Sublime and jamming all rolled into one...Any Fans???
Sublime and jamming all rolled into one...Any Fans???
Al had a lot of success with this one, and I recall it being one of the first fusion albums I ever heard.
I loved and still love his Les Paul/Marshall tone.
Too bad he hasn't gone back to it.
This one and Jean Luc Ponty's Imaginary Voyage was the beginning of the end for me.
no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone
Great great album - not a weak moment on it for me.
Pretty close to a masterpiece for me. I've heard this beast a million+ times. This and Casino blew my mind when I was a teeny-bopper.
This guy had balls of steel back in the day.
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
This is the first Al Di album I ever heard back when I was in 10th grade around 1977. It went way over my head at the time; I was not quite ready for it yet having listened to a steady diet of hard rock/metal (Sabbath, Judas Priest, Uriah Heep, Kiss, Jeff Beck, B.O.C.) with Zappa and Yes being the kind of progressive artists that appealed to me. But by senior year of high school I was loving this as well as RTF, Jan Hammer and Mahavishnu. Al has become a listening staple of mine. Elegant Gypsy and Casino being my absolute favorites.
Not really a fan of fusion but I have loved this album since I first heard Mediterranean Sundance on the radio in the 70s. It is beautiful album from start to finish.
Last edited by Stickleback; 02-10-2014 at 06:11 PM.
Love this album, in fact I really dig his first five or six solo albums and all the stuff he did with RTF. One of the things I like about his solo stuff, and Elegant Gypsy shines in this regard, are the compositions. I think he wrote material that really hung together and provided a good showcase for the soloists. For all the fireworks, I think the melodies and tunes are what make these albums special and keep me coming back.
Bill
Still Al's best solo record. IMHO Although I think he's matured as a writer over the years, I'm not exactly sure whether that means he's any better. Blazing fast and powerful guitar work. I get blown away every time I listen to the duet with Paco deLucia.
He brought back the Les Paul for a few songs on the Kiss My Axe album back in '92, and he also used it for several songs on the RTF reunion tour in 2008. It's definitely 'his sound' and a big step up from the Paul Reed Smith guitars he favors now.
Elegant Gypsy and Casino are my two favorite albums by Al, but a lot of people overlook his first one, which also has some great stuff on it. He had some pretty stellar guests on that one, too, including Jaco Pastorius.
Love the Les Paul tone. Especially on Tour De Force:Live
I picked up a "boxset" via Amazon.com a couple months back.. included this as well as Casino, Land of Midnight.., Electric Rendezvous and Splendido Hotel..
nice price as I recall.. about $3 per disc..
Al has been a favorite of mine since the RTF albums... saw him on the Casino tour... he was amazing..
Absolutely love this album along with many of his others!
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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I love his first 4 albums where you can hear Chick's compositional style being a big influence. I can sometimes dig "Jam" style Fusion, but the well composed stuff is what *really* makes me grin from ear to ear.
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
oh, on a side note
would the kind gentleman who sent me his unplayable copy of 'Kiss My Axe' to see if I could fix it please PM me
I have fixed it and would like to send you back the original and a copy of the playable one I made
please accept my apologies for forgetting your name
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
In the 80s I found a bunch of Al D albums on cassette in bargain bins. I'd heard one of his albums (Electric Rendesvous, I think) and thought I'd give this music a try. Yeah, I was blown away by the blazing speed of his playing. I was also impressed by the blazing speed of Mingo Lewis on percussion. I don't have those cassettes anymore but I do have a 2 disk, Al D anthology which contains all the best tracks from those early albums. Haven't kept up with anything he's done since though.
I have everything up to splendido hotel, maybe something after that, not sure now. I tired of his work rather quickly. To me, he started to sound too much the same album after album. I havent listened to anything by him until this vid above in a long time. NO doubt a blazing guitarist, but not enough there to hold my interest. He reminds me of Satrianai, i feel the same way about his work too.
EG is his best, I think. Beautiful tunes, stellar performance. Besides this, like Casino, Land of the Midnight Sun and Kiss My Axe - Splendido Hotel and Electric Rendezvouz selectively.
I used to love this, but now I like it.
Al's albums don't hold up for me as much as most of the other 70's fusion.
And if there were a god, I think it very unlikely that he would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence - Russell
First time I heard this was in a stereo shop. I'd taken an hallucinogen, I remember red and green colours moving in the air. I haven't heard the album since the late 70s, but it's still in my vinyl shelves. Also, was the last time I partook of such things, it was a nice time and I ended those experimental days with that as a pleasant highlight.
Certainly one of his very best. Paco De Lucia on an acoustic tune as well. It holds up for me and I continue to get his later albums, though the earlier ones are the best IMO.
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