delight" falls flat. I was so looking forward to "Sea Of Delight" but it lays an egg big time. Extra large. So much of this is sparse to a fault and while that changes late I'm not into drum solos or the way the vocals arrive so awkwardly.

If your into covers you might like some of this but man Jan and Pierre did a wise thing when they jumped ship.

Brainbox is mainly known for being the embryo out of which Focus was born. Akkerman took himself to a whole other level with Focus but this is a document that holds both interest and worth. It is basically a rock/pop album with a psychedelic flavor but there is also that wonderful element of progressive tendencies in it's very beginning.

Three out of seven tracks are primarily hard rock with "Dark rose" really hitting the mark with the flute, intensity and wonderful instrumentation, not least due to Akkerman's blistering guitar work. A really great and intense song. "Baby, what you want me to do?" is an old blues song made famous by Jimmy Reed and later also covered by Elvis Presley. Alright but progressive? No, not in the least. "Sinner's prayer" opens up with a great, heavy riff but it all goes unremarkable when the song gets going. Just another blues song. That isn't bad but nothing to brag about.

"Reason to Believe" is a cover of Tim Hardin and it differs not much from the original. Quite unimpressive rendition.

Four of the seven tracks are covers. Two of them ("Baby, what you want me to do?" and "Reason to belive") adds little to the development of progressive rock. However, "Scarborough Fair" does. I've heard several versions by other bands doing this particular track and it is well suited for a progressive treatment. It is very atmospheric with flute, great acoustic guitar, restrained drums and vibes that gives the track a spacey and warm feel. Elongated and embellished this version is one of my favorites. It is a treat.

The second cover worth mentioning is "Summertime" that gets the Heavy or progressive treatment aswell. Again the result is great. and the proto-prog elements are there and in abundance. Nice organ too.

The "Epic" of the album is "Sea of delight" with it's 17 minutes worth of playing time. It is not like any Epic of later years with a whole lot of sections and pieces. It is more of a jam than anything else. It starts with a great melodic vocal part that soon heads into a frantic session where each of the instruments gets it's fair share of room. It's an interesting and really good piece of progressive jamming shrouded in late 60's psychedelia. I like it alot and it does not get boring at any time.

So, is the first album by Brainbox anything to spend time on? Yes, I Think so. If you peel away the uninteresting tracks. you're left with some prog made in it's infancy that is really enjoyable. This album is not only interesting due to the presence of Akkerman, it is interesting as a time piece and holds some really great and interesting ideas. Had they done something more interesting with, say, "Reason to Believe" for instance the rating would have earned them an extra star but as it stands I'll give it Three. But do check it out. It's worth it.

This, their second and final album, is often marketed as "the progressive 2nd album" and that statement holds some thruth. The music on "Parts" is a big improvement, as far as the amount of real progressive rock is concerned, from their first album.

The opening track "A face" is a really nice number recalling early Yes with the singer adopting a somewhat Jon Anderson-like voice, while the instrumentation resembles the band with odd time signature and prominent bass guitar. It is the best track on the album. Focused, tight and with an obvious progressive direction. "You're used to be warmer" follows in the progressive direction but this time with a more jazzy approach. Really nice tune aswell.

After those two great openers follows a slightly less progressive quartet of songs. While they do have hints of progressive rock it does not reach the levels of the first two tracks. A bit more in a psychedelic pop-mode.

Then it goes piano-progressive with "Another part". That song could have been developed into a longer piece with the piano opening up the whole thing. Too bad it stops after Three minutes of playing the piano. On the other side they enter the realm of progressive stricken hard rock on "Dilemma", which is quite a nice tune but not much to write home about. The mouth harp ruins the progressive feel somewhat.

"Drum and thunder suite" is progressive enough in a jazz rock way. Heavy on the drums (as expected) with nice jazzy flashes of instrumentation it is quite interesting and shows some prominse Before the final song hits you. "When I was poor" opens with the sound of an audience cheering at the band. I doubt it is an authentic live recording but that doesn't matter much. The song itself is a ballad with a certain degree of energy to it. Call it rock feel. Not the best of tracks but not bad either.

Brainbox seems to have struggled with what approach or direction to take. Should they head on down the pop road or take to the skies in the spaceballoon of prog? Judging by the first track (though not entirely unique in any way) they had the means and capability to actually write seriously progressive rock as it sounded back in the early 1970's. But then it seems that they did not want to lose the pop audience or the opportunity to hit the charts, so they filled the album with almost equal amounts of pop songs and progressively constructed pieces. The result is an album that lands in no man's land. It is neither a prog album, nor a fully fledged pop record. Is that a bad thing? Well, yes and no. The balance is wrong. It's like having the dessert and the main meal served on the same plate at the same time. It's all good but not at the same time. The flow is disrupted.

If you're looking for serious progressive rock you need not go to any great lengths to acquire this album but if you (like me) enjoys early prog rock that is, so to speak, in the making you might enjoy pieces of the album. I really like the first two tracks. The remainder is really throwaways in the grand scheme of things. When I add things up the rating lands on 2,66 stars, so I'll round things up and reward it Three.

Late-60's Dutch band, the history of which is more interesting than its links to Prog Rock.Polish singer/guitarist Kazimierz Lux, winner of a talent scouting competition, asked guitarist Jan Akkerman and drummer Pierre van der Linden to form a group, after playing together in a studio, gathered by the Bovema label for the sessions of an upcoming Lux demo.They were joined by bassist Andre Reynen and released a nice little Heavy/Blues Rock album in 1969.Soon Akkerman was forced to leave the band, after jamming with one Thijs van Leer.The two formed Focus and Akkerman brought van der Linden along.Conflicts with the manager and several line-up changes led to a complete lifting around 1971, when Lux and Reynen left Brainbox, dissapointed by the situation.The new formation now was Robert Verwey on bass, organ, piano, ex-Ekseption Michel Van Dijk on vocals, flute, Ron Meyjes on guitar, harmonica and Frans Smit on drums.Second Brainbox album comes in 1972 on Harvest under the name ''Parts''.

Some sort of early Renaissance case with no original members found in the line-up, the new-born Brainbox recorded the most progressive of the two Brainbox releases, not because of its complexity or groundbreaking sound, but mainly due to the mass of diverse paths explored by the new musicians.But here come also the first clouds with the sound leading actually to nowhere despite the decent compositions, too many flexible twists are present here and the several line-up shakes led eventually to a confusing sound.The opening side sounds a bit more consistent, having always a Psychedelic Rock basis and breaking occasionally into the territories of Blues, Folk and Pop, reminding a bit of premature YES with all these electroacoustic lines, light organ and multiple vocal moments, the songwriting is cool, but the material is far from compelling.Then comes the chaos of the flipside, which is a bit more intricate progressively speaking, but fails to deliver a trully adventurous sound.Opening with Verwey's interesting piano work with jazzy and Classical leanings, passing through a monstrous Heavy/Psych Rock style with Proto-Metal touches and a combination of furious guitars with harmonica and then giving space to an organ-driven Psych Rock, fading in the sake of Frans Smit's long and needless drum solo.''When I was poor'' is a lovely closing effort with again some early YES vibes in the guitar parts and excellent, melodic vocals and solos, fine piece, but not great enough to save the day.

Brainbox disbanded not long enough after the album was released with Michel van Dijk joining Alquin.Lux followed a personal career from 1971 and on and teamed up again with Akkerman for a couple of albums from mid- to late-70's.Brainbox reunited in early-80s with Lux, Reynen and van der Linden all on board for some lives and folded again in 1984.Another attempt was launched in 2003 by Lux and van Der Linden, releasing a live work, and this formation lasted for a couple of years as well.

''Parts'' should be seen as a document of a historical band, which comprised of some of the best Dutch Prog Rock musicians at its early days, but fails to be awarded as a serious attempt on Prog Rock.This is flat, melodic Psych Rock with proggy and heavy springles, well-played, but far from extraordinary...2.5 stars.

Brainbox - To you (compilation) (1972)

In the late sixties and early seventies there were some great blues rock bands in Holland. Most famous are Cuby + Blizzards, The Living Blues and Brainbox. Brainbox started with an amazing line-up with heavy soul/blues singer Kaz Lux, our most famous Dutch guitar player Jan Akkerman (of Focus fame) and - a personal favorite - Pierre van der Linden on drums (Focus, Trace). When asking adults interested in rock, Brainbox is often mentioned as the best Dutch band ever.

When listening to this 2lp compilation it's isn't too hard to understand why. Brainbox has that celebrated 'heavyness' or 'bite' to it, that fanatic playing, that great thick sound with a brutal rhythm section and great subtle or shreddings guitar solo's. The vocals of Kaz Lux (who would later team up with Jan Akkerman on 'Eli') are very strong in period. A nice combination of soul, power (with that slightly distorted low) and some great screams in higher pitches. Over the years the band had some line-up changes, eventually Jan Akkerman and Pierre van der Linden left to join Focus. Luckily both members were replaced by strong musicians that do the job well, though before-mentioned players are of course impossible to replace.

Whilst Brainbox was mainly a blues rock band, the repertoire was expended with folk influences (a brilliant version of Scarborough Fair), hard rock and slightly progressive elements (mainly on the long version of Sea of Delight (unwisely not included on this compilation). Brainbox weren't too keen on song-writing and a lot of material presented consists of standards like 'Summertime' (best rock version!) and Reason to Believe.

On this double album, which was later released on a single cd, one can't find a lot of moments that aren't worthwhile for a serious listener of classic era rock and blues rock. Only the opening track 'Virgin' isn't that good, but I think the alternative recording sound of this specific song is largely to blame. No real favorites here, but a lot of great material that covers a variety of moods but remains powerful throughout.

Conclusion. A very strong compilation of this Dutch blues rock giant, with the absence of the full version of 'Sea of Delight' as only weak point. For vinyl collectors this release is highly recommended, though I must admit it doesn't have any recognizable progressive rock features. Perhaps fan of Focus will be excited to listen to earlier material of Akkerman/van der Linden. For those interested with a cd-player I recommend acquiring the remastered edition of the 'Blue dome' Brainbox debut, which practically has the same tracks and the full version of 'Sea of Delight'. Four stars for this one, great blues rock.

Before the Brainbox reunion started, some members were since 2001 playing in the Dutch bluesband Flavium. The line-up of that formation was Anne Geert Bonder and Rudy de Queljoe on guitar, Eric Bagchus on bass, Pierre van der Linden on drums and Kaz Lux on vocals. They played an exciting combination of Flavium blues and some of the best Brainbox songs.(A mix between blues, psychedelica and powerpop.) At the end of 2002 Kaz Lux introduced singer/blues harp player Jos Veldhuizen on stage, and told the audience about a complete reunion of both groups. Guitarist John Schuursma was willing to play in Brainbox again and Bonders continued Flavium with Veldhuizen and Rob Geboers on piano. Bagchus and van der Linden kept playing in both bands and did two shows the same evening, 'cause they did a tour with each other. Easter 2003 was their first concert. Kaz Lux kicked off the show with a solo act of half a hour, followed by Flavium and Brainbox as headliner. The last train is a valuable live recording which shows what a delightful band Brainbox was at that time. The cd opens with the bluesrock of Baby,with as special guest Rob Geboers on piano. To you and Cruel train belong to the best songs they made without Akkerman and are played longer than the original version.It contains fascinating guitarwork from Schuursma and de Queljoe. Another bluessong is Sinner's prayer, with Jos Veldhuizen on the blues harp. Doomsday train is a faster,more heavy song with Kaz Lux as extra guitarplayer. It's made a little longer and mostly they played it again at the end of the evening. Sea of delight is called a song about makin'love by Kaz Lux and has a jazzy guitarsection and a short drumsolo by masterdrummer van der Linden. Summertime is less powerful than the version with Akkerman.It sounds tame and is not something to call a highlight. The instrumental Mobilea is very pleasant and a pause for the voice of Kaz Lux. Dark rose is a song the audience likes to hear. A faster song with the second drumsolo from van der Linden. Between Alpha and Omega is a restful one with an extra long psychedelic guitarpart by Rudy de Queljoe. The end of the evening is almost reached. Time for a strong version of the all-time favourite Down man. That song really rocks! The last song Gloria is a favourite of Lux and was written by Van Morrison for his band Them. The last train was recorded in july 2004. In september of that year they did their last show. Brainbox was disbanded because Kaz Lux had hearing damage. Still he has, but armed with special hearing protection he decided to re-form Brainbox again. Since january 2010 they appear on stage again with Kees van der Laarsse on bass. Pierre van der Linden is member of Focus and Brainbox. I saw them in january and it was sold out.

Impossible to find third single ( with 2 other record sleeves that I know of ) released by Dutch prog/blues band Brainbox which is best known as one of Focus guirtarist Jan Akkerman`s first claims to fame. With Akkerman on both guitar and Hammond this superb cover of Gershwin`s classic provides a clear indication of the direction he was going to take with Focus and a testimony to the exceptional quality of early European progressive rock. Pierre van Der Linden, featured on drums here, would also join Focus on their 1972 album Moving Waves. The real passion on the track emanates from vocalist Kaz Lux who was inspired by 20th century American bluesmen on both tracks. The second track is a harder more upbeat bluesy track featuring swirling flute and Akkerman guitar fireworks which also appears on their first self-titled album as well as a few Best Of albums released in the seventies.

Although only of interest to hardcore collectors both tracks are still available on the 2002 CD " The Very Best Brainbox Album Ever " for those interested in exploring early Dutch progrock and pre-Focus Akkerman work.

Brainbox a classic Dutch band that recorded a prog-infused blues-rock album in 1969. With the heavy jazz-rock guitar of Jan Akkerman and the masterful drumming of Pierre van der Linden (who would eventually both join Focus) and the strong voice Kaz Lux the band has some stand-out musicians on display. The band did not have a strong song-writer, so we are presented a tracklist on which the strongest songs are all covers. Of these the folk-rock version of 'Scarborough Fair' and the heavy blues rock version of 'Summertime' have become classics. The second side is filled with 'Sea of Delight', a not particularly strong song that's used as a vehicle for jamming and improvisation. For collectors of sixties (blues rock) music this is without a doubt an interesting record from a bygone era. Also fans of Focus en Akkerman should take notice.

Right in your face complainin`blues. This treasure features two of the meanest blues tracks from the late `60s that you`ve never heard. Those who are curious as to what guitar maestro Jan Akkerman was up to before making guitar freaks drool in the early seventies with his fret melting licks with Focus should check this out. These two singles demonstrate how accomplished a player he was in the sixties and combined with singer Kaz Lux`s soul ripping vocals this could easily be mistaken for something from the British blues explosion in the latter half of the sixties. Obviously of interest for die-hard collectors of vintage vinyl a mega rare demo was also released on the Elektra Label in the US in 1969. These tracks, recorded in 1968, were also the first two recordings made by the band before they acquired a bass player ( Akkerman plays bass on both cuts ). A session man is also featured on piano as well as future Focus drummer Pierre van der Linden. Both are also currently available on the CD release " The Very Best Brainbox Album Ever " for those who are not in possession of antiquated audio playback equipment. Classic sixties psychedelic blues from the Netherlands.

Brainbox were more of a pop band which was part of the Benelux invasion of the late sixties and this is a collection of most of their singles released during their brief existence from 1969 to 1972. Perhaps the biggest misconception surrounding this band is that Jan Akkerman was the guitarist throughout this period when in actual fact he appeared on only 3 singles and one album. Overshadowed by the work that Akkerman contributed to neo-classical rock monolith Focus, Brainbox should be remembered in their own right for their powerful showy blend of rock, folk and electric blues much to the credit of Kaz Lux`s angelic vocals which soar up into the stratosphere. In fact, while including everything Akkerman recorded with the band with the exception of the longer cut of "Sea Of Delight" ( we get to hear the single version here ), the other three guitar players which appear on this anthology with Lux are better suited to his bluesy style and don`t clash as much as Akkerman`s over the top antics which chomp more at the bit as evidenced on Dark Rose which is without question the bands staple. The difference between the guitar players can be clearly discerned on the instrumental Mobilea which has a gentle country feel to it which features Rudy de Queljoe who became the mainstay of the group after Akkerman left along with Hermann Meyer and later John Schuursma. Several exceptionally interpreted cover versions from the Akkerman " era" of well known pieces, most notably George Gershwin`s "Summertime" and Simon and Garfunkel`s "Scarborough Fair" will also surely raise some eyebrows upon first play for listeners with more "progressive" expectations. The final two tracks are performed by a band which was put together by the manager of the band who retained control of the band`s name after Lux departed on a solo career with drummer Frans Smit being the only left over member from the Kaz Lux lineups. Included here are the A sides of two singles taken from the only LP recorded by this lineup entitled " Parts". Perhaps included here to make the package more complete many would argue for the longer version of "Sea Of Delight" with Akkerman from the first album which fortunately is also available in CD format. One can see the predicament the new members were in, and one of the tracks entitled "Dilemma", whether intentionally or not, reflects this sentiment leaning more towards straight-forward rock while the other track the folky ballad, "Part Of Me Is Part Of You" attempts to move closer to the sound of the Lux lineups.

One problem with this compilation ( as with many compilations ) is that the tracks are not presented in chronological order perhaps for reasons of musical flow. However this leads to confusion especially given overlapping personel changes within the band over such a short period of time. One of those big "what ifs" certainly arise here as Akkerman, already with one solo album under his belt at the time this material was released, was literally on fire and at a creative peak with an already established virtuosity on his instrument. Ironically, Akkerman was fired by the band`s manager who wanted a more mainstream sound from the band and it was this that lead ultimately to the downfall of the band in the long run with the art/rock movement taking more precedence for popular music audience ears. Nonetheless the song-oriented music found here is actually superior to a lot of similar bands that appeared during the psychedelic craze of the late sixties. Unfortunately Brainbox arrived just alitle too late at a period where musical tastes were in a transition from music that spoke to the body and emotion to music that spoke more to the intellect. Nonetheless, fans of Bad Company, Spooky Tooth or Rory Gallager who have somehow bypassed Brainbox will have no problem appreciating this exceptional band which seemingly fell victim to changing times with all their important work being rationalized in this excellent anthology.