RETURN TO FOREVER — No Mystery (review)

RETURN TO FOREVER — No Mystery album cover Album · 1975 · Fusion Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
Sean Trane
Another one of RTF classic line-up ventures that got a bit lost, this album is rarely seen on sale and certainly not the most representative of their discography. Sporting a psych-disco artwork, No Mystery is probably RTF’s funkiest effort, but let that not deter you; it’s still a worthy RTF album that you’re bound to like if you dug their other works. With an unchanged line-up over WHIMYB, NM features vocals, something which hadn’t happened over the previous two albums.

Yes, the funk thing is almost overpowering although you’re not yet on Hancock’s Headhunter album either, but this is sometimes close. The opening Dayride and later on Jungle Waterfall are full and complex funk stuff (ie. Sofistifunk) where the jazz elements are almost eradicated (White and Clarke are the main songwriters on this side), this being enhanced by Corea’s disputable synth sounds. The race towards new technology was something that seemed primordial to all these jazz rock pioneers (Zawinul, Hancock and later McLaughlin with those ugly Synclavier guitar effects), often causing them to overuse and abuse these novelties and their music can seem quite dated nowadays, precisely because of these “novelties”. One of the rare tracks that escape the Funkmania is the lengthier and ADM-penned Flight of The Newborn that returns to a more conservative fusion and the collectively penned Heavy Metal movement that features Corea’s classical roots.

The flipside (all tracks written by Corea) starts with the title track makes a return to more standard jazz (a hint of LAAF, with Clarke’s bowed bass) but again veering a bit more classical to the end. Actually, the whole side takes on a very different feel with plenty of Corea’s Spanish-influenced classical musical, reinforced with ADM’s guitar, the whole culminating with the first part of Celebration Suite, but the second part is not far behind: full 14-mins dramatic histrionics and hysterics a gogo: great stuff worthy of their HOTSG album

Saved by its second side, NM is a very schizophrenic album. In either case, NM is again a very good (if not excellent) album, but I would not recommend it as an introduction to RTF’s works.

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