FROM THIS PLACE

With 'From This Place' Pat Metheny returns to his regular fusion style, albeit accompanied by an orchestra. The recording is quite lively and roomy; almost to the point of sounding like a well recorded live album. Matheny never really jumped on rock-fusion bandwagen of Return to Forever and Mahavishnu, in stead creating a modern jazz style with traces of bebop, ECM jazz and hints of world music. He uses his electric guitar often with a clean warm tone and doesn't place his solo's too much in the front of the mix. His music is often devoid of rock influences, but the music can get quite intense. It is linked with progressive rock because of his intricate uses of melodies, harmony and longer compositional structures. On this album, as pointed out by other reviewers, the thirteen minute opener 'America Defined' and 'You Are' are particularly appealing to the progressive crowd. The first opens with a harsh sessions of fast changing chords and melodies (almost the jazz variant of a thrash metal opening track), only to end up in an atmospheric middle section with city sounds, followed by a very impressive, and huge sounding melodic ending. The other is an explosive single theme exploration, a bit like Mahavishnu's 'Hope'. The other tracks are pretty much what fans of Metheny would expect. Some intimate instrumental ballads, some up-tempo fusion pieces - some of them perhaps sounding a bit too 'elevator-like' for some people's tastes here. Stylistically the music hasn't changed much from 'The Way Up', a record that got some significant attention at the time. The limited use of the orchestra does add a layer of luxuriousness. Like any album is in this genre it is a bit too long, but If you listen the first LP (with before mentioned prog moments of interest) on its own you would add up to what I would rate a clear four star album. The second LP to me is a gentle addition of relaxing tracks. The quality of the vinyl is fine, but I do feel like the modern mastering with its heavy focus on mid-lows does make the sound a bit dense and cuts some of that roomy high-end. In conclusion; this album comes warmly recommended and could also serve as a safe entry into the jazz-rock/fusion genre.