Grand Realizations of the Popular Kamazoo

Overall Album Score: 8.7 out of 10

Hey, hey, hey!!! It's the Mahavishnu Orchestra!!!!! AND IT'S THE RETURN OF THE CRAAAAAAAAZY INSTRUMENTS!!!!!!!!! That's right. Not so much classical music here.

This album seems to have a concept, but it didn't seem like it was so well realized. The opening track gives us a hint of that ... it takes awhile for it to start (giving a calm before the storm feeling) and then a rather creepy singer pipes up and gives me the feeling I've entered some sort of alien realm. This creepy singing resurfaces in a sort of brief 'aria' "If I Could See," that seems right out of something in a different planet. You also can get a hint of the 'concept' if you scan the track titles. Hm.

That's a minor point, though. Fans of guitarists who go crazy-nuts with their instruments will find much to enjoy out of here. (That's not to mention the drums are all over the place as well as a violin!) As always with The Mahavishnu Orchestra, the virtuosity of the instrumentalists are extremely impressive no matter who you are. Although the album has a few moments without much virtuosity. Notably, there's "Pegasus," which consists of a bunch of creepy noises. But none of these moments were exactly bad.

Since most of this album is jazz-fusion/avant-garde, this is not for everyone. ... Also it's not the best place to start with the band. I can't say this is any more impressive than their previous studio albums. The instrumentals were certainly more impressive in Birds of Fire. But anybody who liked those will also find much to like about this!

Overall Album Score: 8.7 out of 10 (Crazy virtuosity and some weird stuff to boot.)

Average Song Score: 8.6 (This album really has some vitalizing moments. .... A lot of weird moments, too, but never a bad one.)

Album Tilt: 8.5 (I can't be too sure their concept came out too well ....... it seems like they were trying for something a little grander.)

Artist Rating: 9.0 (Crazy jazz-fusion weirdness that also qualifies as avant garde. Sweet.)

Track Reviews

Eternity's Breath Part 1 8/10

OK ... some tapping of a drum there, a hammond organ coming in and out, a subdued solo ... Things are warming up in at atmospheric, avant garde way. But then there's a drum roll, and some very peculiar singing pipes up. The drumming is nuts, but it's expert! The violin is expertly played and keeps this section of the song exciting. This is a crazy song! And it's pretty entertaining, too.

Eternity's Breath Part 2 9/10

A new off-kilter groove (based on some horns) begins in an unusual time signature. McLaughlin does his usual virtuoso stuff with the guitar, and that keeps the entire experience very exciting! The drums are doing their own thing ... and then a violin (an electric violin?) chimes in and goes nuts. The song changes rhythm at around the three-minute mark and a twinkly, avant-garde piano lends the song a needed, fantastic mood change (it came at the right time ... it was getting a little boring). The creepy choir sings a few notes... Wow, this song is so strange!!! If you love hearing odd stuff, then this is your ticket!

Lila's Dance 8.5/10

A brief and disjointed piano sequence begins the song (that makes Tony Banks' work in Selling England By the Pound look like a real dork ... I hate to admit). Some acoustic guitar work gives the song a twinkling effect as that violin with a personality disorder begins to play. The drums are patting away ... putting me in a trance .................. oh, you techno people have the wrong inspiration!!! This song takes me to the stars around 2:20, but then it all stops and changes gears. It's reduced to a quiet bassline ... I kind of wish they would have gone further with it instead of stopping it, but once the crazy drum pipes in and we get some highly excited electric guitar noodling, I tend to not mind so much!

Can't Stand Your Funk 8/10

...they must be addressing this song title to the Bee Gees! Or maybe the Bee Gees are expressing this to them?? Well, this song isn't exactly funk music. It's another disjointed jazz fusion tune, naturally. The off-kilter groove is another odd time signature thingy and they don't go to great expense to diversify it up. I guess that's why this song is only two minutes long!

Pastoral 8.5/10

The song begins with some bird tweeting noises, and then a very majestic violin begins to play. The violin gets more busy and it's accompanied by an acoustic guitar off and on. It's a pleasant song ... trust me, avant-garde/classical music can be worse! But this is quite good because it works to put forth an image and feeling. Alright, the image could have been bolder, I suppose, but you can't deny that the instrument playing is dazzling! (I'm betting I'm hearing the same species of bird that we hear on Kate Bush's Aerial.)

Faith 8/10

The beginning of this track features some well-plucked acoustic guitar ... and it turns into a song that's almost folky but then, as sure as rain, the awesomely crazy drum comes in and plays around with you .......................... and then we learn that the song was actually in a pretty weird time signature all along. The end features a very strangely played electric guitar. It's played very rapidly like it accidentally got in a blender. There's a very brief mayhem-esque coda where it's accompanied by other instruments. I do think this was a well performed song, but ........ it all seems pretty meaningless to me.

Cosmic Strut 8/10

Again, this isn't one of the more amazing works on the album, but it's still quite fun. It's odd I say that because this one seems pretty accessible in the sense that it doesn't seem too alien. Some funky guitars chug along in lower registers, and then a crazy (but not as much) violin solo chugs away. Some horns come in later on ....... All in all, this isn't that inspiring to me.

If I Could See 9/10

Give this brief one-minute song extra points for adding another creepy dose of weirdness to the mix. One of the few tracks to feature singing, it sounds like this song came from a different planet ... you know from one of those weird guys in Star Trek. Plus, it's isn't that difficult to the ears.

Be Happy 9/10

Ah, it's an instrumental free for all! That's what this band's most famous for, at any rate! Instrumentals going in and out of the mix having quite a brawl with each other. The guitar work is so dazzling that my fingers are tired just by listening to it. Woooo!!!

Earth Ship 8.5/10

Much more subdued and classically oriented. Some low string rumblings begin this one, and we quickly hear a flute playing a nice, avant garde solo. Some not-so-creepy singing comes in spots as well as the usual amount of guitar noodling. This song is relatively more sparse, but don't count that as a negative!

Pegasus 8.5/10

These comic sound effects are kind of neat! Weird waves of sounds go in and out of my speakers and this thing is VERY CREEPY ... thank goodness the song was only two minutes long ....... it would have been testing my patience!! There's no jazz noodling, though!

Opus 1 8.5/10

Twenty-four seconds of creepy avant garde violin.

One the Way Home to Earth 10/10

I don't know if this is suggested to me by the song title or what, but this guitar sounds like it's imitating something mechanical ........ not so much a human being like these guys have been known in the past. This is probably the most impressive (or at least flamboyant) display of guitar virtuosity on the album .................... geeks the world 'round will feel energized after hearing this rip roaring thing!!! This song is exclusively the guitar and drums, which is going nuts as usual, up until the last minute when a creepy orchestra starts playing chords. Who needs anything more than this? It's ugly and beautiful at the same time.... I guess that means this is good art-rock.

What's all that comments?