EMERGENCY !

There's no denying how innovative and groundbreaking this album was. I can just imagine the disdain shown by Jazz traditionalists back then. And as if to make an exclamation point Tony made it a double album. What a trio though with Williams on drums, McLaughlin on guitar and Young on organ. The sound quality is brutal though. This is more like bootleg quality sound, very muddy. So much so that it reflects in my rating because I can't really enjoy it at all. Even Tony's follow up "Turn It Over" sounds bad. Check out "Believe It" with Holdsworth on guitar if you want great sound quality and amazing playing. Gnosis even rates it higher than the first two.

"Emergency" opens with drums and organ before McLaughlin comes in lighting it up. It turns jazzy then settles before 5 minutes. It's intense again late. "Beyond Games" has these silly spoken lyrics. Not a fan of this one although the guitar is great at times. "Where" has no real melody at first and Tony again half sings the lyrics. It kicks in before 2 minutes and the tempo picks up 3 1/2 minutes in. An impressive instrumental display here. A calm follows with more spoken words.Themes are repeated.

"Vashkar" rocks out pretty good with the guitar and drums showing off early before the organ takes a turn. "Via The Spectrum Road" almost sounds like Wyatt singing (haha). No it's not that good. It picks up before 1 1/2 minutes. Contrasts continue. "Spectrum" is uptempo with the guitar leading the way. Young's turn after 3 minutes and the guitar returns later. "Sangria For Three" is kind of funky at first then it changes a minute in.The guitar and drums are great as the tempo picks up.The tempo continues to shift. "Something Special" has some excellent drum work on it.

Probably 4.5 stars if it sounded good, but sadly I can't even enjoy it.