I SING THE BODY ELECTRIC

A big improvement over the debut in my opinon. First of all this is a very ambitious recording with lots of guests to fill out the sound. Shorter is more prominant while Zawinul uses a lot of distortion on his Rhodes, it even sounds like a guitar at times. Vitous uses a fuzz box on his bass at times too. It's like these guys are ready to take on the music world and are holding nothing back.This is a landmark Jazz album in many ways. By the way they have a new percussionist and drummer on this one. The music itself is complex, dissonant, avant, experimental, raw and difficult. I'm still trying to come to terms with parts of it. Truth is I didn't even like it for quite a long time (haha). Half the album is a studio recording, the other half a live performance recorded in Tokyo Japan, January 1972.

"Unknown Soldier" is apparently an anti-war tune which features some guest trumpet and english horn. It begins rather ominously. The middle section is like a sample of war including the marching style drumming. I like the sax that follows as it gets dissonant along with the other sounds that come and go. It settles beautifully as it ends on a hopeful note. "The Moors" opens with some guest 12 string guitar from none other then Ralph Towner from OREGON. Sax and drums take over before 2 minutes. It's really interesting to listen to the music here. Ralph returns with his guitar and joins in with the soundscape. "Crystal" opens with a spooky atmosphere and percussion. Shorter comes in with Zawinul before a minute. Nice fuzz from Vitous later. It's true that this track would have fit in well with their debut album.

"Second Sunday In August" is surprisingly dark to start with but then the sax comes in along with drums, percussion, bass and keys. The next three tracks are live. "Medley : Verticle Invador / T.H. / Dr.Honorus Causa" starts off with the band being introduced in Japanese. A drum intro follows then that distorted Fender Rhodes starts making noise before the sax joins in. Yeah this is pretty raw sounding thanks to Zawinul. They seem to jam after this. Nice. "Surucucu" is experimental and avant to begin with. Sax before 2 minutes with percussion, bass and keys helping out. Distorted Rhodes after 3 minutes and it gets chaotic. A calm follows. The sax screams after 4 1/2 minutes as the song kicks back in. It settles a minute later to the end. "Directions" is my favourite. This song blows me away with all the intricate sounds, a collage really. The interplay is so impressive especially between Zawinul and Shorter.

If your feeling adventerous or like a challenge then please check this out. Impressive and influential.