The Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire

Out in 1973, Birds of Fire was the follow up to The Mahavishnu Orchestra’s debut album, The Inner Mounting Flame, which continues where it’s predecessor left off. While the band’s debut left jazz and rock audiences around the world in state of amazed shock, Birds of Fire saw the band tweak their loose strings if there were any and reach an even higher platform than before. The album would be the last one to feature the original line up, as after the album violinist Jerry Goodman was replaced by the master musician Jean-Luc Ponty. 

Most definitely the first reaction to the album upon hearing the title track is how unusually dark and heavy the sound is. Jerry Goodman and Jan Hammer play in synch to a very haunting tune, against which McLaughlin plays his speedy flat picked lines. This was the first time Hammer had used a synthesizer on record, and it really helped bring out the richness in his tone. John’s trademark style of attacking the strings with a very aggressive right hand creates a forceful backing to the eerie tune. Miles Beyond is the band’s, and more specifically McLaughlin’s tribute to the legend Miles Davis. The highlight of the track would be the replication of a machine gun like sound by Billy’s precise drumming.

While jazz musicians prefer some space to work themselves into the track, Celestial Terrestrial Commuters moves closer to the boundaries of rock music in view of it’s short compositional length, and style of maintaining the track at a high level of intensity right through. Open Country Joy too is a relatively short composition on which the band’s lead musicians push their way through the center. To create polar effects on the track, the introduction and the outro of the song are maintained at a lower tempo compared to the center portion of the track.

The prolonged One Word shows what it means to be a jam based band, where in the band’s songs should not lose their momentum in pursuit of longevity. The onslaught of the leads against the resourceful drumming of Billy Cobham is the main element of the track. The song is probably one of Cobham’s greatest works of all time, as he showcases his array of skills and ability to play odd time signatures with the utmost ease. Hope and the final track Resolution, are both miniature pieces that build up to a crescendo before taking leave.

The band is more famous and is easily associated with it’s distorted and furious playing, but on the other end of the spectrum there is Thousand Island Park is an acoustic delicate ballet that is played in the absence of the violin and the drums. It includes some quick acoustic jabs on the piano and the guitar, as well as the fortifying bass work of Rick Laird on the upright bass. At the same time, Sanctuary holds an overwhelming depressive power provided by Jerry Goodman’s violin. One should really note how the rhythm section of the band changes their approach drastically to match the different mood of the song.

Birds of Fire, features a truly world class band at their collective best. Many would consider the album the pinnacle of the band’s career, the point where they were extremely focused and making magic in the form of music. The album would go down as a true jazz classic.