This was the era of a great band. One of the best all-star ensembles. A true masterpiece. Four band leaders playing together as one band exchanging excellent solos and allowing space for great melodies. All Return to Forever albums are a must.
August 1, 2008Love the band but never really got into this disc, reminded me of 80's sound but in a really bad way. Sorry RTF!!
July 12, 2008 |  | Picture Yourself in 1975, then Proceed... |  |
Right at the beginning, it was albums like this that defined Fusion. What this album contains is four guys, minimal overdubs, superb music writing and more. Chick, Al, Stanley and Lenny are playing their guts out and you can tell they're going for it! This album is powerful stuff. You cannot prepare your ears for this kind of music; you just have to listen actively and proceed to get blown away.
I had an old cassette of this album, finally got around to buying it on CD and I'm totally thrilled all over again! It's inspiring, exciting music from a time long ago, yet still fresh. One story: I turned this album on to a younger guy (into remixing, porno/disco/funk kind of electronica), and he was even blown away.
Of course I give this five stars, how can you not? This music isn't derivative, it's all-original and just fabulous. It's electric, it's acoustic... it's FUSION, pure, raw and (not so) simple. Highly recommended.
March 1, 2008Chick Corea is on the road again. I saw him with Hubert Laws, Eddie Gomez and Airto Moreira as the Freedom Band last Sunday at Jazz Alley in Seattle and I'm seeing him in San Francisco again six days later. If you look at Chick's best at least one of these three folks are on his best albums or at least in this instrumentation: piano, flute, bass and percussion.
The magic is still there.
December 5, 2007| | | Igniting what was but ambers into Jazz Fusion. | |
When the talented forces of Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Al DiMeola coalesced to form the super group RTF, the world of Jazz changed forever. At this same time, the forces of John McLaughlin, Jerry Goodman, Jan Hammer, Rick Laird, Billy Cobham and later Jean-Luc Ponty fused The Mahavishnu Orchestra and together both ignited what was but ambers into Jazz Fusion.
"Where Have I Known You Before" and "No Mystery" are the essential elements.
August 10, 2007More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(18 reviews)
