5

After their '00.04' (1971) album, which is maybe their best, the line-up remained the same for this album. But producer Tony Vos was not present in this album, not even as a guest sax player as in '00.04', but '5' is dedicated to him, and '5' was produced again by Rick van der Linden but with assistance from Rein van der Broek and recording engineer Pieter Nieboer. So, by 1972 it seems to me that van der Linden was having an even more prominent role in the band, with him being the keyboard player, the main composer, the main arranger and also the producer of their albums.

This album stars with a bit of humor (at least for me, I think) with the brief 'Introduction', which has van der Linden playing some bars from Beethoven`s Fifth Symphony, with a Pipe Organ (this was, after all, their fifth studio album, and this musical theme was also used for one of their first singles in 1969, called 'The Fifth', but played with the whole band, but not with a Pipe Organ, of course). 'Introduction' is followed by 'Siciliano in G', which is an arrangement of J.S. Bach`s Second Movement from Sonata No. 2 in E-flat major for Flute and Harpsichord. (This musical piece also has been transcribed to be played in piano only by other Classical Music artists like pianist Wilhelm Kempff). 'Siciliano in G' is my favorite arrangement of a Classical Music piece by van der Linden, played very well by the band, with Rein van der Broek and Dick Remelink playing a very good duet with trumpet and sax, respectively, and also having very good trumpet solos from van der Broek in other parts, and a also a brief but very good piano and spinet solo from van der Linden. Van der Linden also adds very good keyboard arrangements in all the parts of the musical piece. Great playing from the band in this musical piece, in my opinion.

The next track is 'Vivace', which is an arrangement from J.S Bach`s First Movement from the Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A Minor. A fast musical piece also played very well by the band.

The next track is 'For Example', composed by Keith Emerson and Lee Jackson and previously recorded by THE NICE, which was one of the bands which originally inspired EKSEPTION to play adaptations of Classical Music themes, like THE NICE did in some of their albums. 'For Example' is played with a Jazz arrangement, and is followed by 'For Sure', composed by van der Linden.

'Virginal', composed by van der Linden, is a very good musical piece with influences from J.S. Bach`s music, but also having some Jazz and Pop arrangements and very good solos from van der Broek.

'A la Turka' is an arrangement of Mozart`s 'Alla Turka from Sonata no. 11 in A-minor'. A fast musical piece played with organ and wind instruments arrangements plus some Pop and Jazz arrangements, of course.

'Midbar Session', composed by van der Linden, is another musical piece influenced by J.S. Bach`s music. It is maybe the most Progressive musical piece in this album, with a length of more than 10 minutes, with a main melody played using a synthesiser, and also some Jazz-Rock arrangements.

'Pie' is a brief piano musical piece by van der Linden, with some Jazz arrangements.

'My Son', composed by van der Linden, and inspired by his son, has a 12 string acoustic guitar played by drummer Peter de Leeuwe, with also having the appearance of Rick van der Linden Junior (as a baby, of course) crying in the background (!). It also has some choral arrangements.

'Finale', like the 'Introduction' in this album, is again played by van der Linden with a Pipe Organ, and also credited as a composition from Beethoven, also reprising other musical themes from other musical pieces in the album.

As a whole, this is a very good album from EKSEPTION.