Album Club, January 2017: Bruford - 'One of a Kind'

[Album Club]

Happy New Year Everyone.

We start the New Year Album Club with a choice from Neil (Dalek Supreme) who, after a 'no show' by another member, has kindly stepped up to the plate with Bruford's 'One of a Kind'. As always please listen to the album in its entirety before you comment and/or vote.


Bruford - One of A Kind (1979)

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/312YJXPA8HL.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_of_a_Kind_(Bruford_album)

I discovered this album many years ago - on vinyl - and bought it as one of 'my taking a chance' purchases and fell in love with its quirky mix of prog and jazz-fusion vibes. One of A Kind is mostly instrumental with the only vocal being speech at the beginning of Fainting in Coils, provided by Sam Alder as the narrator, Bill Bruford as the Mock Turtle and Anthea Norman Taylor as Alice.

The line up for this album is in my view fabulous with Bill Bruford on drums, Alan Holdsworth on guitar, Jeff Berlin on bass, and Dave Stewart on keyboards. Also on the album is Eddie Jobson on violin, and John Clark on guitar. The album was produced by Bill Bruford and it's a nice open and detailed recording with lovely acoustic and soundstage, with minimal compression.

In many ways this is a second UK album as Bill and Alan had just left UK to record this album and the vibe is very similar just missing John Wetton's bass and vocals.

I think its beautiful and haunting in places with magical interplay between instruments and at times interesting time changes/tuning and a slightly avant garde vibe. In saying that it’s still an album rich with melody so accessible if you like jaz- fusion and prog.

If you like this then previous album Feels Good To Me is also worth a listen (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feels_Good_to_Me / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EryOENGi67M&t=1797s)

Stand out tracks: Sahara of Snow part 1 and 2, Fainting in Coils, Hell's Bells, One of A Kind.

During this time period there was some lovely material recorded in the prog/jazz-fusion genre, albums by UK, Brand X, Gong and Bruford.

I kind of expect a mixed reaction to this one as I know it wont be everyone's cup of tea.

This album, along with UK’s first album, have been long-term friends to me, over more years than I care to think about.

9 out of 10


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Neil



Link to '1979 Rock Goes To College Concert' on YouTube:
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Link to 'Feels Good to Me' on YouTube
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[Spectral Morn]

No surprise I voted 9 out of 10. Listening to it right now :)

[HackneyRF]

A good choice at short notice. Nice one. Not heard this one before but really enjoyed it. I'm familiar with Bruford from Yes and King Crimson but not any of this stuff. For sure there's shades of Brand X and Weather Report to my ears and the musicianship sounds on the money. Very tight. Must go and check out some other Bruford things, Earthworks for example. A strong 7/10 from me.

Cheers

Loz

[Spectral Morn]

A good choice at short notice. Nice one. Not heard this one before but really enjoyed it. I'm familiar with Bruford from Yes and King Crimson but not any of this stuff. For sure there's shades of Brand X and Weather Report to my ears and the musicianship sounds on the money. Very tight. Must go and check out some other Bruford things, Earthworks for example. A strong 7/10 from me.

Cheers

Loz

Glad you enjoyed it Loz :)

[Jac Hawk]

Sorry Neil, this really isn't my cup of tea, i just didn't engage with the majority of the tracks really, there were a couple of tracks that peeked my interest a little, Five G and The Sahara of Snow part 2, but not enough to make me want to listen to it again.

It would be a boring world if we all agreed all of the time

[farflungstar]

Would like to give this a listen but as with many YouTube videos it's blocked on mobile devices in Spain. grrrrr
Adey

Sent from my Aquaris E4.5 using Tapatalk

[HackneyRF]

Would like to give this a listen but as with many YouTube videos it's blocked on mobile devices in Spain. grrrrr
Adey

Sent from my Aquaris E4.5 using Tapatalk

It's on Spotify if you use that Adey.

[Audio Al]

Err :scratch: Nope , Cant get into this sorry

[struth]

Not my poison either so wont rate it. 2 tracks were listenable for me. Travels with myself, and another ive forgotten. I can see why folk might love it, dont get me wrong, its just not for me...sorry.

[Clifford.T Ward]

An interesting listen which straight away reminded me of UK's first album. On first hearing it was pleasant enough and at times I was drawn into it , however I don't feel it was a stand out album ....Bill's a good drummer and the other musicians are good.....if I see a copy for the right price I would be tempted to buy it.

[RothwellAudio]

I like Bill Bruford and I like Allan Holdsworth, but I don't think this is their best work. Still, it was quite a long time ago and I'm sure they would both agree that they have developed as musicians in the intervening years. Or maybe there's just a bit too much of the late 70s fusion vibe for my taste. Anyway, I don't love it - but I don't hate it either. Within the spectrum of music I like I'll rate it as a 6. In the wider context of music which includes the X Factor, shoe-gazers etc. that's equivalent to an 11 :lol:

[Spectral Morn]

Sorry Neil, this really isn't my cup of tea, i just didn't engage with the majority of the tracks really, there were a couple of tracks that peeked my interest a little, Five G and The Sahara of Snow part 2, but not enough to make me want to listen to it again.

It would be a boring world if we all agreed all of the time

No worries Mike, and others I knew it would be a Marmite pick.

[Spectral Morn]

An interesting listen which straight away reminded me of UK's first album. On first hearing it was pleasant enough and at times I was drawn into it , however I don't feel it was a stand out album ....Bill's a good drummer and the other musicians are good.....if I see a copy for the right price I would be tempted to buy it.

Yes John, very similar vibe to UK's first album, which is I think why I like this album so much.

I get also why others don't like it, and yes Bruford and Holdsworth are much improved as musicians but considering this was late 70s and we are now 2017 I would like to think they have improved skill wise and re composition.

[Clifford.T Ward]

This is a great feature to have on a forum and puts TAOS well above many of the forums on the net ...congratulations to all those involved in it !

[Pixelpopper]

Briefly i wrote a lengthy review which was then lost due to "token expiry" (Twice). Briefly, for me this is the best so far albeit understandably dated. I wouldn't listen to this much these days but in it's day very good. It scored an 8 with me.
Thanks for the introduction to Bills "other work."

[Spectral Morn]

Briefly i wrote a lengthy review which was then lost due to "token expiry" (Twice). Briefly, for me this is the best so far albeit understandably dated. I wouldn't listen to this much these days but in it's day very good. It scored an 8 with me.
Thanks for the introduction to Bills "other work."

You are most welcome Paul, glad you enjoyed it.

Make sure you tick the 'remember me' section at the top of the page, where you log in and eventually you won't time out.

[lovejoy]

Everything about this album makes my teeth itch. Sorry, this is about as far away from my cup of tea as you could get. I just about managed to get through it all, but I now need to go and sit in a dark room for the rest of the evening.

[Rothchild]

I got about halfway through this album before getting distracted. The musicianship is absolutely top notch, I loved the synths, pianos and the complex arrangements but I couldn't get past the drum sound, especially the snare (but the kick and the ridiculous toms aren't great either).

Shame, as I got really excited during the first track, the drop is way cool - like prog meets parliament, but it didn't quite follow through. I may well give it another go to see if I can get over the snare sound and explore a bit further.

[Spectral Morn]

I got about halfway through this album before getting distracted. The musicianship is absolutely top notch, I loved the synths, pianos and the complex arrangements but I couldn't get past the drum sound, especially the snare (but the kick and the ridiculous toms aren't great either).

Shame, as I got really excited during the first track, the drop is way cool - like prog meets parliament, but it didn't quite follow through. I may well give it another go to see if I can get over the snare sound and explore a bit further.

Should be worth another listen.

[Spectral Morn]

Everything about this album makes my teeth itch. Sorry, this is about as far away from my cup of tea as you could get. I just about managed to get through it all, but I now need to go and sit in a dark room for the rest of the evening.

No worries Rich, as I said earlier on its going to be a marmite album lol

[Rothchild]

Should be worth another listen.

Yeah, I did go back and finish it off, the snare was a bit more managable on my 'Castlesteins' in the conservatory (as opposed to on the PMCs in the studio, which are somewhat ruthless) nevertheless the aesthetic of the drum sound remained rather grating and the whole lot continued as it had started. Lovely synths, great late 70s 'golden age' recording with interesting (if a bit 'noodly' but it is Jazz Fusion) music and arrangements but not quite doing it for me.

I'll round it up from 5.5 and score it a 6

[Spectral Morn]

Thank you.

[petrat]

Well, anything with the late*, great Allan Holdsworth is clearly a 10/10 for me :D However, I do appreciate his musical vocabulary was not to most people's taste, to put it mildly. Jeff Berlin was considered one of the best bass-guitar players in the world when this was released, but some find him a bit needlessly busy. Dave Stewart was the main man in Hatfield and the North (whose album The Rotters Club was a brilliant bit of Canterbury 'prog'), and later a much under-rated band called National Health. So, a super-star line-up, but as always it depends if they have anything good to play ... and, my view is that they stray a bit too far into the 'show-off' jazz-rock of the day, so only gets a 7/10 in my book.

If you're more into the jazz elements here, then I strongly suggest you hear some of Bill's subsequent Earthworks releases. Certainly, the (mainly) acoustic line-up and the greater focus on the compositions make it a more interesting and varied listen. Bill's tasteful use of electronic percussion on the early releases is also a positive imo.


* http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/sd-et-music-holdsworth-obit-20170416-story.html

[Spectral Morn]

:(

I didn't know Alan Holdsworth had died. Loved his style. RIP Alan