The Mahavishnu Orchestra- The Inner Mounting Flame

Time for the Prog Blog to take a dip into Jazz Fusion for the first time. The Mahavishnu Orchestra is perhaps the most famous collective within the field. Formed by John McLaughlin (guitar) in 1971 with the concept of a Jazz group featuring the violin, he made a formidable lineup con siting of Rick Liard (bass), Billy Cobham (Drums), Jan Hammer (keyboards), and Jerry Goodman (violin), some of the best jazz men of their age. They recorded and released The Inner Mounting Flame in '71 to great reception.

The album gets right into business with "Meeting of the Spirits", which introduces the mystic form of guitar Hammer uses from here on out, mystical violins, and McLaughlin's distinct playing of guitar. He plays incredibly fast against a mid-tempo background for mystic effect. Next up is a slow grove jam into guitar fest called "Dawn", not to dissimilar from what Miles Davis was doing at this time in history. Noonward Race is a strange experiment of incredibly fast guitar distortion and violin playing. Then comes "A Lotus on Irish Streams", a beautiful little classical piece. It's slightly new age, strange for something from 1971.

Side B contains the violent "Vital Transformation". This another guitar/violin workout, but the drums join in too for great effect. It does have the air of fear from a transformation. Then we've got "Dance of the Maya", which is another Davis/Coltrane-esque piece of slow feeling built up over 7 minutes. The tracks "You Know You Know" and "Awakening" close of The Inner Mounting Flame in style, repeating the major themes of aggression and passiveness with great contrast.

The power of this album hinges on the musical ability. For non musicians, it might seem like just another album, but they all play with such speed (especially McLaughlan) that it's almost uncanny. Their style wasn't all that unique despite the jazz with violin's concept, but in the end the sheer gusto of the album makes it worth it. However, it's a little repetitive, and there's a tendency to get the songs mixed up with each other. It's truly an album rather than a collection of songs on this one.

A kaleidoscope of sounds and noises to nourish the mind, The Inner Mounting Flame earns a solid Grade of B.