BIRDS OF FIRE

A friend of mine got me into this band like 3 months ago. I've never heard Mahavishnu Orchestra before, and he gave me "Birds Of Fire" as a big example of the band's sound. Since then I've listened to it at least 30 times, and with the fourth listen I was enjoying it. At first I was with the expectation of how the record will sound: Jazz-rock/Fusion without sax or trumpet (I was -and still- very accustomed to Wheather Report, Jaco and similars' sound) ... so, as I predicted, it's more rocker, specially in some moments (and McLaughlin's solos add a lot of rock elements), but still a Fusion, in other words, a Rocker Fusion is the perfect genre where Mahavishnu belongs, IMO. The musicianship is excellent, McLaughlin a beast on the guitar, he plays crazy and some very, very fast solos, adding, as I said before, a lot of Rock elements with them. But in the solos he's not alone, Goodman (violin) and Hammer (keys) duel with him, Hammer using a lot of tasty effects (Moog synthesizer) with his keyboard and Goodman, oh God, amazing, a violin playing the pentathonic scale!! The rhythm section is amazing too, an excellent drummer, a beast of the instrument, Cobham, who does a phenomenal job, and a correct bass playing by Laird.

Well, let's go to the music: every track here is more than good, and some great, rocker and 'orgasmic' moments take place here. The highlights: the opener "Birds Of Fire", which is introduced by a 12 string guitar melody, followed by a bass/violin line (with some references to classical indian music), and a very, and I say VERY rocker melody which is repeated along the song, with fantastic guitar solos in the middle, a discharge of adrenalin, amazing! (recommended to play this track LOUD, very loud!); the mid-tempo "Miles Beyond", which starts with a warm bass line, a bit of funky feeling on the rhythm, when power distorted guitar chords enter and keeps the song in a slow mood on the majority of the song ... and again superb guitar solos; "Thousand Island Park" is the quiet segment of the disc, featuring nice acoustic guitar and piano making unison sweet melodies; another great moment comes with "One Word", which is THE solo time for everyone: a cool bass solo in the beginning, and THE moment of the album is with the following guitar/violin/keys duel, an amazing skill demostration, 50 notes per second and all keeps having sense, and takes you to that so called 'orgasmic' musical moment! And that's not all! Then, in the final of the song a strong drum solo takes place ... What can I say? They really play THAT good!!; "Open Country Joy" always gives a smile on my face with the quiet and happy violin melody, then suddenly enters, oh, I mean, explode the other instruments and another nice duel begins! (to return then to the quiet melody); "Resolution", the title says it all, it's a resolution to the album, going higher and higher, and finally getting a climax to conclude this excellent disc.

Overall, an essential album on the Jazz-Rock/Fusion genre, but an excellent addition to any Prog music collection, a pleasant and violent musical journey! Reccomended to anyone!

Rating: 4.2/5