Birds Of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra (1973)

I first heard Birds Of Fire when I was around 16 and learning to play the drums and a guitarist friend of mine thought I may find the Orchestra’s Billy Cobham worth a listen: he wasn’t wrong! This album completely changed my outlook on music and can’t be recommended highly enough.

Jazz-fusion guitarist John McLaughlin had a strong pedigree through working with Miles Davis and Tony Williams’ Lifetime, among others, was at his most ‘aggressive’ on this and the previous Inner Mounting Flame albums and along with his band-mates, including Jan Hammer on keyboards, created an album of virtuoso musicianship and contrasting instrumental moods from the opening track’s powerful repetitious build, through the mellow Fender Rhodes intro to Miles Beyond (a tribute to McLaughlin’s former mentor) to out and out power in the form of One Word.

Whilst an album of instrumentals can be a little testing on the ears, especially to non-musicians, Birds Of Fire contains such contrasting pieces that the listener could not allow the attention to slip: from melodic piano/acoustic guitar/violin pieces to all-out screeching guitar riffs, along with McLaughlin’s incredible dexterity on electric guitar, ensure that all tastes are catered for.

Unfortunately, this ‘classic’ lineup were to dissolve following recording sessions for the the follow-up but this album has stood the tests of time and I guarantee that no-one since has sounded quite like the Mahavishnu Orchestra at their peak, as here.

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