Title: Mahavishnu I Is Better. So Is Apocalypse
Product review: The Mahavishnu Orchestra, ApocalypseThe Mahavishnu Orchestra, Visions of the Emerald BeyondMahavishnu II was nowhere as good as MI, but it had its good points in this inaugural album, most notably the pristine of electric violinist Jean-Luc Ponty. McLaughlin still generates the heat but sounds like he is recycling more forceful work from earlier albums. The drumming, bass and keyboards are unexceptional but not notable. There is a pretty vocal solo by keyboardist Gayle Moran on "Smile of the Beyond." All in all, there's too much recycled in this album, the musicians (Ponty and McLaughlin excepted) are mediocre at best, and the Buddhist propagandizing seems egregious. But at least it's better than the next album, Visions of the Emerald Beyond, which has almost nothing to recommend it, except for its moments of ersatz funk ("Cosmic Strut," "Can't Stand Your Funk").
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