Eli

Artist: Jan Akkerman & Kaz Lux
Label: Wea International
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 022924236129
EAN: 0022924236129
ASIN: B000006SD4

Release Date: 1996-06-13

Eli

Related Categories:

Netherlands

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Tracks:

Eli
Guardian Angel
Tranquillizer
Can't Fake a Good Time
There He Still Goes
Strindberg
Wings of Strings
Naked Actress
Fairytale

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Album Description

1977 album for the Dutch guitarist & founder of Focus. 9 tracks.

Album Details

Reissue of 1977 Release, his First Album after Leaving Focus. guests Includes Two Old Comrades in Pierre Van Der Linden (Focus) and Kaz Lux. .

Customer Reviews:

Of Farmers on Acid.......2007-05-13

You just had to be there...Holland, circa 1976, Akkerman and Focus were the biggest thing since tulips, windmills and a certain footballer by the name of Johan Cruijff (Kruif). I bought the record LP on the first week of its release, a 15 year old kid determined to learn new Jazzier/Swankier guitar parts. But I was unimpressed. For a start, the lyrics threw me for a loop; and Kaz's vocals I just couldn't digest. The guitar parts - though far removed from the Focus realm - were obviously quite out of reach for a 15 year old. In short I, and a lot of other fans were disappointed.

Two or three listening later I switched back to learning Jimmy Page lines.

Then an older friend came by one day and said I should give the record another chance. He explained that this was a "Concept Album", and as much the brain child of Lux as Akkerman's; a "collaboration" that needed to be looked at in a different light. He asked me if I knew what psychedelic drugs were, and I being 15, naturally I said no, being genuinely ignorant of contraband at the time.

He explained that this is an abstract imaginary "Aural Story" about a simpleton farmer who goes downtown one night and buys himself an acid trip, and suffers the consequences, as he melts his mind. A few years later when I witnessed the effects of a "Bad Trip" on an acquaintance, it all suddenly made sense.

I went back to the album with a vengeance circa 1978. I had greatly advanced in my playing, and thought "Oh...I got these parts licked now!" WRONG! Very few people can actually play at the mastery level which Ackerman achieved during this time, and while true, true, he is seriously "underplaying" on this album, the precise articulation simply still remains, even to this day, just out of reach.

Over the ensuing years I developed a love/hate relationship with the record. Repeat close listening brought out the most subtle nuances in both the playing AND the singing that are truly timeless and nothing short of Art. I discerned and recognized melodic content, grooves, and sheer little touches of musical and performance brilliance that have imprinted this record permanently on my heart, and on the hearts of countless European musicians of the past generation.

Now, about 30 years later, this quirky strange album has become as an old friend who wanders off for years at a time, only to think of him one day and find his face peering through your window.

This is a record for such old time Akkerman fans. If you were born anytime after 1978, your chances of appreciating this are remote, as it will sound dated, confused, dry, and at times even corny. If you are a collector of Akkerman music, it obviously belongs in your collection. But if like Eli, you are a simple unsuspecting soul that one day ventures downtown to open your mind and musical heart, beware...you just might get it, and it will never ever leave you.

Ouch!!.......2003-05-22

I'm a huge Akkerman fan and a fan of his 70's instrumental band, Focus. He's an awesome guitarist, but this mess is certainly a CD that should be ignored. I don't understand how any Akkerman fan could recommend this. Jan is a guitar instrumentalist, but Akkerman's guitar licks are overwhelmed by the horrible vocals of Kaz Lux. I'd love to hear some of the instrumental portions of the music. I don't recommend this to fans and I especially don't recommend it to anyone looking to buy their very first Akkerman CD. A first Akkerman CD should be Heartware, Can't Stand the Noise, Focus in Time, or Passion. Don't waste your cash on this disaster.

jan akkerman & kaz lux.......2002-06-17

I've always been a loyal Focus fan and still play their greatest hits! Kaz Lux & Jan Akkerman are superb from the start of 1.Ili to the last composition ix.Fairytale. All compositions are mastery written. This particular album has a great balance to it. Seriously recommend!

Hidden treasure.......2000-07-30

This recording by Jan Akkerman is a favorite of mine leftover from 8-track days. The guitar playing is clean and jazzy, and the rhythm is tight.

The CD quality of this import is surely better than the old 8-track, but not perfect, and in one cut, the music skips, as if the CD were made from an LP.

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