DANCE OF THE FLAMES

After two unsuccessful attempts to broaden their sound, Guru Guru finally succumbed to the prevailing jazz-rock tastes of the day and went all American with guitar-virtuoso based jazz-rock jams that abandoned all the excitement, innovation and personality of their 3 first album.

The main part of the blame falls on new guitar-recruit Houschang Nejadepour who fills the album with pointless shredding a gogo. He rarely manages to surprise or capture the imagination; all he plays are jazz-rock clichés, devoid of creativity and feeling. Well, he plays fast, and that has its admirers too. Hans Hartman on bass is solid but also uninspired. In fact only Guru Guru's stronghold Mani Neumeier continues to deliver fascinating drum work throughout.

Some of the songs feature vocals and are only recommended for listeners with a sense of humor. A song title like Dagobert Duck's 100th Birthday should be more then enough warning. The band also tries their hand on some world music influences, for instance by means of Indian tuned percussion as on Rallulli. Other tracks worth checking out are Dance of The Flames and the Mahavishnu-clone highlight God's Endless Love for Men.

Guru Guru were a band in search for a new identity but instead of finding one of their own they chose to be a German copy of Mahavishnu Orchestra. There are flashes of success but on the whole this is an non-creative and unremarkable album. 2.5 stars