DANCE OF THE FLAMES

Guru Guru's first three albums are known as krautrock classics (of the acid rock caliber). The legacy of this great group led by drummer Mani Neumeier is that it actually never found (or even looked for) its definitive sound. The band would experiment with comedy funk jazz prog after 1972 and onward. On 'Dance of the Flames' the band however plays a sort of comedy rock meets Mahavishna Orchestra on steroids. The instrumentation is of the highest quality and especially the electric guitars of Housch'ng Nejadepour are mind-blowing. The recording sound of the album is great as well. All this doesn't take away from the fact that I don't really want to listen to great a fusion jam with imitations of Scrooge McDuck (from Donald Duck) on the background - which is precisely what the opening track delivers. The instrumentals are all highly technical with those typical doubled fusion shreds, but to me it sound rather unimaginative. An out of place acoustic fusion piece like 'Samba das Rosas' reminds me of what you'll hear on Al Di Meola's in-cohesive albums. This album fails to leave any trace of melodic or atmospheric artistry or creative energy and is therefor not recommended to listeners of progressive rock, only to fans of fusion. For Mahavishnu influences I'd rather recommend listening to early SBB, Leb I Sol and the Finnforest debut.