By: M.J. Brady
Do They Hurt?, marked a change in the bands make up, with the addition of some "new' members, they were starting to get a more refined sound, and the "space fusion jazz" sound that was eminent on the bands early recordings was all but gone, Collins', gaining fame in the pop world as a member of Genesis and as a solo artist, found less time for the X, also Peter Robinson was seemingly taking the reins as the bands keyboardist, as was Mike Clarke as drummer, both along with John Giblin(bass), were all introduced on the "Product" album a year earlier. Some 'pop' structures were also introduced by the use of vocals and more repetitious song structures, not unlike Phil and Genesis in this same era. Though the band took only pot shots at the pop sound, the better part of the album is definetly Brand X music. In fact this new sound is just a natural progression of the maturity of the band's chemistry and abilities, as it is no less progressive, or technical. It seemed unusual to see "other" members doubling on instruments that were notoriously Brand X's key players, Giblin for Jones - bass, on a couple songs, though he sounds a lot like Percy, Clarke for Collins-drums, he really added a nice touch on the drumming side of things, a bit more of a in the pocket player than Phil, and soon seemed as Phil was phasing out of the band. Robinson for Lumley - Keyboards, both are very talented players, Robinson perhaps a bit more nimble fingered showed a lot of pizazz and compositional flare.
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