Customer Reviews

Melodies

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3 star:		(1)
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No matter how many times I listen to it the Jan Hammer Group's 'Melodies'Other the fact the none of the musicians on this album are well known except Jan Hammer never ceases to be anything but purely impressive.The musicianship is first rate,Jan Hammer uses his 'guitar synthesizer' to great effect and his own production of this album is emmaculate-from song to song Jan's keyboards and synthesizer and Steve Kindler's violin often merge into one single entity.And these songs and lyrics truely as stylistically diverse as they come.One thing is every tune on here,even the instrumentals are very melodic as the title suggests-the breezy romantic R&B of "Too Much To Loose","Peaceful Sundown",Fernando Saunder's warbling "I Sing" and the lovely "Don't You Know" all evoke a relaxed,romantic mood and are very pituresqe.Saunder's bass on the hip-shaking funk tines "Honey 5379",the deep "You Are They" and "Just For Fun" is about as deep and economical as it gets-the latter being a wry commentary on the groups own music as they talk of "pleasing everyone" with their music and "fitting into a mold".Like the best of Stevie Wonder (and later Prince) The Jan Hammer Group actually prove here they are more then capable of playing music for any occasion.It's not a "black" or "white" sound or "rock","funk","R&B","classical',"pop" or "jazz"-actually it's a unique and distinctive combination of all five styles of music.The centerpiece of the album to me is the beautiful,transcendant "Window Of Love"-it's the kind of ballad you'd usually hear by a Stevie Wonder or Elton John but the eerie chord progressions and reverrbed drums have a sound all their own.And the lyrics,although I have my personal impressions of the lyrics it is definately being sung it is truely inspiration to someone or any people who are opressed-takes Earth Wind & Fire lyricism to almost a religious ferver.The most classical element comes on Steve Kindler's manic "Hyperspace",perhaps inspired by Jerry Goodman's wailing violin theatrics in Jan's old group Mahavisnu Orchestra.And I cannot understand why so many people I read in reviews of this band think of Kindler as a bad musician-I have never heard someone express tension and egoless playing so much yet be so theatrical at the same time.As for Hammer himself his range as a keyboardist is increbible.Of course his use of synthesizer like a spacy hard rock guitar is his best known attribute but he can play in a simpler,funkier style on moog and fender rhodes as well.And on the finale "Your Love" he displays his talents as a brilliant acoustic pianist-it's simple,economical and very beautiful and (to people who don't like pop music) will say this is the best song on the album,even with the moog flourishes.The only things I believe that kept this album from being successful and a pop chart hit were lack of familiarity with most of the musicians and one other simple fact:if Nemperor had stopped marketing the Jan Hammer Group as a jazz act then this album would likely have joined the ranks of Dark Side Of The Moonand Rumours as one of the great pop releases of the 70's.But marketing is marketing and I thank Wounded Bird for putting this out on CD.But if you like 70's pop and even if your knowledge of classic albums doesn't extend beyong what Rolling Stone magazine critics or VH1 tells you are classic albums this is more then worth your time picking up.

I completely echo the sentiments of another reviewer: this aptly titled record features tracks that will stay with you for many years. I've owned probably 5 copies all together.

The comparison with (the very best of) Stevie Wonder is also appropriate: these are beautifully wrought, durable melodies that in some cases (the unforgettable "Your Love,") eclipse even Stevie in terms of richness and complexity. I love the variety of styles on the record as well. By turns spacey, funky, rocked out, almost all of the songs on "Melodies" are melodic to the max, regardless of the style. The only drawback is the instrumentation, which 30 years later sounds quite dated. Still, the almost overwhelming strength of the songs more than compensates. I've owned many hundreds of LPs and CDs in my life and since this record was released in '77, it's ALWAYS been in my personal Top 10. Best cuts: "Don't You Know," "Peaceful Sundown," "Just for Fun" and "Your Love."

The Jan Hammer Group's 'Melodies' are almost too good to mention."Too Much To Lose","Peaceful Sundown" and "Don't You
Know" are tunes that will pop into your head 30 years after the fact and get you as excited as the first time you heard them-in fact they recall Stevie Wonder's enraptured use of synthesizers
and unconventional chord structures.But keep in mind much of this material is very catchy and pop oriented;not exactly jazz of any kind so there's no improvisation here.But on EVERY cut (
I haven't mentioned three fabolous funk numbers) Hammer is an
ace composer and even of the electric violin freak out of
"Hyperspace" this albums truely lives up to it's title.

Back in the late 70's I worked in a record store where a fellow employee recommended this album to me. I bought the 8-track tape and listened to it on the way home. I don't know what my problem was, but I didn't get into it. It did nothing for me at the time. A few months later, I popped the tape back in the machine and let it play one day. I completely changed my mind about this recording! It has turned out to be one of my all time favorites. It is timeless, and holds up to countless listenings. I was thinking about buying the CD until I saw the price! I'm glad I bought a vinyl copy back in the day. I think the best guitar players wish they could play solos like Jan Hammer!

-A professional keyboard player 30+ years...

Jan Hammer is one of the most innovative practitioners of fusion music--integrating the melodic anolog synthesizer to many different musical scenarios. I have been thouroughly impressed with his work on other albums, however, "melodies" falls short of the glory. This album is marred by intrusive vocals and mediocre composition. The highlight of this album is "hyperspace," one of the only two instrumentals. Unless you enjoy tasteless R&B vocals on top of pop oriented musical arrangement, I would stray from this album. You are better off checking out Hammer's other work--namely, his collaborations with Jeff Beck and numerous other fusioneers.