01	Medieval Overture			C. Corea			05:14
	02	Sorceress			L. White			07:33
	03	The Romantic Warrior			C. Corea			10:52
	04	Majestic Dance			A. Di Meola			05:00
	05	The Magician			S. Clark			05:28
	06	Duel Of The Jester And The Tyrant (Part I & Part II)			C. Corea			11:26

Re-released 1999 20 bit digital recording
Columbia / 7464-65524-2

Chick Corea, keyboards;
Stanley Clarke, bass;
Al DiMeola, guitar;
Lenny White, drums and percussion

Jon Byrne:
When I decided to start exploring fusion a little while ago, one of the bands I knew I had to try out was Return to Forever. As luck would have it, the only album of theirs that the I could find here in Beckley was Romantic Warrior. It's a hell of a place to start: a wonderfully rich album filled with great playing and writing that is surely one of the peaks of the genre.
With the lineup present here, you would expect an impressive instrumental display. And that, of course, is true. But what makes this album so great and worth listening is the strong writing which gives the players a structure on which to build. Everyone contributes to the compositions, which gives them a nice variety in style and emphasis.
"Medieval Overture" has a grand sense to it, while remaining alive and never bogging down in its own importance. "Sorceress", by contrast, emphasizes Stanley Clarke's revolutionary bass work, which brings a funk flavor to things that is lacking in other fusion I've heard. "Majestic Dance" is a guitar driven track that sounds remarkably like the Dixie Dregs to me. The two epic cuts seamlessly shift moods and textures, with each musician shining in alternate moments. They do sometimes feel a little bit overextended, but it's nothing that seriously detracts from the overall work. Also, the sound does seem a bit dated at times, particularly given those trademark late 70s synth sounds.
Fusion, at its core, is, to my mind at least, when jazz guys try to take rock elements and blend then with jazz (whereas Canterbury prog is rock guys taking jazz elements). That mix is near perfect here. The effect is impressive and makes for an outstanding album. A wonderful blend of playing and writing.

Eric Porter:
The big three of jazz fusion in my opinion were Weather Report, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Return to Forever. From the father of fusion Miles Davis, these bands all had members who came from Miles. Fusion is a logical step if you are a fan of prog. RTF was made up of Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Lenny White, and Al Di Meola. If anything... these guys can play. This is just a pure listening experience. Right away the drumming of Lenny White hits me as being far beyond most drumming I have heard. Corea_s career speaks for itself, as do Clarke and Di Meola. On this disc they play funk, space rock, heavy jazz, the music will blow you away. Clarke and Di Meola playing off each other and Corea_s incredible playing are breath taking. My only complaint is that some of this sounds dated as far as the instruments (fender rhodes especially) but it does not take away much, since this was recorded over 20 years ago, it still stands up. If anything, the playing alone is worth listening to this disc. A must have in the fusion category.




Return to Forever - Romantic Warrior

Release Date: 1976

Track Listing
1) Medieval Overture (5:14)
2) Sorceress (7:34)
3) The Romantic Warrior (10:52)
4) Majestic Dance (5:01)
5) The Magician (5:29)
6) Duel Of The Jester And The Tyrant (Part I & Part II) (11.25)

Member: daddysangbassdude

It was early 1976. The Mahavishnu Orchestra was still "somewhat around" with John McLaughlin in his Inner Worlds mode, but they weren't setting the fusion world on fire quite as much as they did in the earlier part of that decade. Keyboardist extraordinaire Chick Corea's Return To Forever had been around for a while and held its ground in the fusion world well enough while Mahavishnu was still "THE Big Thing" in fusion. But with the release of Romantic Warrior in '76, RTF seemed to leap toward the forefront of fusion bands that would catch the ear of a wider audience, and along with bands like Weather Report they kept that Miles Davis/Tony Williams' Lifetime/Mahavishnu fusion flame burning brightly.

Prior to Romantic Warrior, RTF was solid with Bill Connors manning the guitar duties. But Connors left to concentrate more on acoustic work. In came 21-year-old Al Di Meola to take his place, and the group's cohesiveness and fire jumped to a whole new level. RTF always had respect among the jazz crowd, no big surprise with heavy hitters such as Corea, drummer Lenny White, and bassist Stanley Clarke in the mix. Once Di Meola came along, rock fans had to take even more notice of them. His sound could easily have been mistaken for that of Carlos Santana in his glory years.

Romantic Warrior gives each member of the band a chance to shine, not only in their individual playing (where each is among the tops on their particular instrument) but in their song composition. Three of the six songs were written by Corea, one each from White, Di Meola and Clarke. And each one fits the "romantic warrior" theme perfectly.

"Medieval Overture" was always an immediate ear-catcher for me, but over time White's "Sorceress" has become a favorite. It seems to give everyone a chance to show off, and provides Di Meola with a good opportunity to show off some of his more Santana-like licks.

The title track begins very laid back, starting with some wonderfully swirling piano work from Corea, soft acoustic touches from Di Meola, Clarke putting a bow to an acoustic bass, and cool chops from White. It builds into an epic jazz journey.

"Majestic Dance" showed that Di Meola, though still very young, could pen some real gems. The interplay from everyone here is fabulous. "The Magician" is like a musical candy store. Clarke laid out a lot of musical goodies on this one, bringing in hand bells, alarm clocks, slide whistles, everything but the bathroom sink. It all concludes with another Corea epic in "Duel," that takes the listener on a wild ride.

This was a musical melting pot, involving so many musical ideas it makes the head spin. Each member was strong in revolving lead parts, equally strong in supporting roles. It all added up to a recording that is a must-have for any fusion collection.