Bill Bruford - One Of A Kind - 1979 (24/96 Vinyl Rip) *NEW-RIP+REPOST*

If you are a B.Bruford fan; do not miss this creative and beautiful milestone of one of England's best Jazz-Rock bands that has to be heard!

Note > gapless burning is essential, to hear seamless the whole album

Review:

Bill Bruford ended his brief affair with U.K. and condensed his original outfit to a quartet, releasing a second album of sinewy, celebratory jazz/rock fusion, One of a Kind. Good-humored twists and turns abound in the music, punctuated by Bruford's steadying if slightly subversive rhythms, Allan Holdsworth's flashes of fire, Jeff Berlin's insistent bass, and Dave Stewart's remarkably colorful keyboards.

At the heart of many of these songs is an uplifting melody, a trait shared with fusion artists like Weather Report and Jean-Luc Ponty, though Bruford's outfit favors a faster pace than the former and pursues more musical avenues in a single song than the latter. When he takes to tuned percussion, Bruford can even sound like Frank Zappa (both bands have a funky side to them). Standout cuts this time include "Hell's Bells," "Fainting in Coils" (which, in an indirect link to his previous employers, would have felt at home on Robert Fripp's Exposure), "Five G," and "The Sahara of Snow."

The remaining tracks are a little less muscular, and the band's strength would seem to lie in fusion propelled by the complex rhythmic patterns of Bruford and Berlin (i.e., when the band leans closer to the rock side of the fusion family). Those who enjoy their fusion with a healthy dose of rock will find One of a Kind a fair match for anything from Return to Forever or Brand X. Note that many of these songs also appear in live versions on the beat-the-boots release The Bruford Tapes.

Dave Connoly @ Allmusic > Rating 4,5/5

Track List:

01 Hell's Bells
02 One Of A Kind Pt. 1
03 One Of A Kind Pt. 2
04 Travels With Myself and Someone Else
05 Fainting in Coils

06 Five G
07 The Abingdon Chasp
08 Forever Until Sunday
09 The Sahara of Snow Pt. 1
10 The Sahara Of Snow Pt. 2