Quote:
Originally Posted by lucifer_sam
I don't want to claim that RTF were the greatest jazz band ever; the early works were very derivative of Mahavishnu Orchestra and their later ones pandered to popular demand more than anything else. Overall they're still a great band and their records from the mid-seventies survive as a testament of the force of good jazz fusion.
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I realize this thread is old, but as a great appreciator of RTF, it just made me think "wtf?" when I read this
Derivative of Mahavishnu? You know both Corea and McLaughlin both played in Miles Davis band from where they have common fusion roots. I think from a common ground in that band, they both led their own fusion bands in fairly diverging directions. I don't think RTF's debut or second album sounds very much like Mahavishnu's early stuff. At least not more than you'd think when you take their common ancestry into consideration. Same goes for the later stuff.
I'll second, third or fourth the opinion that Romantic Warrior is the greatest fusion record of the 70s. And the title track the best song by any 70s fusion band! (Check the video in the first post if you don't know it .. pure brilliance
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edit :
To illustrate the point. Here's a song from RTF's debut (also appears on Light as a Feather) :
And here's a song from Mahavishnu's debut, the stuff it's supposed to be derivative of :
I mean, did you hear the bands or know their history before you wrote that post?