JOHNNY MCLAUGHLIN - ELECTRIC GUITARIST

McLaughlin turns the electricity back on after 3 wonderful albums with Shakti which featured McLaughlin playing east Indian stylings with a custom made guitar with sympathetic strings and raised frets substituting for the sound of a sitar. Invitations are sent out to music buddies from the past to celebrate this re-electrification and the result is a McLaughlin reflecting on his past and looking towards the future in ponderance of his next move.

However, don`t expect any decibel blowouts. The only thing that resembles the razzle dazzle days of The Mahavishnu Orchestra is a 3 minute guitar/drum onslaught ( Phenomenom:Compulsion ) which is really nothing more than an all out jam with Mclaughlin and Billy Cobham offering brief comments at the end as the smoke clears. McLaughlin actually swings on the opening track, New York On My Mind and everyone from the land of fusion drops in for a series of subdued tracks from Chick Corea to Jack Bruce. Are You The One? Are You The One get`s a little funky with a little bit of vocals while Friendship brings the listener back to the Love Devotion & Surrender album John recorded with Santana in`72. McLaughlin pours out emotion on the serene My Foolish Heart which concludes this introspective album by a virtuostic musician at yet another crossroad.

In order to fully appreciate McLaughlin`s return to electricity I would recommend that the listener be acquainted with his work prior to Shakti, ie Extrapolation through to the end of the Mahavishnu Orchestra days in`75. The original gatefold vinyl edition also features a photo gallery of john and all his buddies.