APOCALYPSE

What a lovely cover art! And the album itself is also a beauty. Only lately I've gotten into MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA (15 years ago I generally didn't much enjoy Birds Of Fire), and of the four albums I've now listened to, this one is my favourite. Up to my taste, the first two albums - which are rated the highest - are quite uneven. No, I don't mean uneven objectively (I really don't argue them being among the most amazing classics of fusion, and superb what comes to technical brilliance) but uneven subjectively, measured against MY enjoyment. That is, I don't necessarily enjoy music that shines with technical skill and bursts with energy.

This one is surely the most symphonic MO album, and not only because it features The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Two of the five tracks are long (14 and 19 minutes) and only one under 6 minutes, and none has dull moments. I also like the presence of vocals. So, this music stands firmly on THREE musical continents, jazz, rock and classical, with and without vocals, and does it in the most natural manner. It may lose the comparison to the preceding albums what comes to "pyrotechnics" but it's more harmonic and beautiful.