Jazz Fusion is a genre that a man can easily lose his mind in. There are only so many absurd break downs, odd time signatures and improvisational sections that anyone can take before breaking down and having to listen to Nickelback for three solid days, just to cleanse your palette in preparation for the next listening. It’s a trait that goes right the way through the experimental genre in any category of music; you spend a lot of time thinking “This is really clever”, to the extent that you can forget what a brilliant but entirely conventional can do. You find yourself listening to Nirvana, the epitome of intentionally simple rock, and longing for a 5/4 break down or some fancy effects, and you lose track of the fact that something can still be awesome music without necessarily being obscenely complex. Because the real trouble is that, beyond being obscenely clever, many highly experimental artists aren’t that great to just sit and listen to in a ‘normal’ state of mind.
That’s what really marks the Mahavishnu Orchestra out as very different. Yes, the emphasis on experimental sounds and time signatures is there, and yes, there are a vast amount of influences taken from all over (hence the Jazz Fusion label), but it is first and foremost absolutely incredible music. It’s easy to accuse any band which experiments with time and structure of simply being pretentious for pretentions’ sake, but when the results are this startling then all you can do is sit back and enjoy the layer upon layer of gentle funk they bring to the table. The Indian influence is tangible throughout the whole record, and the varied instrumentation really brings out every part of the music. Violins are obscenely underused in rock music, and their use here adds massively to the recording
I would almost go as far as to say that this is the kind of band that led later to groups like Godspeed You Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion, but that’s a comparison that’s easy to make. Epic, instrumental tracks and clever use of unorthodox instruments, plus a predelictation for improvisation means the comparisons are there to make, although it’s a bit of a cop-out because post-rock has roots nigh on everywhere. Instead, take this record in its own right. From the alternating guitar to moog synth solos on One Word to the careful funk of Miles Beyond, it’s an incredible coherent record, and one which everyone should hear at some point.