RETURN TO FOREVER — Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy (review)

RETURN TO FOREVER — Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy album cover Album · 1973 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Warthur
Husband and wife team Flora Purim and Airto Moreira left Return to Forever after completing the wonderful Light as a Feather, and on Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy Chick Corea adjust the band's sound accordingly, more or less removing the Latin influences brought to the table by those two performers and instead going for a more straight-ahead heavy fusion album.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra appears to be the primary influence, and whilst Bill Connors doesn't quite manage to attain the furious speeds on his guitar playing that John McLaughlin does on The Inner Mounting Flame, he certainly gives it his best, and his interplay with Chick's electric piano is a highlight of the album's sound. As noted by other reviewers, the influence of other fusion traditions such as the more jazzy end of the Canterbury spectrum creeps in here or there, but otherwise this is a fusion album firmly rooted in the tradition of Mahavishnu, Weather Report, and Miles Davis, with a sound that at points risks becoming generic but is saved by the exceptional musicianship on show.

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

Server Farm Eclectic Fusion
JON IRABAGON
Buy this album from MMA partners
Silent Moods Post-Fusion Contemporary
HENRIK GUNDE
Buy this album from MMA partners
New Dawn Progressive Big Band
MARSHALL ALLEN
Buy this album from MMA partners
Owls, Omens, and Oracles Pop/Art Song/Folk
VALERIE JUNE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Be Cool Vocal Jazz
NANCY KELLY
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Jazz Online Videos

Marshall Allen - New Dawn (Full Album Stream)
MARSHALL ALLEN
js· 1 day ago
Valerie June - Joy, Joy (In Studio Video)
VALERIE JUNE
js· 2 days ago
Goodbye Pork Pie Hat (Live at the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires, Argentina, June 2, 1977)
CHARLES MINGUS
js· 2 days ago
Breaking Point (Live at the Blue Morocco in the Bronx, New York, April 10, 1967)
FREDDIE HUBBARD
js· 2 days ago
Blue Bossa (Live at the Blue Morocco in the Bronx, New York in 1967)
KENNY DORHAM
js· 2 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