Just found this album online, the reason I found it is that on a compilation cassette from the 80s I had a track off this album but the compiler had put them as PFM, I decided to Shazam the track and it lead me to this..
https://youtu.be/_GfqUMqgYgQ
Sort of Prog fusion early 80s I think. Does anyone know anything about them?
Check their website for more info - great band!
http://mastermindband.com/main.html
They also have a bandcamp site: https://mastermind.bandcamp.com/
Their websites tell their story pretty well - they were very local to me here in NJ and it was a real treat seeing them at the first NEARfest.
Last edited by Dan Roth; 02-24-2019 at 06:07 PM.
Is this the band that started out doing Emerson Lake & Palmer on guitar?
Off by a decade.Originally Posted by Jaco
Last edited by rcarlberg; 02-24-2019 at 07:06 PM.
Not really obscure. I happen to love this song - there's a remastered version of the album as well. Look them up on Wikipedia.
Child of Technology is my favorite track. And Bill is quite a character!
I remember seeing them open for someone many moons ago. Maybe Fish?
That was at the TLA on South Street I was there. Mastermind knocked my socks off, I had never heard of them and they are local to Philly. It was also the only time I saw Fish. What a great night. I think it was 1997, I had my 11 year old son with me and we had taken lawn chairs into the SRO show and sat in the back. We went to the lobby near the end of Mastermind and Fish was there doing Karate moves, WOW he is a big guy! My son said hello Mr Fish and the big man stopped and looked down and said,"Hello Little Man" It was an unforgettable night.
I always thought they were pretty well known. They played the very first NEARfest. They also played ProgDay twice. The band has always been the Berends brothers with various other musicians and lineups coming and going. I don't think they have put out a new album in about 8 years or so. My personal favorite from them was "Angels Of The Apocalypse" which had Lisa Bouchelle on vocals.
They were the opening act for Fish's "Sunsets On Empire" U.S. tour.
Good call!.
I have 2 albums that have aged well IMO:
- Brainstorm (volume two - 1991):
The 20-minute title track/suite is good!.
- Excelsior!' (1998):
First one recorded with the swedish metal keyboardist Jens Johansson ... I think?!?.
Didn’t know that they are in bandcamp: excellent and time to continue exploring their music.
Regards!.
Last edited by TCC; 02-24-2019 at 11:36 PM.
They played at the only ProgDay I ever attended. I thought they were good, although a bit... monochromatic.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
I saw them one time at a local bar in Baltimore years back. I remember Bill's girlfriend punched out some guy who grabbed her ass.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
For what I like I think this one is their best. The Japanese pressing has the title track on it.
Last edited by Shadow; 02-25-2019 at 02:28 PM.
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
Thanks for all this info and had no idea how ‘unobscure’ they are. Will check out the links.
Saw them a couple of times during the 90s. I attribute my hearing loss to one of their shows where they played so loud in a small club that all the people listening eventually ended up as far back from the stage as they could get.
Mongrel dog soils actor's feet
Except Los Angeles. Was looking forward to seeing them and dismayed to learn Spock's Beard was the opener.
Don't miss Excelsior! (entirely instrumental) and Angels of the Apocalypse, with the full-time vocals of Lisa Bouchelle.
This is one of their best instrumentals, from III: Tragic Symphony.
Saw them several times, first at Progday in 96 and again at Orion once or twice. Last time I saw them was the first NEARfest.
I don't revisit them terribly often anymore but at the time, they were one of my favorite live bands (and Bill was a super cool dude, easy to chat with). The title track from Until Eternity was always a personal fave.
If you're actually reading this then chances are you already have my last album but if NOT and you're curious:
https://battema.bandcamp.com/
Also, Ephemeral Sun: it's a thing and we like making things that might be your thing: https://ephemeralsun.bandcamp.com
About a decade ago I had a lady babysit my kids and she happened to be good friends with the Berends brothers. She was very surprised I had actually heard of Mastermind and said that times were tough. They were still shopping the album with the female vocalist to labels but were getting little interest. It did finally come out on Lion Music. The other thing our babysitter said was that they were really trying to break into the metal market at the time because prog was just not able to support them. She gave me a DVD of a metal fest Mastermind had played at and they were by far the best out of about 10 bands on the disc. But they were also a generation older than everyone else on the DVD and the fans too so it is not a surprise they didn't click with those audiences.
Personally I very much enjoy the Excelsior disc. Great fusion.
A bit of trivia - Mastermind's drummer Rich Berends is now the drummer for the Jimmy Sturr polka Orchestra:
^^^
More lucrative than prog. lol.
Bill Berends married a Brazilian woman and moved there. He’s on Facebook. He posted a short clip of him playing Blue Wind with a bass player and drummer. I bought a Jack Bruce album from Bill with Jack’s autograph.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hmm...I'd say you got the better end of that deal. I would surely have said so at the time.
I've seen Mastermind many times, including a few shows opening for Fish and the first NEARfest. Before he moved to Brazil, Bill reached out to me about 10 years ago that he and Rich would be playing a small bar in Queens, NY, where they were billed as the Berends Bros. It was likely one of their last performance together before Bill left the States. They played a few cover tunes and some Mastermind songs. Sadly, I was one of only a handful of people tops who were actually watching the band play.
"It's such a fine line between stupid and... clever" -- David St. Hubbins & Derek Smalls, Spinal Tap
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