Fatback are very firmly in an 80s mode here — using a bit more keyboards, beats, and electro touches than before, but still staying true to their funky inspirations! The style’s somewhat more contemporarily commercial than a few of the group’s previous records — clearly trying for a hit on a few numbers — but the rhythms and production are still a lot more real than most other hitbound bands of the era, and we can more than forgive the group for the few added hooks they bring into a few of the tunes! Titles include “He’s A Freak, Undercover”, “I Found Lovin”, “Wide Glide”, and “Please Stay”.

The last and reformed editions of Brand X, all sans Phil Collins, are heard on this double CD set of live performances in Chicago and New York City, respectively. Founding members John Goodsall (electric guitar) and Percy Jones (electric bass guitar) lead the band through classic fusion territory familiar to fans of the band; most of their best material is heard at sometime or another on this two hour excursion. For the Chi-town dates, drummer Kenwood Dennard, percussionist Morris Pert, and keyboardist Robin Lumley comprise perhaps the best overall talent of the many incarnations of Brand X. Highlights include the galloping guitar and klip-klop percussion that inform"Disco Suicide" with a frequently repeated second melody.

Guitarist Tommy Malone smiled as he took center stage at the 2002 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. He had reason to smile: things have been going his way lately. The former founder of the Subdudes took awhile to get his musical sea legs back after the popularSubdudes parted company in 1996…