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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Get Down & Sruti - Right on Mahavishnu!, 5 Aug 2005
McLaughlin's Shakti period climaxes on this album with an orgasmically spiritual brilliance that's hard to put into words.His dazzling chops are paralleled by Indian instrumentalists of equally dazzling ability, Zakir Hussain etc. A lot of the time, even with McLaughlin, this can get tiresome, but not in this case. Aside from the blistering 'Mind-Ecolgy', this is a fairly mellow album. And at all times it is atmosphere that transcends technique. This is an early world-music/fusion landmark. Both of those terms can lead to an involuntary gag-reflex, but beware, you could miss out on something stupefyingly beautiful! The mixture of Tabla, Guitar (various numbers of string arrangements feature guitar-wise, with McLaughlin employing modified instruments with 'resonator' strings etc), Violin, and Mridangam, an Indian double-headed drum, is astonishingly rich (there are timbales on 'Happiness Is Being Together' too!). The music mixes ridiculously complex unison passages with long improvisations, though this is still the most focussed and jewel-like of the Shakti albums. There's a joyful vibe here, hard to describe, but immeditaely discernable on listening. Highlights include the funky syncopation of 'Face to Face', 'Happiness Is Being Together', with it's wordless vocaling, the mournful 'Bridge Of Sighs' and 'Get Down & Sruti', with it's groovy tabla/percussion intro. Shakti's 3 album lifespan comes to an end with the heart-achingly beautiful 'Peace of Mind'. Talk about going out at your best! Essential.
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~ Shakti with John McLaughlin
~ Shakti with John McLaughlin
~ John McLaughlin
~ Zakir Hussain
~ Trio of Doom
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