Mahavishnu Orchestra With John Mclaughin - The Inner Mounting Flame
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The Inner Mounting Flame; Mahavishnu Orchestra; 1971.
The crowd at the 72 Newport Jazz Fest reacted with shock to the very first bars by a relatively unknown band. They were hit by a wall of cacophony. The venue emptied quickly. If they’d stayed, they would have been blown away by beautiful compositions delivered with tight orchestration at a furious pace. It was all method - with a dash of madness.
This is the essence of The Inner Mounting Flame, the band’s debut album.
Mahavishnu Orchestra was put together by guitar god John Mclaughlin; fresh from playing with Miles on his two extra ordinary fusion albums - In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew where he even had a track named after him.
Jazz is not a monolith. It shattered into an extraordinary number of sub genres in the sixties. One of the shards - termed Jazz fusion - was an electric mixture of Jazz and Rock. John Mclaughlin added Indian influence to this mix - creating what can be easily considered the greatest album of the genre.
The album is as relentless as it’s beautiful. Sit down and focus when you listen for the first time. There’s a lot going on - and you don’t want to miss any of it. This is musicianship at its very best. The Guitar attacks on McLaughlin’s double neck combine seamlessly with Jerry Goodman’s flights on the violin. There are quieter moments on the album too - that point to McLaughlin’s spiritual search in the east.
You can begin with the incredible You know, you know if you want a soft landing.
Though the album became a cult classic; the band had a relatively short run. You can’t keep this sort of thing up for long. It’s just too much. Nevertheless the band influences music to the day.
Spotify listeners would be spared the musical bridges that connect the tracks - giving them a chance to come up for air. The record gives its listeners no such quarter.
But then this album isn’t for the musical sissy. No sir.
Also: A Kind of Miles: The Making of "Kind of Blue" And The Legacy It Left For “Miles From India”
Browse through The Inner Mounting Flame album records by The Revolver Club
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