''Unorthodox Behaviour'' is the first album by British

jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric gui ...

group

Brand X Brand X were a British jazz rock band formed in London in 1974. They were initially active until 1980, followed by reformations between 1992–1999 and 2016–2021. Despite sometimes being considered to be a Phil Collins side project (due t ...

. It peaked at 191 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in 1976, the same year it was released. The album combines jazz fusion with

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

. It shows extensive use of improvisation in the extended pieces, which is common in both genres of music.

Reception

In a review for

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, Dave Connolly wrote: "''Unorthodox Behaviour'' samples a variety of styles: from melodic to energetic, ethereal to mathematical. Without a standout soloist..., Brand X does run the risk of sounding like a generic fusion jazz outfit, but their compositional skills pick up the slack nicely. Those interested in the band may do well to start with this album." Markus Scharpey of Genesis News stated: "this is a well-done instrumental debut album. You feel that the musicians are very much in tune with each other. It seems that all tracks were developed from jam sessions and structured later... Phil Collins is on top of his drumming game."

Track listing

All Tracks written by

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

John Goodsall John Goodsall (15 February 1953 – 10 November 2021As far as the exact date of death is concerned, numerous false statements are circulating on the internet. The only reliable reference is the photocopy of the death certificate provided by John ...

Robin Lumley Robin Lumley (17 January 1948 – 9 March 2023) was a British jazz fusion musician, keyboardist, record producer, and author who was a member of the band Brand X with drummer Phil Collins, guitarist John Goodsall, and bassist Percy Jones. He w ...

and Percy Jones. # "Nuclear Burn" – 6:23 # "Euthanasia Waltz" – 5:42 # "Born Ugly" – 8:18 # "Smacks of Euphoric Hysteria" – 4:30 # "Unorthodox Behavior" – 8:29 # "Running on Three" – 4:38 # "Touch Wood" – 3:03

Personnel

Credits per insert of original album release on Charisma Records. *

– electric and acoustic pianos,

Moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer ( ) is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer ...

string synthesizer A string synthesizer or string machine is a synthesizer designed to make sounds similar to those of a string section. Dedicated string synthesizers occupied a specific musical instrument niche between electronic organs and general-purpose synthes ...

on "Nuclear Burn",

Echoplex The Echoplex is a tape delay effects unit, first made in 1959. Designed by engineer Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s; according to Michael Dregni, it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything e ...

on "Smacks of Euphoric Hysteria" *

– electric and acoustic guitars * Percy Jones – electric and acoustic basses,

marimba The marimba ( ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the mari ...

on "Unorthodox Behaviour" *

– drums, percussion,

vibraphone The vibraphone (also called the vibraharp) is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using Percussion mallet, mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone ...

on "Euthanasia Waltz" with: *

Jack Lancaster Jack Lancaster was a British composer, record producer and musician. In the late 1960s, Lancaster co-founded the British rock group Blodwyn Pig with Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull guitarist Mick Abrahams and in the late 1970s he was a member o ...

– soprano saxophone on "Touch Wood"

Production

* Brand X – producers * Dennis Mackay – producer, engineer, mixing * Robin Lumley – mixing * Geoff Leach – tape operator * Julian Taylor – tape operator * Steve Taylor – tape operator *

Hipgnosis Hipgnosis were an English art design group, based in London, that specialised in creating album cover artwork for rock musicians and bands. Their commissions included work for Pink Floyd, Def Leppard, T. Rex, the Pretty Things, Black S ...

– sleeve design * All songs published by Fuse Music/ Warner Brothers Music

Release information

References

{{Authority control 1976 debut albums Brand X albums Albums with cover art by Hipgnosis Albums recorded at Trident Studios Albums produced by Phil Collins Charisma Records albums Passport Records albums