ROMANTIC WARRIOR

Though the '73 Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy was a big disappointed, this Romantic Warrior hits the spot the for me. RtF returns with an album that really has some fantasy and an album that seems to hold some of our beloved progressive spirit. This technical fusion outfit, with Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke and Lenny white finally became the 'super-group' it was supposed to be.

Return to Forever was influenced by medieval composition styles and made this unique combo of often heavy fusion with medieval characteristics on some tracks. More important, the band sounds very professional and has a well-balanced sound. No useless heavy distortions, no annoying sounding keys, not to much useless technical playing and the band even found a way to give there compositions some direction and meaning. Yes, RtF really showed what the possibilities were of their heavy fusion formula.

Side one is perhaps the stronger side. The opening track is still a bit chaotic, but the tight playing and perfect recording make the continues changing of themes acceptable and even enjoyable. Sorceress is a perfect fusion track with great rhythm and beautiful solo's. The title track continues this course, but expands the possibilities. Romantic Warrior is my favorite track of the band, and one of the best progressive fusion tracks I've ever heard. Great composition, great melody, great atmosphere, great form and meaningful solo's by all members. Side two is very technical and get's a bit quirky at times, but the music remains strong.

Conclusion. This is one of the few fusion albums I really think should be listened to by all fans of the progressive rock genre. It's sound stood the test of time perfectly and the compositions/atmospheres are strong. This shows that very technical performance by a super-group can have vary pleasant results. Four big stars.

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