01	Meeting Of The Spirits						06:53
	02	Dawn						05:11
	03	The Noonward Race						06:29
	04	A Lotus On Irish Streams						05:41
	05	Vital Transformation						06:17
	06	The Dance Of Maya						07:18
	07	You Know, You Know						05:09
	08	Awakening						03:33

The Inner Mounting Flame
Date of Release Aug 14, 1971 (recording) inprint

This is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew breakthrough. It also inadvertently led to the derogatory connotation of the word fusion, for it paved the way for an army of imitators, many of whose excesses and commercial panderings devalued the entire movement. Though much was made of the influence of jazz-influenced improvisation in the Mahavishnu band, it is the rock element that predominates, stemming directly from the electronic innovations of Jimi Hendrix. The improvisations, particularly McLaughlin's post-Hendrix machine-gun assaults on double-necked electric guitar and Jerry Goodman's flights on electric violin, owe more to the freakouts that had been circulating in progressive rock circles than to jazz, based as they often are on ostinatos on one chord. These still sound genuinely thrilling today on CD, as McLaughlin and Goodman battle Jan Hammer's keyboards, Rick Laird's bass, and especially Billy Cobham's hard-charging drums, whose jazz-trained technique pushed the envelope for all rock drummers. What doesn't date so well are the composed medium- and high-velocity unison passages that are played in such tight lockstep that they can't breathe. There is also time out for quieter, reflective numbers that are drenched in studied spirituality ("A Lotus on Irish Streams") or irony ("You Know You Know"); McLaughlin was to do better in that department with less-driven colleagues elsewhere in his career. Aimed with absolute precision at young rock fans, this record was wildly popular in its day, and it may have been the cause of more blown-out home amplifiers than any other record this side of Deep Purple. - Richard S. Ginell

1. Meeting of the Spirits (McLaughlin) - 6:50
2. Dawn (McLaughlin) - 5:14
3. The Noonward Race (McLaughlin) - 6:27
4. A Lotus on Irish Streams (McLaughlin) - 5:39
5. Vital Transformation (McLaughlin) - 6:14
6. The Dance of Maya (McLaughlin) - 7:14
7. You Know You Know (McLaughlin) - 5:05
8. Awakening (McLaughlin) - 3:28

Jerry Goodman - Violin
Bob Belden - Producer, Liner Notes, Reissue Producer
Jan Hammer - Synthesizer, Piano
Rick Laird - Bass
Mahavishnu Orchestra - Performer
John McLaughlin - Synthesizer, Guitar, Producer, Performer
Billy Cobham - Bass, Drums
Don Puluse - Engineer
Mark Wilder - Mastering
Don Hunstein - Photography
Seth Rothstein - Project Director
Howard Fritzson - Art Direction
Randall Martin - Reissue Design
Ron Coro - Cover Design
Anthony Hixon - Photography
Rob Schwarz - Mastering

1998 CD Columbia/Legacy 65523
CD Columbia CK-31067
1970 CD Columbia CK31076
1971 LP Columbia 31067
1999 CD Mobile Fidelity 744
1990 CD Sony 31067
CS Columbia PCT-31067



The Inner Mounting Flame
Columbia (CK 65523)
USA 1971

John McLaughlin, guitar;
Jerry Goodman, violin;
Jan Hammer, piano;
Rick Laird, bass;
Billy Cobham, drums

Tracklist:
1. Meeting of the Spirits - 6:52
2. Dawn - 5:10
3. Noonward Race - 6:28
4. A Lotus on Irish Streams - 5:39
5. Vital Transformation - 6:16
6. The Dance of Maya - 7:17
7. You Know, You Know - 5:07
8. Awakening - 3:32


sean

One of the classics of jazz-fusion, and for good reason. Everyone in the band is a virtuoso, with guitarist John McLaughlin perhaps the most noteworthy. While the compositional complexity is impressive, this doesn't come across as mindless noodling; the songwriting chops are as strong as anything else. One of the standout tracks (although all stand out to some extent) is "Meeting of the Spirits', where McLaughlin's guitar wails like a siren over the groove laid down on violin by Jerry Goodman, while drummer Billy Cobham sets the drumkit on fire. Goodman's violin is probably what most uniquely distinguishes this as a fantastic release; in the faster workouts he can keep up without difficulty, and in the slower numbers often serves up the most poignant and heart-wrenching lines.
Musically, I am somewhat reminded of mid-period King Crimson at times; The first half of "Dawn" sounds like something the latter band might have done around Larks' Tongues in Aspic. What is interesting is that these guys easily preceded Crimson, which makes me wonder to what extent they were an influence on that band.

A note on sound quality; the Columbia remaster of this album is great! I only hope that other Columbia jazz/fusion releases will get this treatment, because it enhances my enjoyment that much more. I can only apologize to true fusion fans, because as much as I like this release I don't think I can appreciate it as much as I should. Anyone who still doesn't know this band and who likes mid-period Crimson must check this album out.

joe

To quote P. J. Harvey: "Meet Za Monsta." The debut of one of my favorite bands, led by guitar master John McLaughlin. You best bring your asbestos earphones for this one. Why not a perfect 5 stars? Nit-picking, basically (besides, I know everyone else who reviews this is going to rate it perfectly anyway, so what the hell). The reason is that I believe the actual compositional ability of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, particularly from a prog perspective, got even better and more intriguing on the subsequent albums Birds of Fire and Between Nothingness and Eternity. The exceptions are of course the untouchable brilliance of "Meeting of the Spirits," "A Lotus on Irish Streams," and "Dance of Maya." That's not to say anything bad about the remaining tunes; I like 'em all. On the other hand, Inner Mounting Flame is certainly the band at their rawest, most visceral, and least dated-sounding. Remastered! Hallelujah, hallelujah.

eric

Remastered version of their classic first release, this one seems more raw than "Visions..." but just as powerful. The team of McLaughlin and Goodman are volatile one minute, delicate and restrained the next. Charging out of the gate with "Meeting of the Spirits" everyone gets a little time to show their stuff. "Noonward Race" becomes a shred fest, and then the tables are turned with the acoustic "A Lotus on Irish Streams". It sounds to me as if Robert Fripp gave this CD a few spins, taking some licks from McLaughlin and in songs like "Dawn" you can hear where the Dregs picked up some influence. Give me that guitar/violin combo as I seem to never tire of it. This is great stuff that any serious music fan should have represented in their collections.



Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
Release Date: 1971

Track Listing
1) Meeting Of The Spirit
2) Dawn
3) The Noonward Race
4) A Lotus On Irish Streams
5) Vital Transformation
6) The Dance Of Maya
7) You Know You Know
8) Awakening

Member: Thekouderwunz - 05/04/03

John McLaughlin-Guitar
Billy Cobham-Drums
Rick Laird-Bass
Jan Hammer-Keyboards
Jerry Goodman-Violin


An album of extreme influence, from the opening song, "Meeting Of The Spirits" you could tell this album was going to be special. Mahavishnu Orchestra's The Inner Mounting Flame, expanded of Miles Davis' vision of jazz's new direction, with unprofound and unlimited potential.

A band of five virtuosos, (although only John and drummer Billy Cobham were known about at the time) this lineup of Mahavishnu Orchestra, was a lineup so powerful, that it was only best by Miles Davis Bitches Brew lineup which John and Billy were part of.

The Inner Mounting Flame, an album of trailblazing power, was a crossover hit, not only influencing the jazz-rock scene, but influencing progressive rockers and helping further establishing what would be called "heavy metal".

Although this powerful lineup, would go on to record two more albums together (which are also considered classics of the genre as well) the seeds of discontent were being reaped as for five musicians of this magnitude could not possibly stay together, and strive as a cohesive unit, allow each other to have their share and be happy.

Miles Davis, Return To Forever, Weather Report, Spectrum, Tony Williams' Lifetime, Herbie Hancock's Headhunters were great bands, but this version of Mahavishnu Orchestra as far it came to sheer power was and still to this day, was unmatched.

The Inner Mounting Flame is one of definitive statements of the Jazz-rock Fusion era, and should be in every serious minded musical collection.

Charles





Mahavishnu Orchestra
Formed 1971
Group Members Jerry Goodman Jan Hammer Rick Laird John McLaughlin Jean-Luc Ponty Stu Goldberg Bill Evans Ralph Armstrong Danny Gottlieb Billy Cobham Jonas Hellborg Narada Michael Walden Gayle Moran

One of the premiere fusion groups, the Mahavishnu Orchestra was considered by most observers during its prime to be a rock band, but its sophisticated improvisations actually put its high-powered music between rock and jazz. Founder and leader John McLaughlin had recently played with Miles Davis and Tony Williams' Lifetime. The original lineup of the group was McLaughlin on electric guitar, violinist Jerry Goodman, keyboardist Jan Hammer, electric bassist Rick Laird, and drummer Billy Cobham. They recorded three intense albums for Columbia during 1971-1973 and then the personnel changed completely for the second version of the group. In 1974, the band consisted of violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, Gayle Moran on keyboards and vocals, electric bassist Ralphe Armstrong, and drummer Michael Warden; by 1975 Stu Goldberg had replaced Moran and Ponty had left. John McLaughlin's dual interests in Eastern religion and playing acoustic guitar resulted in the band breaking up in 1975. Surprisingly, an attempt to revive the Mahavishnu Orchestra in 1984 (using Cobham, saxophonist Bill Evans, keyboardist Mitchell Forman, electric bassist Jonas Hellborg, and percussionist Danny Gottlieb) was unsuccessful; one Warner Bros. album resulted. However, when one thinks of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, it is of the original lineup, which was very influential throughout the 1970s. - Scott Yanow


1971 The Inner Mounting Flame Columbia/Legac
1972 Birds of Fire Columbia/Legac
1973 Between Nothingness and Eternity [live] Columbia
1974 Apocalypse Columbia
1974 Visions of the Emerald Beyond Columbia
1975 Inner Worlds Columbia
1976 In Retrospect Polydor
1984 Mahavishnu Warner

1971 The Best of Mahavishnu Orchestra Columbia
1973 The Lost Trident Sessions Columbia/Legac
1992 Collection [Castle] Castle





Mahavishnu Orchestra [USA]
Updated 4/23/01
Discography
The Inner Mounting Flame (71)
Birds Of Fire (73)
Between Nothingness and Etenity (74)
Apocalypse (74)
Inner Worlds (75)
Visions Of The Emerald Beyond (75)
The Lost Trident Sessions (99, recorded in '73)


Reviews
Mahavishnu Orchestra Mark I - Jerry Goodman (violin), Jan Hammer (keyboards), Mahavishnu John McLaughlin (guitars), Billy Cobham (drums), Rick Laird (bass)

John McLaughlin's early 70's fusion band, showcases his unique guitar style and features an all star lineup of Billy Cobham, Jerry Goodman, Rick Laird and Jan Hammer. My only gripe is the crappy recording quality of the first two albums, especially the first ... otherwise every album is a 100%er!

Top fusion band of the seventies led by John McLaughlin, guitarist extraordinaire. Their first two albums are absolute masterpieces of the genre: The Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire, both Columbia recordings available on CD from CBS Records. The music is intense beyond belief, probably more harmonically sophisticated than anything else coming out at the time, and contains an instrumental virtuosity and expressiveness that musicians still aspire to. The original lineup was McLaughlin on guitar, Jan Hammer on keyboards, Jerry Goodman on violin, Rick Laird on bass, and Billy Cobham on drums. A third (live) album Between Nothingness and Eternity fell far short of the achievements of the first two, and later versions of the band contained a completely different lineup (and at times the inclusion of *strings*), thus severely degrading the potency of the original chemistry. Later McLaughlin projects included teaming up with Santana for an album and also working acoustically with a group of Indian musicians for several albums under the moniker "Shakti." Nothing really compares with the first two Mahavishnu recordings except perhaps Billy Cobham's first album Spectrum, which Jan Hammer played on (along with Tommy Bolin, Lee Sklar, Joe Farrell, Ron Carter, and other musicians). Recorded the same year as Birds of Fire, it comes closer to the spirit of Birds of Fire than subsequent Mahavishnu albums.

This band just utterly blew me away. I've only been listening to them for about two weeks, but I'm really impressed. Take Lark's Tounges era King Crimson, add a dedicated keyboard player, and then take the energy level and jack it way up. There isn't as much distortion as KC, and there are mellower tracks, which I also love. My best description is mostly hyper, up-beat jazz-rock fusion. If you were to buy one album, get Birds Of Fire, of the three I've heard, it's my favorite. Especcially check out "One Word" and "Open Country Joy."

For my tastes, the best fusion group to ever exist. Led by the incomparable guitar of John McLaughlin, the Mahavishnu Orchestra combined jazz, rock, and eastern influences into a fiery, dynamic tour de force. The Orchestra actually had two formations. The first band consisted of Jan Hammer on keys, Jerry Goodman on violin, Billy Cobham on drums, and Rick Laird on bass. They released Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire and Between Nothingness and Eternity. Start with either of the first two, particularly Inner Mounting Flame. The sound is somewhat raw but is full of energy and vitality. The musicianship is second to none. You'll be astounded at the interplay between McLaughlin, Hammer, and Goodman. There are enough time and key changes in one *song* to satisfy any progressive listener. The next formation consisted of Jean-Luc Ponty on violin, Gayle Moran on keys, Michael Walden on drums and Ralph Armstrong on bass. This formation released Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond. The former is the hardest to get into but is an excellent album none-the-less. It comes a full orchestra with The Orchestra fusion assault. The incredible VotEB is the essential album from the second formation. The focus is the interplay between guitar and violin and it is dizzyingly complex and intertwined. Phenomenal and intense, this is as good as it can get, led by a supreme musician.