Mastermind - Prog, Fusion, Metal, Leather And Sweat

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Artist:	Mastermind
Title:	Prog, Fusion, Metal, Leather And Sweat
Label:	Stellarvox SV2001-2
Length(s):	80 minutes
Year(s) of release:	2000
Month of review:	08/2000

Line up

Bill Berends - midi guitar, guitars, backing vocals
Lisa Bouchelle - vocal, acoustic guitar
Mickey Simmonds - keyboards
Rich Berends - drums
Bob Eckman - bass

Tracks

1)	On The Road By Noon	6.29
2)	The Approaching Storm	7.30 MP3 or RealAudio
3)	Tokyo Rain	7.06
4)	The End Of The World	10.45
5)	Sudden Impulse	5.22
6)	Decide For Yourself	6.23
7)	A Million Miles Away	6.46
8)	Sky Dancer	5.40
9)	When The Walls Fell	13.55
10)	Jubilee (encore)	9.51

Summary

Recorded at Nearfest '99 this is a chokeful cd of live material by Mastermind. Just about everything comes from the very good Excelsior, and some new tracks, later to appear on Angels Of Apocalypse are also present as is the then new singer Lisa Bouchelle.

The music

The album opens forcefully (how else could it) with On The Road By Noon. Notwithstanding the pace and power, the music is certainly melodic and the style is a combination of prog and jazzrock. The guitar is the dominating instrument. Rich Berends sets the pace and supports the drive while Bill plays the melody and the rather solo's. The music is a bit looser than on record. I once saw them live and they sounded very metal then, but now it seems they tend to be as melodic as on record. The sound of the album is good, but it can be heard that this is a live recording (which I feel is not bad at all). One of my favourite Mastermind tracks is the exciting The Approaching Storm. A must for every proglover especially if you're into intense music. The track certainly lives up to its title with washes of cymbals (rain) distorted, intense (midi)guitarplaying (the howling wind) and with at times that typical Mastermind bombasm (or should I say grandioseness?) The opening of Tokyo Rain has a little white noise, but that's soon gone. The music is now a bit relaxed and that is not a bad idea after the hectic two tracks that went before. Lisa Bouchelle wails along with the music on this one. Takes a while for her to get into it and it is notable that she's better at home in the higher regions. The acoustic guitar (which I guess Lisa is playing) and the drums dominate this track. Hard to tell who plays what actually. I mean both Bill and Mickey could play the keyboards parts, right? A bit of an easy going track, but with some more intense guitar playing in the middle. The End Of The World was then a new track. At this moment it has appeared on Angels Of The Apocalypse. This is the first really vocal track. The powerful bombastic opening reminds us of the Mastermind during their Brainstorm period (the second album). The music does continue to have a fusion sound and does not refer directly to ELP anymore, but the military drums are typical for them. Then the song gets some pace and becomes more accessible preparing for the vocal part. Not everything in this track I like, because for instance the pacey chorus is a bit too straightforward for me, but the energy brims over in this track and as a consequence it is certainly not bad. The drumming is rather monotonous (for Mastermind that is). Also, the fact that this is a speedy and more rowdy live version, the well-dosed supporting vocals of Bill and the experimental instrumental intermezzo (bass, guitar, keyboards?) make this a track worth hearing. Also hear in the instrumental part one hears how they arrived at this style from the oh so different Excelsior. Sudden Impulse means back to Excelsior. A pacey track full of variations in tempo and with some chaotic passages as well as melodic ones. Not much different in style from the first two tracks. Decide For Yourself is also from Excelsior, and it is quite a bit longer than on record. This is a bouncy track opening with classical guitar and recognizably some synth work. The music reminds me of Camel strangely enough (certainly if it weren't for the every busy Rich). A Million Miles Away is a kind of ballad with the vocals Bouchelle again at the front. The music is not really quiet or anything though. A melodic song and one of the better ones on Angels Of The Apocalypse. Sky Dancer features quite a lot of heavy percussion and after that we come to the main dish: When The Walls Fell. This is a track of epic size and proportion based on the theme of Tiger! Tiger!. With this theme it opens (including soe good pointed acoustic guitar). Everything fits and the band gives a flashing rendition with a long emotional guitar solo at the end. The final track is Jubilee from the fourth album, Until Eternity. It features a drum solo of some kind and afterwards we get some classical tunes like Grieg's Peer Gynt, Sabre Dance and such all fully Masterminded.

Conclusion

From Excelsior everything except the short The Red Hour is played and two tracks are taken from Angels Of The Apocalypse. Great playing throughout, although the vocals do not always come out as good as on the album, I do appreciate the two tracks from Angels Of The Apocalypse. Lastly there was the track Jubilee which includes a number of classical tunes. High voltage progressive fusion/metal and I guess it must have cost the band a lot of sweat. The leather we take for granted.