THE INNER MOUNTING FLAME

This, the debut album of Mahavishnu Orchestra really blew the scene wide open. So far, my only real exposure to this JazzRock or Fusion genre is this band's Visions Of Emerald...., a couple of Santana albums, the Bundles/Softs albums by Soft Machine and the excellent Romantic Warrior album by Return To Forever. But none of those albums, with the exception of their own Visions Of Emerald... album, prepared me for this onslaught of innovative onslaught of...... melodies..... which met me when I put this album in the CD player. I was blown away.

I am not an expert in any manner so I refer to the other reviews if you want an in dept review of the music here. I am just trying to describe my own experience with this album.

The music here is at times very, very hard. John McLaughlin shreds on his guitar here like a speed metal freak. This is on the other side of the spectre of the likes of Return To Forever. But the music is still excellent. I can see that the name of the band fits this music like a hand in a glove. The music is based on jazz, yes. But there is a lot of Indian music here too and some North-African stuff too. Just like I envisaged. The album has a couple of lyrical meditation pieces. But the overriding impression of this album is John McLaughlin's guitars. He makes his guitar sound like a full orchestra. The rest of the musicians is really there to support his guitar work. They are first rate musicians in their own right. But I can only hear the guitars because I really love what John McLaughlin is doing here. Sorry, guys !!

The best songs here is the opening track Meeting of the Spirits and the haunting You Know, You Know. The rest of the tracks here are excellent too. I am looking for that dot over the i, but cannot find it. So it is not a fiver from me. But this album may be a kind of a cornerstone in my life because it has finally opened my six senses (OK, five senses then) to a new world. This is an album I will enjoy in the years to come. Now, I am onto the rest of the Mahavishnu Orchestra albums. I have been born again.

4 stars