Sorry, but I found it very vague... apart from the fact that fusion means everything and means nothing, given the different interpretations that various musicians have given to the term: take Greg Howe, and you probably have what you're talking about, but not Metheny, for whom one could speak of world music (ethnic influences from every corner of the earth...) ...three years later Letter came secret story, and I believe it was one of his peaks...
Hmm...this is going to trigger a crisis of chronic dissatisfaction in me...I will seek advice from my favorite de-psychologist, ParlaconBartolo! Bartolino, on Monday, December 3rd or 4th, the Deftones are playing (OH MY GOD) live in Trezzo, if you don't come, I'll tell everyone that as a kid you used to masturbate thinking about Cristiano Malgioglio! Feel free to let emo Tartufino know!
Anyway, I think this record is decent and fits well into the ACID JAZZ or JAZZ FUNK period that it is clearly a victim of. Probably, Pat wanted to express himself during a phase like this... I saw the PMG on tour for the first time with this album, and in the set, Pat performed part of "zero tolerance for silence," acoustically no less, as if to say, remember that I am also this!!!
I believe that what you define as a dead genre still has many admirers even now. More than dead, my feeling is that fusion has fallen out of fashion, and when something is out of style, it tends to provoke a bit of disdain from those who aren't familiar with it. Anyway, to avoid misunderstandings, the "Pat Metheny Group" regularly releases albums even now, and they are very beautiful. Perhaps you could have applied the same critical lens to the recent ones. Instead, you gave this masterpiece from the 80s a negative review that not only it does not deserve, but also risks being quite unpopular with those who have followed the group for many years. By saying that "the improvisations have almost no depth, are often loose, unrecognizable," you show excessive originality in your comment. I believe it's your opinion, and I respect that, but I also think that if there is truly a "typical" Pat Metheny sound, it can easily be found in songs like "Third Wind" rather than in vain experiments from the 70s. And I'm also referring to very beautiful albums loved by the general public, such as "Watercolors," for example. In my opinion, this album deserves at least a 5 and is an essential record for Pat's fans. I believe you may not be a big fan. You probably exaggerated while trying to write impactful phrases about the "death of fusion." Perhaps you simply don't like it. Still, it was well written.
I also made a serious mistake: I actually went by memory and confused the album "we live here" with the undoubtedly more beautiful "still life." Now the reviewer is entitled to use insults against me! Forgive me... in my defense, I can tell you that I didn't use Wikipedia... and it shows! The album is no longer deserving of a 5 but it definitely deserves a 4 in any case.
HI EVERYONE. THIS IS NOT THE FIRST REVIEW I'VE REDONE; THE FIRST ONE WAS TOO MEAGER, AND THEN DURING THIS TIME I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO IT A LOT HOPING TO REEVALUATE IT. Ideas evolve based on what you've listened to in recent years. If re-listening to Weather Report has rekindled a terrifying crush on them, with this work, one cannot say the same. THANKS to everyone, even to those who don't understand a thing.
I agree... it's the worst album by Pat, with a staggering flatness and banality. Mhhhh "great fusion" for Steps Ahead seems like a bit of an exaggeration; true great fusion is what Weather Report did. However, this is just my personal opinion.
If the miracle succeeded by listening to Weather Report, listen to the album in question again... it may not be a 5, I admit, but it’s certainly not a piece of junk as you would have it. It is definitely a product of its time, but still within the experimental vein, which I believe is a hallmark of Pat and the variety of his works.
Uhmm... maybe you could have skipped the somewhat questionable and ultimately incomplete introduction on the definition of what fusion music is and has been, perhaps focusing a bit more on the nuances of this album, so I can’t give you a high rating for this review. Anyway, I completely agree with you that this is one of the flattest and most insignificant albums from the "Pat Metheny Group" project, and to be honest, it’s not the only failed experiment, as you rightly mention in the review. Fortunately, in the years that followed, something good made a comeback in PMG's discography, such as: "Speaking of Now" and especially "The Way Up."
I have all of Pat Metheny's albums from the last 30 years, and this is among my favorites, less jazz and even less purist, but no less beautiful for that, perhaps Pat's best period after the ECM era.
Bartleboom
24 sep 10Bartleboom
24 sep 10Frankie89
24 sep 10Alexander77
24 sep 10...three years later Letter came secret story, and I believe it was one of his peaks...
Alexander77
24 sep 10gate
24 sep 10Bartleboom
24 sep 10Alexander77
24 sep 10alexx
24 sep 10alexx
24 sep 10zzot
24 sep 10zzot
24 sep 10zzot
24 sep 10uxo
24 sep 10THIS IS NOT THE FIRST REVIEW I'VE REDONE; THE FIRST ONE WAS TOO MEAGER, AND THEN DURING THIS TIME I'VE BEEN LISTENING TO IT A LOT HOPING TO REEVALUATE IT. Ideas evolve based on what you've listened to in recent years. If re-listening to Weather Report has rekindled a terrifying crush on them, with this work, one cannot say the same.
THANKS to everyone, even to those who don't understand a thing.
PVC
24 sep 10holdsworth
24 sep 10acqualife
25 sep 10dsalva
25 sep 10aerosiphon
25 sep 10Anyway, I completely agree with you that this is one of the flattest and most insignificant albums from the "Pat Metheny Group" project, and to be honest, it’s not the only failed experiment, as you rightly mention in the review.
Fortunately, in the years that followed, something good made a comeback in PMG's discography, such as: "Speaking of Now" and especially "The Way Up."
frantz
25 sep 10aries
26 sep 10alexx
28 sep 10