Customer Reviews

Birds of Fire

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Mahavishnu Orchestra are widely known for breaking new ground in the world of popular music. They (unsurprisingly) upset many jazz purists (one of them would be musician Wynton Marsalis), while conversely, offering new ways of looking at jazz. This band may have been responsible for helping listeners (particularly of the younger crowd) ease their way into works of "pure" (for lack of a better term) jazz, but saying that largely undermines the integrity and musical power that The Mahavishnu Orchestra possessed. So to be more specific, this band may have helped broaden the appreciation of jazz, especially to a younger audience, while also (and more importantly) blowing the minds of many with their own dazzling musicianship.

Led by guitar virtuoso John McLaughlin, the Mahavishnu Orchestra specialized in blending rock with elements of jazz, Eastern, R&B, classical, country and other elements to form an indescribable brand of music. Not only that, every musician in this band were virtuosos, so the band were not without exhibiting feverish flights of aggression and intensity. However, this band were one of the rare breed of virtuosos who displayed a sense of taste, passion and fluidity in their virtuosic displays, and could rarely be criticized for dryness, or exhibiting nothing more than virtuosic chops all by itself. Another gift this band seemed to possess was a certain accessibility to their music -- it was complex and technical, yet, it could be very addictive, and utterly inviting.

These tracks (which were all composed by John McLaughlin) all seem to be exercises in spirituality. Birds are creatures that fly - they seem to soar above everything. Fire = passion, inspiration, stamina, energy - a life-affirming source. This is transcendent, high-energy music played with soul, passion and purpose. The title track features a main lick, which gives off a slightly ominous, but penetratingly regal sound, while drummer Billy Cobham's crash cymbal seems to add a bit more atmospheric relevance to it's ever-present mystical aura. This main lick is in an astounding 18/8 time signature (but is really a set of 9/8, played twice), and features McLaughlin (guitar) and violinist Jerry Goodman dueling to the point where the two respective instruments sound indistinguishable--the two seem to become one. On a personal note: I've listened to this one track on repeat for two hours straight, and I could have easily kept it on repeat -- it was THAT addicting. Funky numbers like "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters" groove in 19/16, but still remain tasteful and addicting. The band softens things up with tracks like "Thousand Island Park" and "Hope." The former sounding like an unconventional cross between Indian classical and folk-country music (very hard to describe), which is very beautiful and soothing, though it isn't without some lightning-fast soloing. The latter sounding like a mix of Oriental, classical and instrumental ballad.

On "One Word," the band really lets loose with a forbidding and frightening fire that will send many running for cover. For the majority of the first half, the band seems to play in a straightforward R&B-rock jam: John uses the wah-wah (or what I call the 'wow-wow') pedal to tasty effect, and bassist Rick Laird lays down some solid grooves underneath it all, and later, the rest of the musicians trade licks with one another on their respective instruments. The second half is where it gets more intense, as tension is built from drummer Billy Cobham, as he gets a solo spot. Here, he exhibits his drumming skills, which start off smoothly, then escalate in speed and dynamics. Upon hearing this, you know to expect some sort of explosion ahead. Then, John McLaughlin (and band) kick in with a 13/8 meter, and for the rest of the song, this 13-rhythm continually increases in speed to reach a hair-raising climax. Within this 13-rhythm, closer inspection will reveal an almost mathematical technique in McLaughlin's guitar line: a 6-5-4-3-2; 6 strokes/notes on the first line, 5 on the second, 4 on the third, 3 on the fourth and 2 on the fifth. McLaughlin is basically blazing and zigzagging on a pentatonic minor scale, and you will find McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman (on the violin) and Jan Hammer (synth/keyboard)--not to mention Billy Cobham pounding out this 6-5-4-3-2 pattern on the snare--playing this exact motif in unison, while Rick Laird is anchoring this spiritually cathartic flame with an utterly tense bassline to produce something so beautiful, divine, searing, orgasmic and powerfully devastating: it is my absolute favorite moment out of the entire (original) Mahavishnu Orchestra catalog.

Much of the album is hard to describe in mere words, so this review is pretty much over. This album is recommended to all rock music fans, particularly if you're a fan of Hendrix or King Crimson. Prog-rock fans will probably love it, and they may find it to fall closer to that category, than it does pure jazz. If you're new to the Mahavishnu Orchestra, this is probably the best place to start, then pick up 1971's INNER MOUNTING FLAME.

This album has enough energy and power to have been recorded in the birth of a supernova. Only the inner sanctum of guitarists had known a few years earlier of McLaughlin's arrival from England as a living legend, but the message quickly flew to the general public. The Orchestra featured McLaughlin's double-neck blinding speed; Jan Hammer's keyboard outcries; Jerry Goodman's electric violin playing both classical themes and twin lead lines; Rick Laird's trembling bass, and Billy Cobham's super-speed percussion and footwork. If you need any more help, think of the legendary live Fillmore track of "Elizabeth Reed" and consider that as close kin. Pure kinetic outbursts of notes and turbulent rhythms whip and rage on these 10 cuts, but there's also a few brief glimpses of relative calm in the eye of the hurricane.

It's perhaps appropriate that Cobham's gong splashes and rolling percussion alongside Goodman's chanting violin herald the title song with an Asian Indian-like mantra, as McLaughlin awakens with a piercing, rising flurry that sounds like a peacock in a courtship frenzy. The ritual reply comes back from Hammer's synthesizer, and then it's back to the guitar and violin as they weave and intertwine like DNA strands. "Miles Beyond" (dedicated to the late trumpeter) emerges slowly from the jazzy fog of electric piano, and then watches as Laird and Cobham raise the curtain for an opening statement by McLaughlin and Goodman. What follows next requires headphones-as much as you want to believe it's muted electric guitar, it's really a fascinating pizzacato on Goodman's violin, supported by more electric piano musings. The band then throws themselves into a brief summary, only to have McLaughlin and Cobham devastate the landscape, sounding like a ferocious firefight from the worst days of warfare, with machine gun-like guitar bullets flying in front of a bombardment of cymbal-and-drum mortar explosions. The song ends as the opening phrase is once again firmly planted in the ground like a waving banner.

Like a scurrying swarm of ants in action (or New York City in rush hour), "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters" features more electric guitar/violin duets and twin lead lines, swept along by the pace of Cobham and Hammer like two men with push brooms in a hyperactive frenzy to clean up after the crowd. It's followed by the brief (23-second) bit of electronic chatter of "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love." The M.O. then offers one of the most delicate electric pieces ever recorded, "Thousand Island Park," with McLaughlin's flamenco-like acoustic performing a jazz ballet movement with Hammer's piano as his partner, praised by Laird's bass. With almost poetic resolution, "Hope" builds in what can be best considered grandeur, strengthened by Cobham's percussion and Laird's upright bowed bass, capturing some of the rich arrangement ideas that George Martin used so effectively with the Beatles on albums like Magical Mystery Tour's "I am the Walrus."

Track seven, "One Word," was born in the deep realms of space in a galaxy that contains life-forms unlike any found on Earth. Beginning with Cobham's skintight inside-out snare solo, the band frantically careens through the narrowest of channels like a bobsled race without brakes. They miraculously arrive unharmed with the rescue effort of Laird's solo, only to mutter and fuss behind his melodic tumbling notes. However, it's too easy to be safe, and in a three-way argument of "my opinion, and yours-be-damned," McLaughlin, Hammer, and Goodman take turns venting their thoughts and gestures with dramatic, flamboyant phrases. The climax is reached as each man/creature tries to shout down his colleague with overlapping statements that sound like a marriage counselor's nightmare day in the office, and Cobham steps up to clear the brawl. A muscular drum solo follows as he rolls effortlessly back and forth on his tom-toms, and the double bass drum pedals thump like a dangerous blood pressure reading. A series of staccato notes signals that the band is ready to snap its chains again and breaks into a final exhausting sort of cosmic orgasm.

Something is sure needed to calm down the fury, and it's time to seek "Sanctuary," a song that must be a eulogy from the casualties of all this turmoil. Hammer's grief-stricken synthesizer solo weeps behind the wails of dual violin-guitar lead, and there appears to be no light at the end of the tunnel. However, this isn't the case, as "Open Country Joy" (a song that Kottke did on Dreams and All That Stuff and the newly-reissued 1971-1976: Did You Hear Me?) awakens like the first warm day of spring. Gliding violin and 12-string guitar preface the false ending, which bursts into full bloom behind McLaughlin's electric warbling, Hammer's return calls, and Goodman's ecstatic freedom. Cobham unleashes a summer shower while the sun shines, then pulsates away, switching to brushes while the others frolic and dance. All these adrenalin rushes have to find the time to regenerate, and "Resolution" closes out as the band redoubles its intention and vigor with a "you haven't seen the last of me" conviction that is almost patriotic in its foundation. If anything is needed, it's a towel and a shower as these five musical massage therapists have just finished pummeling the daylights out of your mental muscles.

Do not, under any circumstances, give this CD to anyone who is under a doctor's supervision and requiring bed rest. On the other hand, if you need to paint the entire house in one day (or build one) and don't mind doing the job yourself, the Mahavishnu Orchestra will gladly haul any gear or heavy construction material you need with the pure power of sound at its best-and it could move a mountain. I'll bet they don't require a ladder, either, because they know your speakers will use anti-gravity to get the job done. Crank it up and watch!

Whoever says that this album sucks apparently didn't spend too much time listening to it. All of the musicians play with an intensity that I have heard nowhere else. Was "Inner Mounting Flame" more intense? Yes, but the music on that album had a much darker feel than on this album, so the band needed to generate a more ferocious sound. Frankly, I think the JAZZ on this album is more open to repeat listenings than IMF. I could hit repeat on the title track and let it run all day and not get tired of it. Jerry Goodman's violin solo in that song (and it took me quite a while to realize that it was a violin in the second solo section) blows me away every time! Billy Cobham is simply the best fusion drummer there is. It's a shame that he was never able to duplicate the musical success of "Spectrum" in the rest of his fusion catalog. Jan Hammer was an awesome keyboardist (note the "was"). Rick Laird, well, when he laid into a groove, he wasn't moving for anything; wonder what he's done since Mahavishnu! And there's nothing anyone can say about John McLaughlin. As a guitarist myself, I can tell you: this man is beyond all definition and comparison. Over the years, he has made complete 180 degree turns in his style that he just refuses to be pigeonholed. If I could play with just one quarter of his talent, I would...well, I don't know what I'd do, but a be a pretty freakin' good guitarist!
And all I'm talking about is the FIRST SONG on the album. You still have 9 more tracks to go!

I just listened to both "Birds of Fire" and "The Inner Mounting Flame" back-to-back. I hadn't listened to them for awhile. I bought orginal copies on vinyl close to thirty years ago (that long? wow!!!) Needless to say, I love both albums.

Some observations- If you're a Mahavishnu novice, I suggest listening to "Birds of Fire" first. The pieces are shorter and easier to digest. However, it may take some time to tell which instrument is playing and who's soloing. The guitar, violin, and synth trade fours with abandon, are similarly processed, and all solo instruments bend notes (thanks to the Moog's pitch-wheel). Billy Cobham added a second bass-drum and extra tom-toms on "Birds of Fire". His classic style is more defined.

I really don't prefer one album over the other. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. "The Inner Mounting Flame" seems more jazz-oriented. Pieces are longer, solos are longer, and the recording allows a listener to tell one instrument/player from another with ease. "Birds of Fire" is more rock-oriented. Pieces are shorter (as I mentioned above), solos are more electronically processed, and many pieces have no solos at all ("Hope" and "Resolution," for example, which seem like sketches). It seems appropriate that the only "official" studio albums by the original (well, the only legitimate, in my opinion) version of the Mahavishnu Orchestra have incendiary titles ("...Flame" and "...Fire"). The intensity of this music, as well as the demands of playing this music live night-after-night, easily had to take its toll on the musicians. After three-odd years the group burned itself out! There will never be another Mahavishnu Orchestra. These two albums need to be respectfully treasured for the works of great art which they are. They epitomize the best jazz-rock (or rock-jazz, if you're a label buff) ever put on disc. In hindsight, the Mahavishnu Orchestra was wise to disband before they committed the cardinal sins of fusion (the movement they started, but transcended)- repetition and predictability!!!

I wish reviewers would quit apologizing for preferring "Birds of Fire" to "The Inner Mounting Flame". Some remember "The Inner Mounting Flame" more fondly only because it came first--historical happenstance. Compositionally, "Birds of Fire" is a development from and an improvement on "The Inner Mounting Flame".

1) "Hope"'s arpeggio pattern is obviously based on "The Dance of Maya"'s. Whereas "The Dance of Maya" stoops to repeating redundantly a chord member to fill out its 10/8 meter, "Hope"'s 7/4 meter is completely natural and convincing.

2) "Thousand Island Park" is obviously based on "A Lotus On Irish Streams". Whereas "A Lotus On Irish Streams" depends on improvisation to breathe life into a sketchy and harmonically conventional compositional fragment, "Thousand Island Park" is a remarkable composition in its own right.

3) "Birds of Fire" is obviously based on "Meeting of the Spirits". Whereas in "Meeting of the Spirits" polymodality and polyrhythm are only--more or less--intimated, in "Birds of Fire" they are fulling worked out and impressive.

In fact, quite a bit of "The Inner Mounting Flame" is compositionally tentative. In "Birds of Fire" only "One Word" is. ("One Word" is Billy Cobham's vehicle, so I suppose I can't really fault. By the bye, on this cut Jack Bruce--not credited on the original sleeve--replaces bassist Rick Laird.) But don't get me wrong: "The Inner Mounting Flame" is GREAT, and "Noonward Race" rocks harder than anything on "Birds of Fire".

Also recommended: Mahavishnu Orchestra: "The Inner Mounting Flame", Shakti: "Natural Elements".

I'm no expert and have no desire to make myself out to be one. I wouldn't know my mixolydians and dorians from my sweat socks. Nor would I care about distinguishing between a "pentatonic 5th flatted at God-knows-where produced through contrapuntal runs and thingamafrazzin' rhythms" and an elephant.

What I do know is that this CD moves me. For a musical ignoramus like me, that's enough...

At the time I write this there are 74 reviews. Of that 70 give it 5 stars and the lowest rating is 3 stars.

The word that best describes this music is astonishing.

This record and the previous record changed music profoundly. It changed me profoundly. I think almost all people who saw this band at the time were changed. All guitar players who saw it were changed, many quit.

When I saw this band I LITERALLY couldn't believe what I was seeing. They were both levels above everything else I'd ever seen and inspired beyond belief. After McLaughlin asked for a moment of silence before the music started (Berkeley Community Theatre) and you could have heard a pin drop, then the hurricane started. After it was over my friend took one look at my astonished face and remarked "Oh yeah, you've never seen them before."

Two years later it was all over never to return. Inspiration seemingly gone.

One wonders if it wasn't divinely inspired...

It's hard to say enough about this Mahavishnu-album...John McLauglin pays his dues. It is no coincidence that the second track is "Miles Beyond," which can only be a tribute to, not just a cover of, the master. Like a lot of Mahavishnu-fans (I guess), I have backtracked from this album to McLaughlin's earlier work, and of course you end up at the beginning: Davis' "In A Silent Way." And really, it's quite a shock if you're used to the million-notes-a-measure tempo of the Orchestra to go back to that seemingly so calm stuff--but listen to it again, and you'll find it's not that calm. But I'm digressing.

I care about McLaughlin's paying his dues, because all too often he has been downed as an egocentric player who just plays fast, not deep. Be that as it may, on this album he shows you how fast can be deep. But has anyone ever commented on him as a rhythm-player? Check out "One Word," and listen to him rock it up behind Rick Laird's long melodic solo--at 3'56" he'll show you where it's at.

All of these musicians are the best of the best, no doubt about it. For sentimental purposes (I played keyboards in the early 80s), I'll have you know that no one played on a Fender Rhodes or a Mini Moog as sexy as Jan Hammer did (sorry Chick Corea--you're great but you're not sexy...).

In short, this is the ultimate jazz-rock album. You won't be disappointed.

For those who really want to understand Jazz fusion, this is one of the albums that *must* be in your collection. This album, along with the early seventies experiments of Miles Davis (In a Slient Way, Bitches Brew, Tribute to Jack Johnson), Herbie Hancock (Headhunters, Sextant), Return to Forever (Romatic Warrior, Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy) and Weather Report (Mysterious Traveller) sets the standard by which all other Fusion is measured. It is different from the aforementioned, mainly due to it sounding more like Rock - Jazz, rather than Jazz - Rock.

The music is very agressive and veers almost into heavy metal territory at times, particularly when John McLaughlin or Jerry Goodman take flight with one of the many dazzling solos. This album is not for the faint of heart. Is sheer ferocity is intimidating to the casual listener and I know it took me a couple of listens before I understood what I was listening to. With that said, it's very rewarding for those with an open mind (many Jazz purists absolutely hated it at the beginning) and the desire to expand their horizons.

The albums starts off with the sound of a gong being struck, introducing the title track. An ominous arpeggiated guitar riff swirls while Goodman's violin gradually joins in and Billy Cobham's swinging drum line. It's already amazing at this point until the signature riff starts. Nothing prepares for how blazingly heavy it is. I can set the CD player to repeat for hours with this riff, as it's simply astounding in it's complexity, yet incredible melodicism. The solos from Jan Hammer (playing a Minimoog that sounds like a guitar, a Hammer trademark) and McLaughlin are some of the best they've ever committed to tape. If the album ended here, it would be good enough for me, but it keeps getting better. Tracks such as Hope, Miles Ahead and Thousand Island Park as every bit as good and also demonstrate the versatility of the band. As good as the loud, virtuosic tracks are, they were capable of subtlety as well. Thousand Island Park and Open Country Joy are examples of that.

In short, this is one of the albums in my collection that I *never* get tired of hearing. It's sometimes confronting in it's aggression, but that's it's charm and represents a high water mark in 70's music. Those interested in fusion before it became watered down should check it out.

With the opening measures of the title track, I knew I was onto something really good. In fact, this 1973 recording of blistering jazz-rock simply blew me away with it's wild daring, unparalleled technical excellence, and dynamic range. Good grief, John McLaughlin is an incredible guitarist and drummer extraordinaire Billy Cobham simply blazes, with an earth-shaking double bass drum attack that threatens to level entire cities. Keyboardist Jan Hammer is also superb and the strains of a newly acquired Mini Moog synthesizer mix with the organ, piano, and electric piano set-up he used on 1971's Inner Mounting Flame. Violinist Jerry Goodman also displays excellent command of his instrument and the rapid-fire exchanges with Hammer and McLaughlin are breathtaking. Last, but certainly not least, bassist Rick Laird holds it all down with rock solid lines played primarily on electric with a brief outing on the acoustic bass during Thousand Island Park. Although a great deal of the music on Birds of Fire is dauntingly complex (every time signature under the sun is used on this recording), with blindingly fast and heavily distorted guitar parts (it is all deliciously over the top), there are moments of calm, as on Thousand Island Park and sections of Open Country Joy. The centerpiece of the disc is the 9'55" One Word, which showcases all of the musicians and their seemingly infinite talents. This band had a massive impact on progressive rock musicians in the 1970's including 73-74 period King Crimson, and the French bands Atoll and to a lesser extent Magma, just to name a few. The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) is also highly recommended.