Rock - what are you listening to?

[cybot]

1. Eternity's Breath Part 1 (3:10)
2. Eternity's Breath Part 2 (4:48)
3. Lila's Dance (5:34)
4. Can't Stand Your Funk (2:09)
5. Pastoral (3:41)
6. Faith (2:00)
7. Cosmic Strut (3:28)
8. If I Could See (1:18)
9. Be Happy (3:31)
10. Earth Ship (3:42)
11. Pegasus (1:48)
12. Opus 1 (0:15)
13. On The Way Home To Earth (4:34)
Line-up / Musicians
- Mahavishnu John McLaughlin / 6 & 12 String guitars, vocals
- Jean-Luc Ponty / electric violin, electric Baritone violin
- Michael Walden / drums, percussion, vocals, clavinet
- Ralph Armstrong / bass guitar, Contra bass, vocals
- Gayle Moran / keyboards, vocals

Released in 1975, Visions of the Emerald Beyond found band leader John McLaughlin backing off from the large scale approach of Apocalypse (1974) yet without losing any of the fire and sheer passion that made this band so amazing. Visions of the Emerald Beyond would be the last album by Mahavishnu Orchestra until John McLaughlin reformed the group in the mid 1980s. Fortunately McLaughlin was always working and formed Shakti after this album, which is 180 degrees away from the highly electric sound of Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Joining the core group of John McLaughlin (electric and acoustic guitars; vocals); mind blowing virtuoso Narada Michael Walden (drums and percussion; vocals; clavinet); Jean Luc Ponty (electric violin and electric baritone violin); Ralph Armstrong (bass guitar; acoustic bass; and vocals); and Gayle Moran (keyboards and vocals) are a string trio; a trumpet/flugelhorn/flute player; and a sax player. Like all of the Mahavishnu musicians, this is a top notch ensemble with the drummer being simply unbelievable. Jean Luc Ponty turns in some great playing and McLaughlin of course is a master on the guitar and even turns in some blazing Hendrixian solos here and there (Lila's Dance). With respect to the vocal parts and Gayle's soprano they do not bother me one bit and are provided more as texture than as a traditional vocal part. I also enjoy the splashes of tone color here and there provided by the strings, keyboards, flute, and the brass instruments.

The thirteen tracks on the album are short, yet blend together in a song-cycle suite of sorts. Overall, this music is lusher sounding than the first two albums and at times even sounds somewhat like symphonic progressive rock. In addition to progressive rock, there is jazz rock, Jimi Hendrix style jams; a little classical on Opus I, and even a tiny bit of funk - trust me though, this funk sounds nothing at all like Sly and the Family Stone. Odd meters are everywhere along with weird root movements and nice dynamic contrast - in one moment you are getting blasted by an ear splitting assault played on the drums and heavily distorted electric guitar and then in the next instant soothed by either a delicate string arrangement (Pastoral) or spacey and psychedelic sections (Earth Ship and Pegasus).

Great stuff Modest :-) I'm sure you're familiar with the live album, 'Between Nothingness and Eternity' - love that title!

[jkeny]

Wolfgang's Vault - World Party Concert from 1990 - if you like early Beatles, stones & Prince type sound check it out - Karl Wallinger ex of the Waterboys!

[DaveF]

[DaveF]

time to up the pace a bit!



Yet another quality record from Hendrix.

[fergus]

[cybot]

time to up the pace a bit!



Yet another quality record from Hendrix.

I told you so :) Seriously, I'm thrilled to bits that you like the music..... as I said before,it's well for you discovering all this wonderful stuff now - Enjoy..

[DaveF]

Picked up a rare Italian edition of this record a few days ago. Some pink vinyl! :-O

[DaveF]

A rare French vinyl edition of this album, misprinted with a Green cover instead of the usual Blue and apparently only 400 copies were ever released although I think its more widely available than that. It's an original pressing. What struck me the most when listening to it is how vastly superior it sounded to the CD version, far more weight, body and presence to the sound than I ever heard from the CD.

[DaveF]

I told you so :) Seriously, I'm thrilled to bits that you like the music..... as I said before,it's well for you discovering all this wonderful stuff now - Enjoy..

thanks for recommending these recordings to me cybot. Actually I checked out that alternative Electric Ladyland vinyl in Borderline today. Its a bit on the expensive side. Any idea what the quality is like? I had a quick glance at the back cover and it lists all sorts of outtakes and demo tracks or something along those lines anyway. I think I'll check out '...Neptune' and '...Rising Sun' soon enough too.

[fergus]