John McLaughlin resurrected the esteemed old Mahavishnu Orchestra for his mid-'80s quintet, even getting old mate Billy Cobham to fill the drum slot on the band's first album.
But this is an entirely different conception than any of the '70s Mahavishnu outfits.
The sound is cooler, less strident, more thoroughly dominated by advanced electronic textures -- including a sleekly elegant digital guitar played through a Synclavier.
Instead of a violin, Bill Evans contributes some swirling and sometimes bop-flavored work on saxes, and McLaughlin gets mobile but not overly combustible support from keyboardist Mitch Forman and bassist Jonas Hellborg.
The homages continue; the opening of "Nostalgia" is exactly that, a throwback to "In a Silent Way" as filtered through digital gear.
While this is undeniably prog-minded, beautifully played electric music, it is not terribly absorbing; the quality of the material and the intensity level aren't too high.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Radio-ActivityJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 06:53 | 15 MB | 43 MB |
| 2 | NostalgiaJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 05:58 | 13 MB | 26 MB |
| 3 | NightridersJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 03:49 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 4 | East Side, West SideJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 04:49 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | Clarendon HillsBill Evans | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 06:05 | 13 MB | 33 MB |
| 6 | JazzJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 01:45 | 4 MB | 11 MB |
| 7 | The UnbelieverJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 02:49 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 8 | Pacific ExpressJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 06:32 | 14 MB | 40 MB |
| 9 | When Blue Turns GoldJohn McLaughlin | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Play | 03:22 | 7 MB | 14 MB |
| 42 mins | 96 MB | |||||
| 42 mins | 241 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hariprasad Chaurasia | Percussion |
| 2 | Billy Cobham | Drums, Percussion |
| 3 | Arthur Elgort | Photography |
| 4 | Bill Evans | Composer, Flute, Sax (Soprano), Sax (Tenor) |
| 5 | Mitchel Forman | Fender Rhodes, Piano, Yamaha Keyboards |
| 6 | Danny Gottlieb | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 7 | Jonas Hellborg | Bass, Fretless Bass, Guitar (Bass) |
| 8 | Zakir Hussain | Guest Artist, Percussion |
| 9 | Albert Koski | Engineer, Executive Producer |
| 10 | Katia Labèque | DX-7, Piano, Synclavier, Synthesizer |
| 11 | Mahavishnu Orchestra | Primary Artist |
| 12 | John McLaughlin | Composer, Guitar, Producer, Synclavier, Synthesizer |
| 13 | Laurent Peyron | Engineer |
| 14 | Brian Risner | Mixing |
| 15 | Jean Louis Rizet | Engineer, Mixing |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |