CHICK COREA: RETURN TO FOREVER

This is the album that got me hooked on this band. The only Miles Davis spin-off fusion band I had gotten into before I listened to this was Mahavishnu Orchestra, which I still love. Return to Forever is a completely different kind of sound, but absolutely awesome in its own right. As a bassist, I can't get enough of the stuff Stanley Clarke does with this group. He smatters notes all over the place, but does so with such taste and precision that I don't look at him at all as a show-off like some of the speed bassists of today. The title track is absolutely awesome. If I could have only one song by this band, it would be this one. The structure and movement of the song is absolute genius; it is so trippy and funky without acutally being funk. The real reason why I didn't give this album 5 stars is because of What Game Shall We Play Today. I just don't get why Corea thought he needed to have a vocalist with him. It sounds like cheesy lounge jazz, and it's a shame that Corea can bury his amazing talent with overwhelming cheesiness. As gorgeous as Crystal Silence is, it seems obvious to me that he wrote this on a regular piano and simply recorded it with a synth; I would love to hear a version of it just on grand piano. As beautiful as the song is, it seems obvious to me that he wrote this on a regular piano and simply recorded it with a synth. The last song has some vocals, which aren't as annoying as they are on the preceding track, but they still detract from the song. The Spanish groove they get into in La Fiesta is awesome, and Clarke's bass solo in this song is unbelievable as well. After listening to 5 Return to Forever albums, this one is still my favorite, along with Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy, but the one problem that plagues this band is that it's hard to overlook some of the cheesy moments that you just have to take in stride when you listen to them. I still highly recommend listening to this album, even if it gets lost at times, for the moments of sheer genius that it contains.