CHICK COREA: RETURN TO FOREVER

This review marks my return to the archives, and my return to forever. I had previously acquired romantic warrior and found it to be very very good, so I went in search of rtf's roots. Why not start at the beginning? Well, this really is a fine bit of work! Warning though, it does lean very far into the realms of jazz, and al di meola isn't on it. This all doesn't matter though! You will hear hints of what is to come for chick corea and rtf. Track 1, the title track. This track is awesome! It starts with a very calm, yet mysterious and enigmatic intro on electric piano. This leads in to the theme, which is very spacey and strange. After this, it breaks out into a jazz jam. real solid. The female vocalist adds a real cool touch to this song as she emulates the various melodies and even adds in a blood curdling scream in the second jam passage! Awesome. It ends with the same theme from the beggining. Good song for sure! Next is track 2, an atmospheric track. This song makes me reminisce about things and think about the past. This song really is what silence would sound like if it weren't, well, silence. Good sax phrases add soul too the song as well. After the moody realms of that track comes sunshine beaming at you bright enough to blind you with joy! Some really catchy flutes and solid bass work by stanley clarke, my favorite bassist! The highlight of this track is flora purim's vocals. she sing the high notes effortlessly and perfectly fits the song. It's a very positive upbeat song, and it's quite catchy, given you don't mind the jazziness of it. Track 4, the mother load! This is the 'epic' piece that we crazy prog fans are always looking for! It's long, involves several themes, it changes tempo and it's badass! This song has a very latin flavour, which I like very much. It starts out sort of like crystal silence, but with little latin bursts of piano. Next you return to the same strange realm as track 1 with some dark bass soloing from clarke. You'll be transported to another world here. After about the first 7 and a half minutes, the song really comes in, and a few minutes of miss sunshine purim will paint the picture for what you're supposed to be imagining while you listen. The rest of the song contains some awesome latin jazz passages and some killer walking bass parts. This song really contains all of the elements from the three previous tracks. This album is full of mixed emotions, but it will leave you feeling happy in the end! This album is a little difficult to get into, but someone who appreciates true beautiful music will find their way into the land of forever! 4/5 only because it will not appeal to all prog fans, but it is an excellent album!