THE MUFFINS — Chronometers (review)

THE MUFFINS — Chronometers album cover Album · 1993 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
SaltyJon
Chronometers is a collection of unreleased recordings from the mid 70s by the Muffins. The album has tracks of all sizes, starting with the title track epic at 22 minutes, down to tracks which barely last for half a minute. The album was released by Cuneiform, and gives listeners a good idea of what the Muffins were doing before releasing their excellent debut. The pieces are generally pretty good. Some parts of tracks, throw in some of the band's weird humor more than others. For example, the title track has random bits where they inserted clips from The Wizard of Oz or re-enacted them themselves. It adds a certain dream-like atmosphere to the track, which is fun.

I can't help but compare this album to the group's official debut (Manna/Mirage). The album as a whole is similar in style to that album, but it seems less focused, less well-prepared than their official debut to me. It seems just a tad bit too long as well, as it's almost full to the brim. Some of the tracks feel like they could have been cut, but then again a lot of the tracks after the epic seem to run into each other to make multi-track epics of their own.

Overall, this one doesn't quite live up to the expectations I had after hearing the debut. However, the group still displays excellent musicianship, and their style is starting to come into its own on the recordings here. It's a good album overall, right around the 3.5 star range - not quite excellent, but better than just plain "good."
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

Port’Inglês World Fusion
CARMEN SOUZA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Green Puma / Tropical Dandy Jazz Related Rock
THE LINK QUARTET
Buy this album from MMA partners
Vinny Golia Quintet : Can You Outrun Them? 21st Century Modern
VINNY GOLIA
Buy this album from MMA partners
Bow Code Fusion
SAMPO HIUKKANEN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Anthem For No Man’s Land Jazz Related Improv/Composition
ANDREAS SCHAERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Badju Mandadu
CARMEN SOUZA
js· 3 hours ago
Lizards in the Reeds
TAMANDUA
js· 3 hours ago
Paper Plane Pilot
MIKE DE SOUZA
js· 16 hours ago
Green Puma
THE LINK QUARTET
js· 16 hours ago
Heavy Cream
SAMPO HIUKKANEN
js· 18 hours 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