Oblivion Express - Oblivion Express (1970)

After the breakup of Trinity, Brian Auger’s previous – and successful – 1960s group, Brian Auger put together jazz rock/fusion group Oblivion Express of which this 1970 release is their debut. Occupying a slightly less frenetic approach, the style adopted here is somewhat akin to Birds Of Fire-era Mahavishnu Orchestra with Jim Mullen providing some solid guitar playing and Auger’s skillful keyboard work providing some powerful instrumentation, although modestly not over-dominating the album.

Dragon Song is storming opening number with great soloing from Auger and a meandering riff along similar lines to Resolution from the Mahavishnu Orchestra (and penned by John McLaughlin), played with real power and passion. I’ve mentioned elsewhere that an essential ingredient for largely-instrumental albums has to be light and shade and this point is not lost on Auger as the second track, Total Eclipse, is a mesmerizing meandering riff over which Mullen and Auger provide extended solo pieces to good effect.

Another point that won’t be lost on readers of this website is my general disapproval of vocals creeping into what would otherwise be great instrumental albums. Sadly this is the case here on The Light which is an up-tempo piece that would have been much better served overlaid with soloing than a rather hurried and void of hooks vocal line. When the vocals subside however, Auger lets rip with a real high-tempo keyboard solo and thus rescues the piece.

On The Road is another vocal-led track in double-time and tends to provide a rather bland feel to otherwise strong instrumentation from the rest of the band. Mullen here takes the lead with a high-speed solo that once more saves a number from drifting into ‘oblivion’. Robbie Macintosh also provides a good performance on this number.

A guitar-led piece follows in Sword with strong solo sections from both Mullen and Auger, once the vocals shut up! The title track is also a powerful piece and opens with an expansive instrumental piece followed by a bit of vocals then a move up-tempo and some fluid Mullen soloing leading to a cacophonous build from Auger.

Whilst this is a strong debut for Auger’s new project, in my opinion he should have dropped the vocals completely and really gone for it with the instrumentation. There are some staggeringly good instrumental passages on Oblivion Express but their overall style doesn’t lend itself to songs in a traditional sense and thus the inclusion of vocals – much as it did with Atomic Rooster and latter-day Mahavishnu Orchestra – rather killed and held-back what would otherwise be some fine musical moments: a pity but still very much worth a listen from a very underrated group!

• Brian Auger – Keyboards
• Jim Mullen – Guitar
• Barry Dean – Bass
• Robbie McIntosh – Drums

Jeff Beck - Wired (1976)

Whilst purely instrumental albums can be a little tiresome to non-musicians, Jeff Beck’s mid 70’s releases featured him at his peak and surrounded by musicians of the highest calibre. On Wired Beck begins a long-lasting collaboration with ex-Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboardist Jan Hammer, with ex Orchestra drummer Michael Walden also making an appearance alongside funk session bassist extraordinaire Wilbur “Bad” Bascomb.

The album veers between jazz-fusion and funk and opens with the long-time Beck collaborator Max Middleton-penned Led Boots which is a strong fusion piece with well-syncopated drum pattern and is one of the shining moments of the album. The album then moves into blander funk territory with Come Dancing albeit with some nice Hammer Moog twiddling throughout but I personally always prefer Beck playing a more attacking style of guitar as opposed to light chord chopping.

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat is a much talked-about number from this album and, whilst a notable piece from Jazz pioneer Charles Mingus – and a much covered piece by other such luminaries as Joh McLaughlin, for example – is a very mellow piece with Beck providing extremely bluesy melody and soloing throughout.

Head for Backstage Pass is a showcase for the funky soloing of Bascomb and Beck is back to chopping but the piece really gets going towards the latter half with a good solo from Beck. Blue Wind is a strong piece with a good question and answer style riff between Beck and Bascomb but is a little repetitious.

On a very mellow footing Wired then moves to Sophie which is really mellow lounge-fusion fayre at the outset that then shifts-up a couple of gears to a fast-paced fusion piece with some great keyboard soloing from Hammer before dropping back to the opening melody and then moving back uptempo: it showcases a very good use of compositional light and shade which is an essential ingredient with instrumental albums in particular to hold the interest.

A funky keyboard intro Stevie Wonder would be proud of ushers-in Play With Me featuring good harmonic interplay with Hammer and Beck and some nice drum flourishes from Walden who wrote the piece.

Wired closes with some acoustic playing from Beck on an introspective-sounding piece Love Is Green, also written by Walden, accompanied by piano and sounding quite like the Mahavishnu Orchestra’s mellower moments minus the rapid guitar flourishes of Mclaughlin. It’s a strong, albeit too short, track to end the album and one of the few on the album to evoke an emotion in the listener.

I’ve never been overly blown-away by Jeff Beck, whilst not doubting his musical credentials his style never quite grabbed me but Wired is a strong album featuring a jaw-dropping array of top-class musicians and, as you’d expect from such an illustrious lineup, produces some outstanding musical moments. However, compared to other fusion albums around at the time – stuff form Collosseum II and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, for example – I’m not certain that it really had enough standout moments to hold a listeners interest when played in its entirety, particularly if the listener wasn’t aware of the pedigree of the performers which provides for another level of interest in hearing it.

If you’ve never really heard Beck during his mid-70s flirtation with fusion, Wired – and its predecessor Blow By Blow – are the pick of the bunch but if you like your fusion with a bit of bite, as do I, the experience will be a pleasant one but you will probably not want to listen to it in its entirety again but rather pick out the handful of outstanding tracks for future plays.

• Jeff Beck – Guitar
• Jan Hammer – Keyboards
• Michael Walden – Drums
• Wilbur Bascomb – Bass
• Max Middleton – Keyboards

Colosseum II - War Dance (1977)

Another hidden gem in rock’s back catalogue is this 1977 release from Colosseum II featuring an all-star lineup of ex-Colosseum drummer Jon Hiseman, ex-Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore and ex-just about everyone keyboardist Don Airey. Whilst the album, their third, was to prove their swansong (bar a one album reformation at the request of Andrew Lloyd Webber) due to lack of commercial success, the quality of the music contained therein isn’t diminished.

The highly-polished jazz rock/fusion style created by Colosseum II was based around the musical abilities of Moore, Airey and Hiseman and their intricate interplay coupled with a melodic ear. The title track kicks off the album in style leading to the funky Major Keys which, unsurprisingly centres around a Don Airey keyboard melody: a good start.

Things really shift up a gear on Put It That Way featuring good harmony interplay between Airey and Moore with Jon Hiseman pulling out all the stops. Moore’s guitar solo on the track also stands out, as does Airey’s Hammond solo.

The only low-point for me is Castles, the sole vocal track on the album, a painfully slow track sung by Gary Moore in a warbling semi-falsetto! Fortunately, the uptempo shuffle of Fighting Talk soon erases the memory of such a faux pas with its grinding central riff and overall crashing chords and squealing guitar/keyboard melody.

The album keeps the pace then and rips through The Inquisition and Star Maiden to finish on the impressive Last Exit (somewhat a prophetic title) which begins gently enough before erupting part way through into a medium tempo piece with a screeching wah-wah solo from Gary Moore before moving uptempo for the finale.

The album really hits the spot in terms of jazz rock/fusion and if you’ve only heard Gary Moore during his later hard rock or blues phases, and Don Airey as backing for the likes of Rainbow, this album will be a real eye-opener.

• Don Airey – Keyboards
• Jon Hiseman – Drums
• Gary Moore – Guitar/Vocals
• John Mole – Bass

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