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Jan Akkerman & Kaz Lux - Eli

Ex-Focus guitarist Jan Akkerman must have made up to 20 solo LPs but this is the only one with a singer and lyricist, in this case ex-fellow Brainbox member Kaz Lux.
This was probably Akkerman’s first major solo effort after leaving Focus in 1976 and I think he made a classic.
The whole album, recorded in Holland using Dutch musicians with a good pedigree, has a really rich intimate sound throughout. Each song is distinctive yet they all hang well with each other, the highlights being the sparkling Guardian Angel, Naked Actress and There He Still Goes. The slower tracks, like Strindberg and the instrumental Wings of Strings, are quite beautiful. Another instrumental, Tranquilizer (which Akkerman performed on the Old Grey Whistle Test), is in the Albatross-style of drifting guitar ballad. Akkerman’s playing is fantastic and fans of his guitar sound andf style will be in raptures on most of these tracks. But most characteristic of all is Lux’s vocals, who has a kind of strained, forceful wail associated with many a heaby rock band but more refined – a bit like Magma’s fellow bearded singer, Klaus Blasquiz. If you don’t like his singing, you may not like this but the whole album should appeal to most Akkerman fans.

01. Eli
02. Guardian Angel
03. Tranquillizer
04. Can’t Fake a Good Time
05. There He Still Goes
06. Strindberg
07. Wings of Strings
08. Naked Actress
09. Fairytale