PHASE 2

An intriguing proposition....from their reputation, a band "approved" by McLaughlin himself, the Mahavishnu Project appear much more than a mere tribute band. And there is no doubting the quality of the musicians here, or their ability to not just play, but to make a valid re-interpretation of one of McLaughlins's finest ventures. However I suspect this live album is really best appreciated if you've already seen the band - I mean the "Project" - live, and then buy this to remind you of what I imagine is a powerful stage performance. It's a double CD based on a 2 hours + live concert, and that's some going for music of this intensity. Unfortunately I paid top whack for this (£15.99) and that affects my view on this, because the sound quality is just about acceptable, but not great. The music itself is based almost exclusively on the MO's first two - and best - albums, with the exception of a version of "Lilla's Dance" and a track penned by the "Project" leader, drummer Greg Bendian, "Within the Womb of Night", that is really rather good. The disappointment is that the MO's keynote tracks - like Birds of Fire, and Meeting of the Spirits - don't work so well; much better are the lesser tracks like "You Know You Know" that allow the band - all of them fine players, but for me especially Rob Thomas on violin stands out - to improvise around Mclaughlin's often simple riffs. At the end of the day though there are just a few too many shortfalls to wholly convince - the music often lacks the pace and energy of the original; for one thing, you realise just how damn good Cobham was /is at stretching a beat - something lacking here. 3 stars as a valid attempt, but to anyone that hasn't yet experienced early Mahavishnu, this is no substitute for the real thing. For those that have and crave more, I suspect seeing the Mahavishnu Project live - rather than listening to a "live" CD - is where to put your money.

Not exactly sure what these guys set out to do except maybe try to be MO what The Musical Box is to Genesis, but the philosophy appears different: although maintaining the spirit very tightly, the tracks being revisited are often expanded (some almost doubling their original duration) and they add a composition of theirs. With a shadowy artwork, evoking the famous birds, present on two MO covers, this double CD will, sort of, give what you've always waited for, a live version of those first two perfections of albums. This is true up to certain point, because you (as a total) will quickly realize that it is not the MC boys playing, their so-typical and virtuoso play being inimitable and almost impossible to reproduce faithfully.

Another puzzling thing is they call this album Phase 2, but all of the tracks they chose come exclusively from the MkI line-up and even more precisely from IMF and BoF, bar the lone Lila's Dance from Emerald. Actually the only non-MO track, drummer Bendian's Within The Womb Of Night is sonically close enough to MO, but Bendian played it safe, sounding much like Hope. Never an easy judgment on such projects, especially on a tribute to such a perfect band as MO, MP's Phase 2 might just be worth your investment, but I doubt that you'll get much mileage out of this double disc affair. I thank my library system for having me spared the hunt and investment.