Customer Reviews

Offramp

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have to admit to a bias: I have been listening to Pat Metheny albums since 1977, and I sincerely believe him to be the most important composer/musician in the field of intelligent popular music in the period 1977-2000. For me, this is the PMG's finest album yet, and so it ranks in my all-time Top 10.

This was the album on which Metheny and Mays showcased the Synclavier for the first time. A synthesizer developed by New England Digital, it could be driven by either a guitar or a keyboard controller. From this point onwards, it has often been near-impossible to discern whether it is Lyle or Pat who is playing any particular phrase. On this album, Pat chose to generate trumpet-like sounds, particularly for the opening 'Barcarole' and the anthemic 'Are You Going With Me?'. A friend at the time asked me, "Why didn't he just use a real trumpet?". That friend just didn't understand the flexibility of the synclavier.

For me, the whole album is magnificent. 'James' is a wonderfully uplifting, perfect composition, in which not a note is wasted. But the two absolute stand-out tracks are 'Are You Going With Me?' and the under-rated 'Au Lait'.

'Are You Going With Me?' was a concert highlight for years, and would not be out of place on a rock album. Or a slow latin dance album. There is some wonderful wailing guitar towards the end of the tune, and I've often thought that this is the track I'd want played at my funeral. The downside of this idea is that I wouldn't want my partner to be thinking 'Am I going with him?' as my coffin glided past on the conveyor belt towards the flames.

I read in a Metheny interview around the release of the next live album ('Travels'), that Pat felt the live version of this song was very special indeed, implying that it was better than the studio version. I don't feel one is better than the other -- they have very different guitar solos, but they are both exceptional.

I simply adore 'Au Lait' because it instantly puts images in my mind of lazy summer days. I also somehow associate the tune with the music that Bacharach composed for the Bolivian bank-raid interludes in 'Butch Cassidy'. Vasconcelos brought an ethnic integrity to the PMG that his replacements have never been able to touch. His vocal and percussive contributions particularly on this track are outstanding.

This is an album that no lover of intelligent, optimistic, modern music should be without.

The exotic, African-flavored "Barcarolle" kicks off this hauntingly beautiful collection of compositions penned alone by Pat Metheny or with keyboardist Lyle Mays. This is the album which first introduced me to Metheny's and the Group's incomparable and distinctive sound. It still remains my very favorite Metheny recording and the one album I believe is his most consistently prolific work. Other listeners throughout the years have certainly agreed that "Offramp" is the album that began this artist's large following. Having been awarded his first Grammy for "Offramp", Metheny alone or with the Group over the next 20 years picked up over a dozen more Grammy's to add to his collection.

With the prominent influence of instrumentalist/percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, the Metheny Group on "Offramp" takes the listener through darkly evocative realms. The studio version of Metheny's now signature concert piece "Are You Going With Me?" is unarguably one of the finest performances of his career. It is almost breathtaking to hear this piece build and build from its simple rhythmic foundations to a seemingly unending series of climaxes. The ethereal "Au Lait" follows and the leads the listener perhaps along a quiet Paris avenue on a sultry summer evening.

The second half of "Offramp" continues the journey at a more structural and upbeat pace. "Eighteen" and "James" are certainly the most mainstream and clearly melodic tracks on the album. Still they do not detract from "Offramp"s very distinctive and textural sound. The album concludes with one of the softest and most haunting pieces Metheny and Mays have ever performed together (again with Nana Vasconcelos). "The Bat Part II" is a reflective and spiritual work, concluding the album literally with the musical equivalent of "amen."

This is a stunningly prolific work...eccentric but still very accessible. It is unfortunate that much of Metheny's later works (produced after his fascinating "Secret Story") did not continue in this adventurous vein.

My cousin has recently brought this album on vinyl,and him and I have spent this evening listening to it,and although I've had this album for nearly 20yrs, on either tape or cd,to hear it on vinyl confirms more than ever what a startling,and indeed truly staggering piece of work this album is...it was like hearing it for the first time....from the pulsing psychedelic beats of the opening track,to the dreamy synth solo in track two,to the techno- wizardry "Ornette Coleman" free -jazz of the title track,Metheny takes you into realms of Jazz not previously witnessed in his music....clearly a foretaste of what was to come with albums like Song X,and Zero Tolerance for Silence.....but it could well be arqued that in light of the album 80/81,Offramp wasn't that much of a suprise.
This album is regarded as one of his very best ,if not THE best Metheny's ever done,and rightly so...and bought to the fore the use of the guitar synth with its very unique sound,and range of possibilities.
There's not a lot I can say that hasn't already been said about this album,so here's a few thoughts.....
For me this album is at once dark,brooding,driven,other-worldly,almost psychedelic, yet gentle,light,sane,and utterly romantic..."Are you going with Me" contains the most rivetting, sensual, synth solo from Metheny,oozing a sense of space and time,with notes that are left hanging mid -air,the relentless build up to the musical climax....one almost gets the feeling that God has taken over...
"Au Lait" I find to be absolutely intriquing,I haven't quite made up my mind wether its haunting or romantic in its mood....but the opening few minutes or so remind me of a Priest giving a service in Latin,the last rites at a funeral,and as for the music,well I regard it as among the most brilliant examples yet of taking a simple phrase and spinning it out, but each time making it unique and with a depth of feeling.Pat and Lyle's playing is beautifully understated,and Nana's vocal effects reaches into your soul."Au Lait" makes me cry...
As for the title track...well... it cracks me up every time I hear it,its so wild and wacky....Metheny basicly goes awol with the synth guitar,a high octane Ornette Coleman inspired musical roller coaster that almost leaves you breathless at the end,but underpinning it all is a profound sense of structure, direction,and overall concept- it is truly amazing,and has to be heard to be believed.
Other reviewers have said more and said it much better than I have here,but be in no doubt Offramp is a truly mind blowing album,and is THE place to start if you are new to Metheny's music,and want a recommendation......if,on the otherhand, your a longtime fan,and if, for some unfathomable reason, you've NOT got this album,what the heck are you waiting for?....go and get it,light some candles,get a glass of wine and brace yourself for one hell of a trip!
Rating:10/10

Thanks to their peerless creativity and dedication to performance, the Pat Metheny Group never ceases to carve out a new, exciting, and captivating angle to their music. Most of the time, it's like witnessing Michelangelo carving out a new angle in the creation of the Statue of David. The most essential angle was carved in New York City in 1981.

When I first listened to "Offramp", I enjoyed it, but I didn't find it groundbreaking. Granted, the only records I had heard previous to it was "The Road To You", a fantastic live album by the Group and one of my favorites of theirs to this day, and "Imaginary Day", a broad and bold escape to another world. But I was still young and unaware, a 12-year-old kid who was looking for something along the lines of "The Roots of Coincidence" from "Day" or "Third Wind" on "The Road". Now, seven years later, I have heard almost every Group album and am determined to get my voice out on this fantastic band. Well, after "American Garage", I popped this in with the volume turned way up. Almost immediately, I forgot about any doubts regarding my opinion of this recording seven years ago. Ladies and gentleman, you are looking at the album cover of one of the greatest albums of one of the greatest bands in modern jazz history, and that's saying something. While the Group has never released a bad recording, at least not to this listener's ear, there are precious few albums that can be considered cornerstones, turning points, REVOLUTIONS in both the band's history and music history. "Offramp" is one of them.

After a three-year stint with Mark Egan on bass, Pat Metheny the bandleader decided that it was time for a change in direction, and, if you'll forgive me for being cornball, an offramp to go down that lead to a long and winding road of unlimited possibility. Mark Egan was replaced with the Joliet bass prodigy Steve Rodby, and the Brazilian percussionist extraordinaire Nana Vasconcelos was brought in as a "special guest". C'mon, let's be honest here: he should practically be a band member right from the get-go, as evidenced by the masterful percussion work and atmospheric wordless vocals on the haunting yet rousing opener "Barcarole".

I think the duet (it's really a trio) recording "As Falls Wichita" really helped Metheny and keyboardist and co-composer Lyle Mays focus and hone their musical maturity. Many of the orchestrations and textures from "Wichita" influenced the sounds on "Offramp", but the two are very different in their execution. For instance, it features the instrument that Metheny continues to use to this very day: the Synclavier guitar, a bold new innovation back in the day, and still quite effective today.

On the opening "Barcarole", we get Metheny's take on the Synclavier in action, backed by lush orchestrations, amazing percussion as said earlier, and a killer bass line, although very subtle (subtlety is an innate quality of Steve Rodby that makes him an indispensable bassist). Metheny programs it to sound like a trumpet, which might seem off-putting to some people, but to me, it makes the guitar sing like a power-house soul singer who reads Joseph Conrad. The exotic influences heat this album up, especially on the masterpiece...wait for it..."Are You Going With Me?". There is no denying the popularity behind this tune, and it is unquestionably justified. It starts slow, and builds and builds and builds with a harmonica synth solo from Mays and a sublime solo from Metheny, still considered to be one of, if not, his best, particularly to rock fans, I imagine. It has that staying power, conveying a beautiful love affair where the passion ensnares you into going places far beyond your wildest dreams. Believe the hype: it's a hallmark. Sadly, the follow-up "Au Lait" has long been overlooked by the Group and the fans. Don't dismiss for easy-listening at all, because "Au Lait"'s beauty isn't atmospheric for the sake of being atmospheric: It encourages you, the listener, to create your own experience. Let your mind wander when listening to that one, and don't be afraid to go where it takes you.

The next few tracks appear to be more conventional, but they too are grounded in deeply layered production, almost like a good New Wave record, which is evidenced on "Eighteen". I didn't care too much for this one at first, but it grew on me, much like "Airstream" on "American Garage". There are simply too many things going on to dismiss it as filler, and it will get you movin' and groovin'. However, it is the calm before the storm that is the title track, a ferocious, atonal free jazz slugfest where almost all musical convention is thrown out the window. But like its influence Ornette Coleman, the song "Offramp" is grounded in loosely-structured melody. If it wasn't, I couldn't stand it, but I really dig it, and hopefully, you will too. It was almost as if Metheny was saying, "Alright, guys, we did you a favor. Nana, Lyle and I wrote a tune that's 'pleasing to the ears' and 'relaxing'. Yeah, we gave you what you wanted. So allow us, good people, to kindly counter with an incendiary opus that is beneficial to the progression of our musical erudition. In other words, 'Kiss our grits, we're gonna go crazy'. Yeah.

Returning to conventional jazz form on "James" as a way of cooling off after "Offramp" was wise, and shows off just how versatile a band they are. This loving tribute to James Taylor has amazing solos, especially on Lyle's part, probably the best he's ever done. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and a great end at that, with "The Bat Part II", a gorgeous reworking of "The Bat" from Metheny's trad jazz album "80/81".

I'm sorry this review is so long, but not enough can be said about how fantastic this album is. It has held up so well because its spirit can be felt in every Group album that came afterwards. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

GRADE: A+

n3ur010g1c said it really well. I only wanted to add my two cents to an already glowing bunch of reviews. I bought this album used on cassette, and the tape suffered from constant drop-outs and severe noise, almost as though it had been set too close to a magnet or something. But I listened to it anyways, and all the audio glitches only added to its mysterious aura. Finally, I managed to find the songs online(I'm so broke you wouldn't believe it-I don't even own a working cd player), and so I went about re-recording the music onto the same tape. After hearing it as it was intended to sound, this quickly became one of my most favorite albums, ever.

It just raises the bar for good, modern music to an unseen height for me. I almost felt cheated, that this was released in '82, and it took me this long to hear this. It most reminds me of the kind of stuff one might hear in a soundtrack to a movie from Europe, or maybe the film Koyaanisqatsi(the one where they shoot various city scenes and speed it up to a near blur). It also reminds me of stuff like some the National Film Board of Canada vignettes shorts that used to be so much a part of Canadian consciousness. I'm not nearly versed enough in music and culture (I used to think that folk music was enough), but listening to album makes me feel like I'm in the right place, here in the city, stuck in some otherwise post-modern dreck. It suddenly all disappears, and then I'm back where I'm supposed to be, hearing music that most accurately describes the human experience from a true artist's perspective.

Life for a musician, especially a jazz musician, is incredibly hard. The creative process is draining, some of the people you work with can be downright disgusting and unbearably snobby, and it might take years for you to create an album that can be considered all-around magnificent. I'm sure the process was hard, but Pat Metheny was magnificent from day one.

Pat Metheny is not simply a jazz guitarist. He is THE jazz guitarist. When he came on the scene as a solo artist in 1975, he and ECM mastermind Manfred Eicher were doing things to production that were not only years ahead of their time, but Pat himself was playing with such graceful finesse and sparkling originality that probably hadn't been seen since the glory days of Wes Montgomery. At 21, he electrified the jazz trio setting with "Bright Size Life", which is still one of his (and Jaco Pastorius') Top 5 recordings ever; he magnified his musical interests and opened things up a little bit with "Watercolors"; proved that fusion could be soft and sophisticated at the same time with his Group's self-titled white album; and countless other successes followed. His Group's sound is somewhat different from his more straight-ahead jazz records like the breakthrough "80/81" or the Metheny Trio albums: more electric, heavy on the synths, a little less swinging, and a little more structured. Sometimes, it's just plain hard to define, but jazz and improvisation is still at the core of their musical apple.

Anyway, Metheny's career up to 1982 has been nothing but solid, but it did seem that those obstacles of a musician began to take shape at that time. After severely disappointed himself with the muted yet rousing "American Garage" (Pat himself has said that it's his least favorite record of the ones he's made), it seemed that the glitter of commercialism was about to encoat itself on the Group. He and Lyle Mays decided to make some modifications. Jaco-like bassist Mark Egan was replaced with the astounding virtuoso Steve Rodby, and Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos (from Pat and Lyle's fabulous "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls") provided some much-needed exotica. What is to make of "Offramp"? It's quite simple: the modification was necessary. While the Group's commercial breakthrough was "American Garage", their artistic breakthrough was "Offramp".

Here is an album that is a layered cake: it is technologically astounding, expertly written and arranged, maturely assembled, and most of the guys in the Group were in their late 20s. Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays further expanded the ever-changing domain of the jazz kingdom by incorporating elements of wordless vocals, metaphysically pulsating percussion beats, stark improvisation, and of course, synth technology. This is the very first album in which Pat and Lyle expertly showcase the Synclavier, a groundbreaking achievement. I give credit to producer Manfred Eicher for helping the Group start doing their own thing, and "Offramp" is where it started that Pat and Lyle started working more towards achieving their independence from Eicher. I felt like I skyrocketed off the launchpad and into the depths of a faraway nebula when "Bacarole" opened the album. Like a lonely Kenyan boy with an interstellar voice, the synth guitar wails a melancholy soliloquy complete with Nana Vasconcelos' pulsating backbeat and Lyle's soaring Synclavier. The best part is, it doesn't stop there.

As I stated before, this album is a layered cake, and layered is one of the best ways to describe "Are You Going With Me?". Like a beautiful love affair, it builds and builds and builds and you don't want it to stop. Believe the hype: it's one of the Group's hallmarks, and is always exhilarating, especially in concert. Sadly, its follow-up, "Au Lait", has long been overlooked, its startling imagery stirs the imagination and its subtleties are in no way wasted.

"Eighteen" is nice and bouncy, but nothing can prepare you for the madness that is the title track, a difficult, atonal, live-in-the-moment free jazz hallmark. I knew Pat had this in him when he covered two of Ornette Coleman's songs back on "Bright Size Life", but man, even though "Offramp" is noisy, it's not tastelessly shrill, but flippin' awesome, like an interstellar space battle. Indeed, it somewhat sounds like something off of John Coltrane's "Interstellar Space". One of the things I love most about the Group is that whenever a new artist joins, he is showcased, and Steve Rodby shows off his overlooked and brilliant flexibility particularly well on "Offramp". Going back to the melodic style that characterized "Eighteen" is "James", a soothing and lovely tribute to the great James Taylor. I've got to agree with Gavin Wilson: not a single note is wasted, and even though I'm always somewhat hesitant to listen to it at first because of a very laid-back beginning, it never fails to draw me in. Even though the guys are improvising, every note sounds perfect, particularly on Lyle's piano solo. Finally, the album closes with "The Bat Part II", a gorgeous reworking of the mournful "The Bat" on "80/81". Nana's voice is weirdly beautiful, and its melancholy chords give it the characterization of a prayer. The album couldn't have ended on a better note.

Even though the Pat Metheny Group have seen great success at almost every turn and while they've continued to release great albums, this one is particularly special. It showcases elements that they continue to use today, and stands as an important album for music in general because of the technological and songwriting innovations that make this album still sound fresh after 24 years. If you've just gotten turned on to the Group, this is one of the best places to start, and one of PMG's most engaging and intriguing recordings. It's one for the ages.

n3ur010g1c gives "Offramp" a 10...out of 10.

Absolutely my favorite of Metheny's many great recordings. Lyle Mayes has got to be the reason. These two teamed up twenty five years ago and put together one of those legendary "got to own" recordings that belong in every cd library.

Other reviewers cover the specfics of this cd quite well so I will not. Instead, I will say that if you have ever wanted to sit down late in the evening, pour a glass of wine and just melt away this music is the vehicle for your escape. Hit the Off Ramp, down shift and enjoy the lovely ride off the highway.

I am writing this review 15 yr after I had bought this album and after listening to many other Pat Metheny's work. In other words, I am writing about this album having at least 15 other Metheny's CDs as a framework of reference. That said, "Offramp" still stands as a unique piece; full of experimentation, plenty of fussion, and charged with boundless creativity. Take this CD away from Metheny's discography and you will definitely get an incomplete view of his legacy. If you remove "Letter from Home", or even "First Circle" from the picture, the final product may not be terribly altered. Whatever came before or after, does not compare to "Offramp". Perhaps the closest equivalent to "Offramp" in modern times is "Imaginary Day".

I will not keep the reader lost with more comparative assessments of Metheny's work. From an absolute standpoint then, this work is still in my opinion a really unique product of contemporary jazz.

This title not only describes this Pat Metheny work, but ALL of his magnificently played albums (from "Bright Size Life" (1976) to "Imaginary Days" (1997))! His music truly rejuvenates the soul with every chord strummed on his guitar along with Lyle Mays' comforting keyboard style. "Offramp" delivers a perfect blend of provacative autoharp melody, spry bop (in "Eighteen"), and soothing nature-sounding music.

I've known about Pat Metheny ever since I was a kid; my dad was really into his music in the early 80's. Last year, I rekindled that long-lost flavor starting with the "ECM Works I" (1984) compilation album. Now, I am all but 5 albums away from having Pat's entire discography in my collection. I've only been disappointed with one album so far, "Quartet" (1996). Everything else would be beyond a 5-star Amazon review since each of Pat's albums gets progressively better as the years go by! He IS a musical genius in the US jazz circuit; no if's, and's, or but's!

Pat Metheny was already garnering a freakishly huge fanbase when he released "Offramp" back in 1981. After coming out with two albums, the groundbreaking self-titled debut of PMG in 1978 and the solid, poppish "American Garage" in 1980, they stunned everyone w/ this giant leap for jazzkind. In the year 2134, when we have hovercars, virtual reality PCs, computer-run households, holographic music players (please!!), and the bodies and half-bodies of incompetent leaders and grumbling athletes kept in life support tanks for further damage to a post-apocalyptic world, the few virtual textbooks of music history will read off the greatest songwriting teams of the 20th century in this fashion: Lennon and McCartney, Becker and Fagen, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lloyd Webber and Rice, Ashman and Menken, Metheny and Mays. While the Grammy-winning "First Circle" set the standard for the Group's accessibility and lightweight bliss, the Grammy-winning "Offramp" set the standard for their intellectual sophistication, erudite creativity and experimentalism, and love for the music of jazz. On "Offramp", Pat prefers to solo on his Roland Synth Guitar. He programs it to play like a trumpet, and its ethereal, futuristic sound gives it an exquisite back-in-the-day touch. This was years before MIDI technology, further increasing the album's significance in modern music. World-renowned percussionist Nana Vasconcelos appears here. He's that guy, who, you know, performed with the Talking Heads, on, that album. JK :) He's one of the best in the business. On the brilliant opener "Bacarole", Pat's synth soars like a 747 on clouds of brilliantly executed percussion rolls by Vasconcelos and Gottlieb. Then the album sets its nocturnal, atmospheric, visceral, and moody tone with "Are You Going With Me?", arguably Pat and Lyle's most atmospheric piece ever, and always a concert favorite. It is the coup d'grat of this album and many of PMG's live albums. However, it is not as ominous as "Au Lait", which brings to mind creepy clowns dancing in a haunted Parisian carnival. "Au Lait" allows you to let your imagination take you wherever you wish to go.
The only track that I see is out of place on the album is "Eighteen". It's a good song, but it doesn't quite fit the mood of the album. Yes, "James" has the same kind of light feel, and like "18", it doesn't feature Pat shredding on his synth. However, it's separated from the foremr because it doesn't have a sunny bounce to it like "18" does. Keep it mind that most of this album is NOT lightweight stuff. There probably hasn't been a better example of freakish, volatile bliss for PMG than the title track, where Metheny suddnely goes Ornette Coleman on all our heinies, but you can tell the guys are quite blissful in their free-for-all of insanity, and it'll tell you that "Song X" didn't come out of nowhere. It's not for the faint of ears, but if you don't mind your music to let its hair down and show a little leg, you'll find it pretty fun and exciting. Kudos to Steve Rodby for givin' a krunktacular bass solo. Hey, unlike their smooth jazz adversaries, they play in tune amidst all the chaos. I can't imagine how anyone could compose it, though. "The Bat II" polishes off a feast of sound like a ladyfinger sponge cake: smooth, sweet, intriguing, sultry, and flowing with beauty. Overall, "Offramp" is one of the most important albums ever recorded in the past twenty years. It is not accessible to everyone, and it's definitely Pat's darkest album, but it sealed his place in the pack of cats that reign the cutting edge of modern jazz. This is Pat's Pandora's Box; it flows aesthetic grace and promise instead of sorrow.

FINAL SCORE-9.75/10