Customer Reviews

Million Dollar Legs

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

 

 

An old saying goes that you can't judge a book (or album) by its cover, but this is one glaring exception to that old maxim. From the first sight of the ridiculous "cheesecake" cover and equally cheesy title, it's obvious that trouble was brewing in fusionland! A good alternative title might have been "I Refuse To Believe It!".

Upon applying the needle to this disc when it first came out, many fans of the white-hot predecessor "Believe It" were scratching their heads in disbelief, wondering if the right album was in the sleeve. Well, unfortunately, it was the right one.

Million Dollar Legs is a tragic textbook example of how record company meddling with creative forces it does not know or understand causes untold heartbreak and disillusionment. Fresh off a triumphant tour for "Believe It", Tony Williams and company were subjected to merciless pressure to create a "HIT" album. So, in their infinite wisdom, the suits at Columbia Records made them write cheesy pseudo-R&B/Funk tunes that were pointedly un-funky and told Allan Holdsworth to tone his playing down, WAY DOWN! :(

Things start off promisingly enough with "Sweet Revenge" but it quickly lapses into repetitiveness and takes a while longer to make its point than it should, despite some great drumming from Williams, a cool slithery bass groove from Newton and some unusually restrained playing form Allan Holdsworth. Time to hit the skip button when "You Did It To Me Baby" comes up, featuring some of the most idiotic lyrics you ever heard in your life and cliched horns straight out of a bad 70's sitcom that would've had Tower of Power rolling on the floor splitting their sides. One would hope that after this, the guys either:

a) Did penance
b) Were rolling on the floor laughing their butts off
c) Went out and got rip-roaring stupid drunk to try and forget what just happened.

It steadily slides downhill from here with weak funk vamps and flimsy over-extended ideas, with Williams and Holdsworth trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Of the last 3 tracks "Lady Jane", "What You Do To me" and "Inspirations of Love" actually threaten to get interesting before completely dissolving into a cesspool of sappy strings, weak underdeveloped compositions, sections arbitrarily stuck together and the like. Even in this, Holdsworth actually gets off a couple good solo lines in these tracks as does Tony Williams playing his heart out.

This and spectacular management screw-ups that left them stranded on the West Coast in mid-tour bought down the curtain on a foursome that could've been one of the most happening fusion outfits in the latter half of the 70's. Thankfully, they all went on to greater artistic success on their own.

Take heed of this, when someone tries to pressure you into trying to be something you're not and tries to get you to dumb down your unique artistic vision under the pretense of making it more "accessible", do yourself a favor, RUN, RUN LIKE HELL!!!!!!

The reviews I've read so far are scathing. I got into Tony because I'm a drummer. His playing is fabulous on this record. Are the lyrics unimpressive? Yes. It's not often that you get to hear Tony playing in a funk/16th note framework. Here it is. Is it a less important work than "Believe It?" Believe it. But if you're a drummer and you want to learn from Tony, this record features a playing style you will not hear anywhere else and that makes it a valuable addition to your library. They aren't making Tony Williams recordings anymore. There is no reason to snub this one! Alan Holdworth's playing on this record is exceptional as well.

The thing to keep in mind is that this album is a failed experiment at pop-fusion, which is something tony dabbled with more than once in the seventies. The songs are cheesey, but the performances are as strong as you would expect.

Definitely one for the die-hard Tony fans and nobody else.

To begin with, I should say I wholly dislike the cheesy cover shot on Million Dollar Legs. The more I look at it, the less I'm able to laugh. Utter rubish. BUT! The problem with this album is that it's been so negatively affected by its cover/title. Horrid and dumb way to market Tony's New Lifetime.
Released in 1976 and clearly not as focused as its precursor 'Believe It'(1975), this is still 90 percent instrumental fusion - just one song is sung and it's the shortest at under four minutes. The players besides Tony are: Allan Holdsworth on guitar; Tony Newton on bass/vocals and; Alan Pasqua on keyboards.
While the music here is obviously affected by some trends of its time, this alone isn't necessarily a bad thing. The entire fusion movement had moved on that direction anyway - Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Herbie Hancock, you name it - so, as a result, we get some funky fusion jams with some melodic parts.
I'd like to point out that there's quite a lot to enjoy on this album and that it's nowhere as commercial as one may think. The music is well arranged and the interaction among the players is strong so if you care for this transitional period which eventually took us to the mess that was the eighties, you shouldn't let this slip.

This Sony Japan import release is definitely remastered, and is the best audio version available. It is much better than The Collection U.S. CD.

This album takes a lot of heat, as it was a major disappointment for most after "Believe It". In reality, however, the majority of the album is certainly a worthy follow-up.

I most heartedly agree with the the observations that "You Did It To Me" is completely annoying, and ditto with the dubbed horns in "Million Dollar Legs". The remaining five tracks, however, stand up well to time.

The price of the Japan disc is higher, but is well worth the price, especially if you're a Holdsworth fan. No AH collection is complete without these tracks.