Brainstorm

Smile A While (1972). Brainstorm's debut offers an odd twist on jazz-rock, throwing in bits of Canterbury and Frank Zappa, as well as the Dutch band Supersister. The record starts off with the explosive energy of the instrumental "Das Schwein Trugt," a fast piece of complex prog-jazz. "Zwick Zwick" follows, beginning at an only slightly slower pace, with some wild flutes and clarinets over a choppy rhythm, and then halfway through the guitar, bass, and organ rip into the mix to add a furious energy to the piece. Though the album is mostly instrumental, a couple tracks offer quirky song structures, the very short "Watch Time Flow By" and a couple short sections in the long title track, while "Snakeskin Tango" has someone moaning in anguish and the middle section of "Bosco Biati Weiss Alles" contains strange wordless vocal drones…

RPM welcomes Southern German metal band Brainstorm, whose new album Plague of Rats releases on February 28, 2025. Produced by Sebastian Seeb Levermann with artwork by Gyula Havancsák, Plague of Rats features 11 tracks, including guest appearances by Elina Siirala and Alexander Krull, and a bonus cover of Rick Springfield’s “Celebrate Youth.” Brainstorm will embark on a release tour with co-headliners Arion and special guests Stranger Vision from February 27 to March 6, 2025, across Germany and Switzerland, with additional shows scheduled in Spain, the Netherlands, and festivals throughout 2025.

It's often been said that if an R&B act didn't have a lot of dancefloor appeal in the late '70s, it could forget about being commercially successful. That isn't necessarily true; Frankie Beverly's Maze, just to give one example, was never a dancefloor favorite – and yet, all of its late-'70s albums went gold. Nonetheless, having disco appeal certainly didn't hurt. When Brainstorm's second album, Journey to the Light, failed to sell, some people reasoned that it was due to a shortage of up-tempo material. So with its third and final album, Funky Entertainment, the Detroit band decided to go for maximum disco appeal and make up-tempo songs a top priority.