VISIONS OF THE EMERALD BEYOND

The first studio album from the second Mahavishnu lineup to feature the band exclusively, unaccompanied by an orchestra, is an entertaining and competent fusion album, the main drawback of which is that it isn't much more than that. Whilst the original Mahavishnu lineup created gripping and compelling music with their every album, and their debut was an essential cornerstone of fusion, this time around the group sound just like every other fusion band that followed on from them - complete with a lack of really compelling ideas beyond retreading the original group's tricks.

It's a good enough listen if you are a fan of fusion, though if you're just starting to explore the genre I'd say there's plenty of albums in the genre - including the original lineup's studio albums - which should take priority over this one. Still, at least this time the band isn't upstaged by the LSO.