Between Nothingness & Eternity - Mahavishnu Orchestra

Nov

21

Between Nothingness & Eternity - Mahavishnu Orchestra

≡ Category: 1970s, Fusion, Reviews, Worth A Listen |
≅ Written by: Michael Kydonieus

WORTH A LISTEN

Rating:

The Mahavishnu Orchestra had previously recorded the tunes that appear on Between Nothingness & Eternity in the studio, but elected to release a live album of the material instead. Having heard The Lost Trident Sessions, which contains the studio versions, I have to agree with their decision. The music is better served by the energy of live performance.

However, at the time, the music was all but destroyed by an inferior pressing. I remember buying Between Nothingness & Eternity on LP and being appalled at the noise and distortion on the record. I thought that I’d surely gotten a defective copy, broke it into a million pieces (I might have sold it to a used record store, to my shame), and bought a new one. Imagine my chagrin, when the new record was as wretched as the first copy.

Anyway, this is a long-winded way of saying that the CD version makes up for that horrible pressing. The sound is clear as a bell. It’s a good thing we have a document of the Mahavishnu Orchestra in such a pristine setting. I’m sure they had better nights, but it’s a whole lot better than nothing.

I guess the problem is that the new tunes are not the equal of those on Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire.

On the tune Trilogy, there is plenty of furious unison passages between John McLaughlin on guitar, Jan Hammer on keys and Jerry Goodman on violin. No doubt, drummer Billy Cobham is in excellent form. But the music itself just isn’t all that interesting. I know it’s not true, but the music seems like a sop to the arena rock crowds that were attending Mahavishnu Orchestra contests — oops, I mean concerts at the time. These guys would go nuts whenever McLaughlin played weely weely fast. I mean, as an example of musicians communicating, it’s pretty cool, but as music, these empty histrionic displays can get a little boring.

Sister Andrea, written by Jan Hammer, seems a little more like an actual song, but it’s still a far cry from Mahavishnu’s best material.

The last tune, Dream, seems misnamed. It doesn’t have much of a dreamy quality to it. In fact, it’s probably the most aggressive and macho tune on the date. Again, the writing doesn’t match the sophistication of early Mahavishnu. The point seems to be power, and Dream works well enough in that context.

If I seem to be damning Between Nothingness & Eternity with faint praise, that’s because I am. Coming from such a phenomenal band, Between Nothingness & Eternity can only be described as a disappointment. And yet, it’s still the Mahavishnu Orchestra, and that’s nothing to sneeze at.

For people like me, who absolutely love the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, you’ll going to want to own Between Nothingness & Eternity. For the merely curious, you can do better with the original studio recordings like Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire.