Birds of Fire

Additional Birds of Fire Information

But in Billy Cobham, McLaughlin had found his Elvin Jones. Cobham's ability, with bassist Rick Laird, to focus ferocious energy toward making odd meters groove, and the band's funky, backbeats swing--while playing with an enormous tonal palette and a keen sense of dynamics--balanced the formal and improvisational aspects of each arrangement. Likewise, Jerry Goodman's soaring violin is the ideal vocal foil for an electric guitar, and the woefully underrated electric pianist and synth innovator Jan Hammer clearly helps flesh out the harmonic fabric on every arrangement, such as the funky changes of "Miles Beyond" and the classical airs of "Thousand Island Park." Ultimately, the joy of seeing Mahavishnu live was in sharing their sense of adventure and discovery, and that collective chemistry is what makes this reissue of Birds of Fire so vital. Truly, the sum was greater than the parts--too bad you can't go home again. --Chip Stern

What Customers Say About Birds of Fire:

This CD was better and clearer than a brand new LP. Very pleased, so much so that a bought a few others for Christmas presents. Always pleased with everything from Amazon.com.

It also offers further proof that McLaughlin's rhythm work.at its peak on Miles Davis' A Tribute to Jack Johnson.was every bit as tasty as his "speed of sound" lead work.John McLaughlin had a well-deserved reputation in the early 70s as "fastest gun in the West".or anyone else for that matter. The "original" Mahavishnu Orchestra flamed out after two studio albums and a live album that failed to capture their full power. Long before Eddie Van Halen tore up the airwaves with "Eruption," McLaughlin was making jaws drop with his fretboard fury on shows like ABC's late-night "In Concert."The band.McLaughlin, drummer Billy Cobham, violinist Jerry Goodman and keyboardist Jan Hammer.ultimately represented four egos-slash-ambitions too large to fit into any concert hall. The "lost third album" was eventually released on CD (The Lost Trident Sessions), but for the purpose of this review, we are looking at what.at the time.was the "final" studio album from the original M.O. lineup.The spirit of the band is best found in the track "Resolution".it keeps climbing, and climbing, and climbing.where's this one gonna resolve.and ultimately, it just melts. That, coupled with the legions of truly awful fusion bands that followed in Mahavishnu's wake, leads some to believe that their reputation exceeded their substance.Don't believe it for a minute.This album, as well as The Inner Mounting Flame, are as "essential" as essential gets. Buy both.you won't be disappointed.

I got this album because it's Billy Cobham on the set and he's one of the original creators of jazz fusion. I highly recommend this album; how they made this music so amazing in the 70's when we didn't know as much about music is amazing to me.

I can't imagine how awesome these guys are live. That's a compliment. I don't feel much passion for it as I should. Hope swings oddly yet addicting, and did I mention the violin are sick. This is one of those albums that offer something new and totally different for each song. The guitar's tone is incredibly smoky sounding, and The violin's melody alludes to lava.

Keyboards, pianos add texture (with some of that lovely Corea tone), with the often soloists John Mclaughlin and Jerry Goodman that trade off lighting solos. Open Country Joy lives up to it's title. From tense (Birds Of Fire), playful (Celestial Terrestrial Commmuters, with a duel solo), serene (Thousand Island Park), somber (Resolution, Miles Beyond). Billy Cobham explodes like a grenade, warping the time signatures and lays down a groove needed to carry along everything, along with rick Laird, who is a great bass player. Take the first track, for example.

He also is more funky than you grandpa's drawers (stolen from ATCQ.)., as heard on One World. From the looks of it, these guys could play with fire, and they often seemed like it did. Thousand Island Park is extremely serene and relaxing. But while Return To Forever is liquid, serene, and crystal like, The Mahavishnu Orchestra couldn't be stopped if you tried. It gets more intense as it goes along. The violin shreaks, croons, fires off, and explodes, and often when the two solo, sometimes I can't even tell if the violin and the guitar is playing. Of course, snobs and egomaniacs will get mad, but they deserves to _________.Your mileage will probably vary, and this band provides both stunning feats of music viruosity and emotional music, all in one. Despite it's length, it's prefect pacing, funky undetones, relentless groove, and ______ solos never get old.

When I think of jazz fusion, this band comes to mind, along with Return To Forever. First, it's soft, with it's peaceful, breezy notes played with country rock guitar and sunset fiddle. Then it gets overflown with joy. Also, I love So why exactly did I give it only four stars despite all of this praise. I'm still trying to figure out if the solos that seem to "trade" are between a violing and a guitar. Pick it up along with their debut, The Inner Mounting Flame. Bands can be very explosive live, and these guys, I can just tell, would explode if they were dynamite sticks.Led by the awesome John Mclaughlin, every single member in this band displays a huge amount of synergy unmatched. Doesn't sound dated at all, in fact, it's most refreshing considering the old, stale, ________ dinosaur music that plagues our airwaves.

Easily, the highlight on this album would have to be One World. The band has a knack for texture, too. people who love music should know how some music just speaks to you more, and this album doesn't do that as much as the other stuff I like. Sail on, ____________.7.5/10

Ground breaking. A must have addition to any Jazz library. A "desert island disk" for sure.