With the help of new generations of guitar synthesizers and samplers, The Infinite Desire finds a mature, lyrical, more expressive Al di Meola casting his lot with Telarc, which until the late '90s had concentrated its attentions upon aging acoustic jazzers.
Indeed, he makes marvelously musical use of the new devices, creating sensuous, exotic layers of sound that lie easily upon the ear, without much of the usual harshness of digital instruments generated by those who haven't bothered to master them.
"Shaking the Spirits" in particular is a fascinating piece, loaded with dazzling Middle Eastern and African colorations, and the sampled trumpet sound he gets on "Valentina" is astoundingly lifelike.
Also, di Meola's playing became more unabashedly fluid in the '90s; on the closest thing to a straight-ahead track, "Invention of the Monsters," di Meola's electric guitar curls intricately and swingingly around the bass of Tom Kennedy, Ernie Adams' drums, and some synthesized brass.
Di Meola's co-conspirators change from track to track, although two who figure a lot in the sound and package are keyboardist Rachel Z (a former di Meola sidewoman) and bassist John Patitucci.
Also check out Herbie Hancock on acoustic grand and Peter Erskine's drums on "Istanbul," and di Meola's fairly good-natured duel with rock guitarist Steve Vai on "Race with Devil on Turkish Highway.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beyond the MirageAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 07:19 | 16 MB | 54 MB |
| 2 | Shaking the SpiritsAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 06:30 | 14 MB | 42 MB |
| 3 | VizziniAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 37 MB |
| 4 | The Infinite DesirePino Daniele, Al Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 05:28 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 5 | Invention of the MonstersAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 6 | IstanbulAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 08:01 | 18 MB | 60 MB |
| 7 | AzzuraAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 02:55 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 8 | Big Sky AzzuraAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 06:06 | 14 MB | 44 MB |
| 9 | Race With Devil on Turkish HighwayAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 10 | ValentinaAl Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:46 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 11 | The Infinite DesirePino Daniele, Al Di Meola | Al Di Meola | Play | 05:28 | 12 MB | 38 MB |
| 12 | In My Mother's Eyes | Al Di Meola | Play | 04:41 | 10 MB | 27 MB |
| 63 mins | 145 MB | |||||
| 63 mins | 446 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ernie Adams | Drums |
| 2 | Anilda Carrasquillo | Art Direction, Design |
| 3 | Pino Daniele | Composer, Guest Artist, Vocals |
| 4 | Al Di Meola | Accordion, Arranger, Composer, Cymbals, Fretless Bass, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Organ, Percussion, Primary Artist, Producer, Tamboura, Trumpet, Vocals |
| 5 | Peter Erskine | Drums, Guest Artist |
| 6 | Frank Filipetti | Engineer |
| 7 | Brian Garten | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Tim Hale | Photography |
| 9 | Herbie Hancock | Guest Artist, Piano |
| 10 | Goh Hotoda | Engineer |
| 11 | Tom Kennedy | Bass (Acoustic), Guest Artist |
| 12 | Bob Ludwig | Mastering |
| 13 | Bill Milkowski | Liner Notes |
| 14 | Gumbi Ortiz | Congas, Percussion |
| 15 | Mario Parmisano | Keyboards |
| 16 | John Patitucci | Bass, Bass (Acoustic), Bass (Electric), Guest Artist |
| 17 | Spyros Poulos | Engineer, Programming, Sound Design |
| 18 | Hernan Romero | Producer |
| 19 | Jamie Siegel | Assistant Engineer |
| 20 | Rich Tozzoli | Digital Editing, Technical Assistance |
| 21 | Steve Vai | Guest Artist, Guitar, Guitar (Electric) |
| 22 | Abraham Wechter | Guitar |
| 23 | Robert Woods | Executive Producer |
| 24 | John Wydrycs | Assistant Engineer |
| 25 | Rachel Z | Guest Artist, Keyboards, Piano, Programming, Sound Design |
| 26 | Peter Zander | Photography |
| 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). |