MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA — Inner Worlds (review)

MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA — Inner Worlds album cover Album · 1976 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Miler72
OK, so I'm laughing over this cover. I knew I had to get this album for the cover. What was John McLaughlin thinking to pose shirtless on this cover? Grand Funk Railroad, maybe? McLaughlin hardly seems the kind of guy who'd take something like Grand Funk seriously, but he's certainly taking after Mark Farner's tendency of going shirtless (at least Farner had an excuse, it's rock and roll, for one thing, and the girls started screaming when he took off his shirt at Grand Funk concerts, which I'm sure if McLaughlin tried the same thing at Mahavishnu concerts, he won't get the same reaction, probably laughed at, but then I'm sure he only went shirtless for this album cover).

Inner Worlds is the last album (until a 1980s reunion) of Mahavishnu Orchestra. At this point, Gayle Moran had departed, to join her husband Chick Corea in Return to Forever for their apparently forgettable Magicmusic. Jean-Luc Ponty also departed, to continue embarking on his hugely successful solo career. In comes Stu Goldberg on keyboards, no violin this time, with Narada Michael Walden and Ralphe Armstrong remaining. Visions of the Emerald Beyond is easily the best album they did outside the original lineup. Vocals, while present, were kept to a minimum, allowed for more great instrumental workouts for the band. Now comes Inner Worlds. Is it really that bad? The instrumental stuff, which there still is plenty is actually quite good, but what throws people off are the vocals cuts. I actually like a couple of them, "Planetary Citizen" has a funky vibe going on. I think people are simply thrown off by the vocal cuts (most of them sung by Michael Waldon, one sung by Ralphe Armstrong) and the soul/R&B influence seems to collide with the instrumental fusion found on the album. If they stuck to what they did on the previous album, only a couple of vocal songs, and the rest was instrumental, they'd probably not get the negative reactions they did here. Strangely I don't find this album that bad, even the vocal cuts, as out of place as they are, are, for the most part, pretty enjoyable to me. I doubt this review will make you change you mind on Inner Worlds, so this is pretty much my opinion.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Jazz Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

JMA TOP 5 Jazz ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
A Love Supreme Post Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
Kind of Blue Cool Jazz
MILES DAVIS
Buy this album from our partners
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady Progressive Big Band
CHARLES MINGUS
Buy this album from our partners
Blue Train Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners
My Favorite Things Hard Bop
JOHN COLTRANE
Buy this album from our partners

New Jazz Artists

New Jazz Releases

Remy Le Boeuf’s Assembly Of Shadows : Heartland Radio Pop/Art Song/Folk
REMY LE BOEUF
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hummingbird and Four Flowers : Turntable and Harmonium Solo Live Jazz Related Improv/Composition
OTOMO YOSHIHIDE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Water Music Avant-Garde Jazz
IVO PERELMAN
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Lost Chord Jazz Related Improv/Composition
HENRY KAISER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Hackensack West Post-Fusion Contemporary
ANTHONY WILSON
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

"Miles Between" // by Shawn Schlogel & Nancy Erickson Lamont
NANCY ERICKSON LAMONT
js· 6 hours ago
Mature Hybird Talking
FRANK GRATKOWSKI
js· 1 day ago
Perspective (Peace & Love)
ISAIAH COLLIER
js· 2 days ago
T-SQUARE 45th Anniversary Celebration Concert & Tour 2023 @Zepp Nagoya ?CLIMAX?
T-SQUARE
js· 2 days ago
Cravo E Canela (Cloves & Cinnamon)
LEE RITENOUR
js· 3 days ago
More videos

New JMA Jazz Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Jazz News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed