POWER ON!

In an idealized world this album from this German group calling themselves From should be very much a classic in fusion, as far as I'm concerned. Probably with the name "From" it's an easy name to get lost in the shuffle, no matter how good it is. Of course this never being reissued, still to this day only available as a rare vinyl LP, has a lot to do with its obscurity. This is fusion of the top order, with lot of great sax and electric piano playing, and when the Hammond organ rears its head, it's frequently in Brian Auger territory, but the occasional Keith Emerson circa-The Nice moves rear its head. Totally recommended for those who enjoy In a Silent Way-era Miles Davis, Soft Machine, Brian Auger, etc. If you disliked how fusion became, where it was frequently dismissed as technical showoffmanship, this definitely hearkens back to the early days of fusion. There's also a slight Canterbury feel as well, probably due to some of the Soft Machine-like passages, and electric piano. Plus the sax playing is very tasteful and never wanders into smooth jazz. The jamming is top-rate and never gets tedious or overstays its welcome, unless too many jams you might run into regardless of genre., It's also a crying shame this wasn't reissued, other than the band name, because it was released on a major label (CBS), I could have easily seen this being released on Columbia in the States, but never had. There those mystery albums why they never made it and this is one of them, because it's truly a wonderful fusion classic worth having, unfortunately you'll have to open your wallet for a used LP copy, which don't turn up too often. Fusion doesn't get much better than this!