THE INNER MOUNTING FLAME

Many will argue that Birds of Fire is the best Mahavishnu album, I on the other hand disagree. Though Birds of Fire is good, you can't get a better Mahavishnu album than Inner Mounting Flame.

Meeting of the Spirits: 7 out of 10. I like Meeting of the Spirits, but it is certainly not the best song on here. Like most of the songs it has some good guitar work. The reason I like it is because of the way it builds.

Dawn: 8 out of 10. The song starts off slow, but then it takes off around the 2:30 minute mark. Some may argue that the beginning is good too. I am not one of those people. When I first played this track I thought it went nowhere, but then I listened to the whole thing one day and enjoyed it. Don't judge this one by the way it starts (don't judge any Mahavishnu songs by the way the start) because it is a pretty good song once you get past the beginning.

The Noonward Race: 10 out of 10. Now the album really starts. This song is one of the highlights of the album definitely. It sound just like the title... A RACE! The song races through six and a half minute of controlled chaos. The whole band shines on this song.

A Lotus on Irish Streams: 8 out of 10. It is another slow song, but what is misses in speed it makes up in melody. It is not the best song, it is not the worst. I like it in it's own way.

Vital Transformation: 10 out of 10. It is just an amazing song. Like most Mahavishnu song it has an odd rhythm. The song is in 9/4. Billy Cobham is the real star on this song. Billy is the best drummer in the world in my opinion.

Dance of the Maya: 10 out of 10. Though it is not too difficult on guitar to play the intro to this song is my favorite John McLaughlin guitar riff. This song is in 20/8 which is the weirdest time signature I have ever seen. After the climatic beginning the song goes into a bluesy riff which I think is really cool. After that section it goes into a guitar solo. It is not the best guitar solo on the album, but it is still really good. Dance of the Maya is excellent. Nothing more to say. You Know You Know: 7 out of 10. It is a very cool opening riff, middle riff, and ending riff. Notice I didn't say, "It has a very cool." Maybe you don't see what I am getting at. The song does pretty much the same thing for 5 minutes not that that is a bad thing. It is a very cool riff, but it doesn't need to take up 5 minutes. I usually change the song 2 minutes in to it. It is still a good song though.

Awakening: 11 out of 10. This song embodies every thing that is Mahavishnu. It has weird ryhthms, a great guitar solo, great drum work, a great violin solo, and a great piano solo that is accompanied by a very cool bass line. This is my favorite Mahavishnu song.