Short Reviews [Mastermind - 2008 - "Live 1995"]

Over the years there have been a few bands I have been lucky enough to hear and even see in concert and wonder why they aren’t more widely known. That is very true indeed of Mastermind, and I am so pleased I saw the same line-up play just two years after this was recorded otherwise, I would have not been able to understand just what was taking place. Behind the kit is Rich Berends, surely one of the most dynamic and powerful drummers I have ever had the pleasure to see play, who combines the power of Bonzo with the dexterity of Palmer and makes the kit a living breathing entity. On bass and midi pedals is Phil Antolino, who is an incredible musician, yet suffers as being the third wheel in the Berend Brothers entourage. At the front is Bill, who somehow provides vocals, guitars and midi-guitar so it sounds as if there are at least four people onstage, if not five. When they played at The Orange in 1997 I was directly in front of Bill, and even having seen it with my own eyes I still can’t work out how he was managing to provide all the sounds he was, using his feet as well as his hands, along with singing his heart out and also providing what was an out and out rock show. Reading back on my review I said that the highlight the night I saw them was “Brainstorm”, and here it is again in its full 23-minute-long beauty. This isn’t the Hawkwind song of the same name, but the suite which makes up a large part of their second album, while we also get most of the third album and the extensive “Tragic Symphony” suite, which makes sense given it was their most recent release at that point. This is bombastic progressive rock, Emerson Lake & Palmer taken down a totally different path where Keith is somewhat restrained (although not always) with a strong hard rock approach. Phil tries to keep it together while Rich is all over the place, always driving the sound forward, and between them they provide enough of a structure for Bill to go nuts. Released in 2008, but having only just come to my attention, this is an album I highly recommend to anyone who remembers just how powerful this band was in concert. Bill has now formed a new version of the band in Brazil where he has been living for some years, now if only they would come over here! This recording is now 25 years old and is still breathtaking – if you want to hear a prog band really rock, then look no further.