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I got to see Billy tour for the 30th anniversary of this album in a small club a few years ago. It was a great concert! I had a great time, despite the fact that the only original band member he could retrieve was bassist Lee Sklar. Even the guitarist did a reasonable job of covering for the late (incredible) Tommy Bolin. Let's face it: Tommy's phenomenal guitar work is a large part of why this album is a true flagship in the realm of '70s fusion. Even considering Tommy's work in Zephyr, The James Gang and Deep Purple (not to mention a few solo albums), THIS album is by far THE BEST TOMMY BOLIN GUITAR ALBUM EVER!!! When I first heard the opening song "Quadrant 4" during my early introductions to fusion, my first response was, "This is supposed to be a JAZZ album???" Quadrant 4 is one of the greatest instrumental rock guitar anthems ever...even if it's supposed to be jazz!!! Tommy's playing is incredible on 4 songs on this work. Even the title song and "Le Lis" which are more jazz tunes with brass and flute (and do not include Tommy) blend fabulously with the fusion songs, making this a wonderful album! Billy's friend from The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Jan Hammer is spectacular on the keyboards, and all band members do fantastic work. Now, let's get to Billy himself. A drummer friend of mine had the fortunate chance of seeing The Mahavishnu Orchestra back in the day. He said he wondered why they set up 2 drum kits for just 1 guy....but he didn't wonder for long!! He said "they NEEDED 2 drum kits to hold the guy down so he wouldn't float away, he was so unbelievable!! He sounded like there was at least 2 drummers going at the same time....one kit couldn't contain the dude!!" And when I saw him touring for the 30th anniversary of this album a few years ago, I can still heartily agree. They still need 2 drum sets to hold this dude down! And, Billy's drumming as well as his surprising gift at writing all the music on this album, is a great part of what makes this album sparkle as the MUST HAVE album it is!! Get this album for Billy's unbelievable drumming!!! Get this album for Tommy Bolin's phenomenal guitar work!! Get this album, because it is truly a flagship for instrumental rock and brilliant '70s jazz fusion!!!

I got this on vinyl back in the early 1980's and always loved it. The mix and mastering are excellent as well as the packaging. There are no bonus tracks and the liner notes, while much more extensive than the original vinyl version, are unfortunately in Japanese. Not a big deal when you consider the quality of the music. A must-have for fans of the late Tommy Bolin and for those who wonder why Jeff Beck ditched rock for jazz fusion in the mid 1970's and collaborated with Jan Hammer. This is a jazz fusion album that holds up better today than almost anything the genre produced from it's classic era in the 1970's.

The ultimate jazz fusion album. Spectacular playing by all the musicians and remarkable "dueling" between Jan Hammer and Tommy Bolin. Billy Cobham's drumming is second to none.

I really loved this album way back in the vinyl days, it just sounded so good on my hi-fi system. Now listening to the CD experience, the mixing and mastering are truthful to the original masters. Sounds excellent, I totally recommended it!

..but a different approach seems to have been taken with the digital remastering of this one. I like them both. Just seem to prefer the record. Mind you, I have a decent setup for playback and a superb MC phono preamp. Artistically? This is the best work Billy C. ever did, IMHO. Feel free to correct me on this one.

Seminal Jazz/Rock album

fusion music at it's best.. Jan Hammer lays down some ultra-fast keyboard licks on top of Cobham's polyphonic audibly perfect percussion..and then throw Tommy Bolin into the mix giving it a slight rock n roll edge to it on guitar, and you have a fusion album equalling Mahavishnu Orchestra and Jean-Luc-Ponty etc.

Classic album!