THE INNER MOUNTING FLAME

For my money i'll take "Birds Of Fire" over this their debut, but lets face it they are both essential Jazz / Fusion recording aren't they ? Heck you can add "The Lost Trident Sessions" and you have MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA's Holy Trinity.

The first song "Meeting Of The Spirits" is really the only one that would have fit perfectly on "Birds Of Fire", and so it's not surprising that it's my favourite on this record. It opens with explosions of sounds again and again before it settles in, although there is such a powerful undercurrent throughout this track. Goodman's violin really gets things going before McLaughlin comes in firing. Check out the bass before 2 1/2 minutes. It calms down a minute later. The keys of Hammer are a nice touch 4 minutes in. They sound great. McLaughlin's back after 5 minutes as Cobham hammers away. Incredible track ! "Dawn" starts slowly with bass, drums and keys.Violin joins in as the guitar seems restrained yet raw as it solos.The song does pick up with some prominant violin before settling back down after 4 minutes to end the song. "Noonward Race" opens with Hendrix-like guitar, and drums that are all over the place for the first minute. Violin then takes the lead. Keys 2 1/2 minutes in. McLaughlin's turn before Cobham offers up some odd-metered drum fills 4 minutes in to the end of the song.

"A Lotus On Irish Streams" is my least favourite and it opens with mournful violin as acoustic guitar comes and goes intricately. This is a slow paced track with some liquid keys that also come and go. I like the piano 4 minutes in when the violin stops briefly. "Vital Transformation" opens with a mind-boggling drum display as guitar and keys come in. Violin after a minute, but it's the guitar work of McLaughlin that is so impressive after 1 1/2 minutes as bass throbs. "The Dance Of Maya" is a dark song with a fair bit of bottom end. Guitar before 2 minutes reminds me of Fripp the way he makes it scream. A full band sound before 3 minutes. Cool guitar solo 4 1/2 minutes in, and Cobham ends the song in style. "You Know,You Know" feels like everyone is holding back. I like the atmosphere in this one. "Awakening" does not have anyone holding back on it. Haha. Everyone struts their stuff ending the album in impressive fashion. Essential !