Customer Reviews

Original Album Classics

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I beleive the folks who gave this a one star review are missing the point. Here are the five greatest Mahavishnu Orchastra CDs, with original recording quality available in digital format for less than $19, instead of $35. For those of us who are old enough to have all the original albums, this is an ideal way to get all of them in digital format for cheap. Yes, they don't come with the liner notes; but if you want those, they're all available for free online. Or, if you insist on having them in hand, you can spend the $7 per CD and get them.

This collection is part of a series of popular rock and jazz artists who have five albums packaged together at a (mostly) competitive price. These are no frills - not a "limited edition" collectable - and a fantastic way for new fans to become acquainted with an artist and for others to replace vinyl editions without breaking the bank.

Each CD comes in a mini-LP sleeve and - from what I can gather - is a replica of the original, so any errors in any notes are not corrected. I guess that's a bonus for those who enjoy reading agate type...and then complaining about mistakes.

The albums are the five recorded from 1971 to 1975, which includes the fusion classics The Inner Mounting Flame (1971) and Birds of Fire (1973), the live Between Nothingness and Eternity (1973), the orchestral Apocalypse (1974) and Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975).


The 1970s was an incredible decade for John McLaughlin and this collection nearly has the entire output from the band from this time period (a buyer is only missing Inner Worlds [1976], and The Lost Trident Sessions from 1973, which wasn't issued until 1999).

I'm a "proghead" myself and hadn't gotten around to getting into Mahavishnu Orchestra yet. Blasphemy, I know. But then I saw this very affordable box set advertised on Amazon and thought that this just might be a good place to start. Before I bought this, I read reviews of this set from an ardent audiophile, on this very site. And he went to go on and on and on and on about how the packaging was substandard. I don't believe he even mentioned how great these discs sounded or how good the music was. Well, I'm here to tell everyone who's interested in checking out Mahavishnu, this IS a GREAT place to start. Not only do you get the exceptional drumming talents of Billy Cobham at play but you get to hear John Mclaughlin's command of the electric guitar and how, at times, he operates it like a machine gun! If I had to pick a favourite, their 1974 George Martin-produced album, "Apocalypse" which includes the LSO (London Symphony Orchestra), would be it. This is because of its somewhat quaint yet soothing characteristics. It's hard to describe Mahavishu's overall sound but if you dig long BUT melodic fusion jams, this box set probably has your name written all over it. And the fact that you get their first FIVE albums packaged together for less than $20, you just can't go wrong.

This has been debated below to clearly polarizing effect. This is a classic case of you get what you pay for. I shelled out less than $20 to get a full dose of Fushion's finest and to me that's a good deal. Sure the packaging could certaily be better and liner notes would have been a nice thing, but it's the music that does it for me. My Mahavishnu collection consisted of some long disintegrated cassettes, so this was a real find. I'd call INNER MOUNTING FLAME and BIRDS OF FIRE true classics, with the live BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS AND ETERNITY a strong 4 star album. APOCOLYPSE and VISIONS are not as strong, but I'm still glad to own them and hope to explore them in further depth.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra was a fusion project led by jazz guitarist John McLaughlin. Even on full-blown jazz records, McLaughlin's blistering solos contained clear rock influences; he owed as much to Jimi Hendrix as he owed to Grant Green or Kenny Burrell. But Mahavishnu allowed him to show that he could be a rock guitar god and so much more. Here's what you'll get from the boxed set:

1) Inner Mounting Flame (1972 studio release)
2) Birds of Fire (1973 studio release)
3) Between Nothingness and Eternity (1973 live release)

While the titles and album-sleeve poetry pointed east, the sound of his crunching rock quintet mostly pointed west: Billy Cobham on drums, Jerry Goodman on violin, a tasteful version of Jan Hammer on keyboard, and Rick Laird on bass. The early music lacked vocals, but rock fans might notice similarities to the jam portions of songs by early Black Sabbath or by Wetton-era King Crimson, especially on the first of the three quartet recordings.

4) Apocalypse (1974 studio release)

The quintet fell apart quickly. McLaughlin took a break to record a different sort of jazz-fusion album with Carlos Santana -- see Original Album Classics -- and then formed a new version of his group with much more emphasis on the "orchestra" part of the name. Not only did the group expand to an octet, if you go by the people listed in the liner notes, they teamed with Michael Tilson Thomas and the London Symphony Orchestra (under the guidance of middle-brow impresario George Martin of Beatles fame) so that their jazzy excursions would have a classical-music backdrop.

5) Visions of the Emerald Beyond (1975 studio release)

The orchestral Mahavishnu is not bad if you go for that sort of thing -- with the haunting female vocals and electric violin of Jean-Luc Ponty, it makes for popular morning music in my household -- but McLaughlin apparently grew frustrated with the pomp of his new collaboration. He scaled back for the last album in this collection, with the classical duties devolving to a mere string trio (with an occasional trumpet or flute or flugelhorn thrown in). Critical reaction to the album was not as kind as it deserved ... it's again a great album, if you're OK with music that is so self-consciously artisic and you are not comparing it unfairly to the early version of the band. But McLaughlin took a 180-degree turn afterward, picking up his acoustic and three Indian pals to form the legendary Shakti, and I've never heard anyone suggest he took a wrong turn there. To hear the magic they created, you'll need to pick up the McLaughlin box in this series: Original Album Classics.

This set, along with its companion John McLaughlin volume, is a fantastic deal for anyone who doesn't have all of the material represented already -- the late 1990s/early 2000 remasterings of the classic albums INNER MOUNTING FLAME and BIRDS OF FIRE, upon which this group's reputation rests, plus the live BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS AND ETERNITY featuring that band, and the Mahavishnu Mk 2 efforts APOCALYPSE and VISONS OF THE EMERALD BEYOND, all at a bargain price. To be sure, most of the excitement in the group exited with Billy Cobham (and can be heard manifesting itself on his solo album SPECTRUM); and one wishes that the latter three titles could have been remastered as well, but that's another question for another venue. And they do sound good enough to these ears, if not as vibrant and close as the two classic albums -- and BETWEEN NOTHINGNESS AND ETERNITY has aged very well, indeed, even as a lesser effort by the original band. The CDs come without inner sleeves in mini-LP jackets which, in turn, are housed in a loose slipcase (so put a rubber band around the latter . . . .). The price is right for those who need the albums, and the music speaks for itself. Only the lost third studio album of the original band, from the Trident Sessions, is not featured here, which would have made this absolutely perfect (although, in a truly complete Mahavishnu box, someone would have retrieved the group's early 1970s appearance on ABC's In Concert as well, but that's another issue for another time and place).

Im not so worried about the packaging, you can put the cds in a plastic case if you want, and any search on the net can tell you about the records themselves. I was only somewhat familiar with MO. These are the first records ive owned by them. Fantastic. Thats all i have to say. I love McLaughlin's work with Davis, which is what lead me to explore more of his music. Jack Johnson is probably my fav Davis record so, of course, most of this MO stuff went over great with me. The drumming on these records is just insane and i love the way it was recorded. This is a great package for those who want to hear the music and dont need a complete band history on a little insert. Look online like i did, while listening to these great records.

Why would anyone complain about the chance to purchase such innovative music at such a ridiculous price. As I remember it - my old vinyl version of Between Nothingness and Eternity had very little in the way of liner notes etc - I bought it for the music - and that is what I have done in purchasing this 5 CD set. It might be no frills but to be honest, the frill and the thrill is in the amazing guitar work of Mahavishnu John McLaughlin and some stellar sidemen like Cobham and Hammer, Walden and Armstrong and of course the exceptional playing of first Jerry Goodman and later Jean-Luc Ponty. For me the energy of BN&E is unsurpassed but the beauty and power of APOCALYPSE is hard to beat. The group sets such a high standard for themselves that it is hard to find fault with any single CD. The level of musical excellence is maintained throughout. That being said I managed to purchase this box set for a few pennies over $2 per CD and that is a bargain in anybody's book. Check out the Weather Report collection and John McLaughin's solo stuff with Shakti etc for more aural excellence.

This is a great way to get these cds cheap.5 great cds at a good price.
You can't play the covers!

Just got this set in the mail. It is the first one I've bought from this series (Original Album Classics) and so far I like what I see and Hear. These all look like great bargains for an introduction to the bands music. Some of these, like the Passport one, are an extremely good deal since many of those old album titles are hard to find and expensive when you do. I had already purchased the first two albums of this set seperately a few years back on the recomendation of a fellow music lover who had listened to Mahavishnu Orchestra since the 70's. Since it was only $13 and I wanted the other three album titles I went ahead and purchased this item. The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars is because of the lack of Any kind of booklet info or liner notes. The music is absolutely 5 stars and all these discs sound good.

The only people giving this (unfairly) 1 star ratings are music packeging snobs that have been spoiled by high priced Japanese mini LP replica box sets. Too bad for them. I'm here for the Music first, then the nice packeging. Come on, what did you really expect for a 5 CD box set for the price of one normal CD? As long as you realize what you are getting for your money, it shouldn't be a problem.