Customer Reviews

Anthology

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've been waiting a long time for this. Al DiMeola has been one of my favorite guitarists since I heard him on the Return to Forever fusion masterpiece, Romantic Warrior. The songs on the new double CD appear in (mostly) chronological order, covering the years 1976-83. From the blazing "Land of the Midnight Sun" to the end of the second CD; the quintessential jazz guitar hero burns up the fretboard with mindboggling speed and precision. All of his Columbia material is represented here, with the exception of the classic Friday Night in San Francisco album with John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucia.

In the 2½ hours on these two CDs, DiMeola covers an enormous amount of musical ground. From the graceful power of the epic "Elegant Gypsy Suite," to the gentle "Bianca's Midnight Lullaby," to a rocker like "Cruisin'," he effortlessly switches between multiple styles--often within the same song. Looking for highlights? Check out the track list. There isn't a bad one in the bunch. One special note to fans: there are two previously unreleased live tracks at the end of each disc, for a total of almost 40 minutes of new music. The liner notes are excellent, and there are plenty of great photos also.

It's always great to see one of your favorite musicians release a compilation like this and have it done right. You can almost always find something wrong with them when you've been a fan for any length of time. There's always the song that should've been on there but wasn't, and vice versa. But you'll be hard pressed to find fault with this one. Whether you're a longtime fan or discovering Al DiMeola for the first time, you can't go wrong with Anthology.

I've been following Al's career since the late 70s (First heard his work on a submarine!).

As you know from the cd description, this is compilation of his Columbia Records work from the late 70s to early 80s. The gem of this cd package in my opinion is the live version of 'The Wizard'. About 6 minutes into the song, Mingo Lewis (percussion) and Steve Gadd (drums) get into a percussion/drum solo. My question is this. Why wasn't this track released previously? What a great drum/percussion solo! Mingo Lewis and Steve Gadd are great! Steve Gadd was voted #3 in Modern Drummer's 25 best drummers of all time and this track really displays his talent.

On a personal note, I've met Al Di Meola a couple of times. He's a very down-to-earh person, not some stuck-up musician. I wish more people knew about his music. I'm on a crusade of sorts to get more people interested in his music. He focused on the music and not being famous.

Anyway, get this cd, especially if you are becoming interested in Al for the first time.

(Instrumental Proficiency and Musicianship 6 out of 5)

Well, I have been listening to this amazing 2-disc set over the last couple of days nonstop,and I must say that there are certain people in life who are simply unnaturally talented.....they seem so gifted in some very specific way; as if there is nothing in the world that they are more well suited for than one specific thing. Einstein was seemingly born to understand the world through mathematical models and theory, and Al di Meola was born to express and create through music. Al di Meola first became prominent in jazz circles via his association with jazz pioneer Chick Corea, who (along with others like Miles Davis and John McLaughlin) was creating a new "bohemian" style of jazz combining virtuoso-level playing and muscicianship with rock and psychedelic music. Retun To Forever, widely regarded as the biggest fusion band in history, featured his explosive, sophisticated playing to wide acclaim. At the time, he was 19 years old. Subsequent to his stint with the jazz supergroup, he released many incredible solo albums(with much collaboration and guest appearances from many other talented musicians); this period in his career is documented here. Words can simply not describe Al di Meola's guitar playing on these early albums....incredibly progressive, dense, layered with suble nuance and simply brilliant; his nearly superhuman technique and ability, combined with a unique and uncompromising vision and understanding of music, has influenced many players on both sides of the jazz and rock fence. This is music that cannot be passively listened to, but absorbed, engaged and experienced. The great thing about this particular 2-disc set is the fact that it really does serve as a good collection of his most famous, progressive compositions, while leaving out some of his more subdued, later experimental "slow-jazz" material (although I like that as well)-leaving only jaw-dropping, fiery craziness. Some of the songs, such as "Suite: Golden Dawn" and the amusingly and aptly-titled "Dinner Music of the Gods" are just so otherworldly and amazing they surely can't have been written and performed by a mere mortal. An absolute genius at work.

There is a Santa out there, finally a definitive collection. Mind you there are a couple of songs that I would have added but I'm not complaining. If you don't own anything from Al DiMeola. Please buy it. If you want to hear not one but many different styles, buy it. A very important guitarist of our time and an accomplished writer. Suite: Golden Dawn remains a favorite because of Jaco.

Please do yourself a favor and get it. A very important piece of musicianship.

If you don't know him or his music you got to hear this CD. He is fantastic and definetly worth listening too !!!!

This CD is the perfect way to get a dose of Al without wasting money on all his output. As a reformed Dimeolaite from the vinyl days Anthology is just what I needed, a portable Al.

No one who can play this fast can be human. This is a great collection of Al's early work. Although the jazz faithful will always complain about fusion, this album is an incredible jazz exploration. If you want to hear some incredible guitar playing, listen to this album. Although I tend to perfer the slur of Scofield and the amazing licks of Metheny, Al's percision on these tunes hooks me in everytime.

this Guy is one of the Baddest Guitarist ever.He has Been bad for so long.I dug His Work from Return TO Forever.the Man has so much feeling&Tone in His Playing.this is a Great overview of His work.this is worth checking into.The Man has alot of Depth in His work.

If you are into jazz fusion ala John McLaughlin or just enjoy great guitar acrobatics at high speed then these are the discs for you. Anthology packs over 150 minutes of both studio and live material and covers pretty much all of ADM's early years on Columbia Records. Good phrasing, great speed and dexterity: everything you could ever want in a guitarist and it's all exhibited here. The sound quality is very good too and so it's worth the price. Essential listening for budding jazz guitarists who are into the fusion genre.

I first heard Al's stuff in the early 80s (someone in our dorm had all his albums), so I already knew this anthology of his early work would have something worthwhile on it...

...but, the first "bonus" track on the first side is really poor live sound quality (I can understand why they put it on: it's an extraordinary live track). The next track is a little sketchy, too.

...and there are some other songs that I'd rather weren't on here at all: "Island Dreamer" and "Sequencer", which are both really cheezy sounding pop stuff in comparison to the other, amazing/catchy compositions.

Even though the jewel case was factory sealed (with hologram), one of the disks has a big scratch running all the way from the hole to the outside edge. When I unwrapped it, the disk was seated securely on the spindle, so it was scratched before it was sealed. There were also 2 fingerprints already on it (no, I'm very careful and they weren't mine). The disk plays perfectly, despite the superficial scratch.

If you don't have any of Al's early albums, this is the one to get! Most of it is great music that will never sound dated. It's now the favorite/most inspiring album in my collection.