Mahavishnu Orchestra: The Lost Trident Sessions

Posted on 27 Dec 2009 20:45 UTC

According to Bill Milkowski’s liner notes, The Lost Trident Sessions were recorded in 1973, found in 1998, and released in 1999. I find it hard to believe that anyone could spend the necessary time, effort, and money to record a full-length album and then lose the tapes, but the notes explain this by pointing out that the members of the band hated each other by 1973, and instead fulfilled their record contract by releasing the live album Between Nothingness and Eternity. It sounds like egos were getting in the way of enlightenment, as usual.

A much more plausible explanation is that the musicians decided not to release the album because it is pretty bad. Apart from the rhythm section (astoundingly great drummer Billy Cobham and bassist Rick Laird), the playing is wanky and unmelodic. Guitarist John McLaughlin’s wanking is out of tune. I think he’s trying to achieve notes in Indian scales with his gross string bends, but the result is seasickness. His timbre is also grating — some crappy 1970s distortion pedal ruins most of the record. Jerry Goodman’s violin is also treated with a phaser (probably the classic MXR Phase 90), and it also sounds moderately barfy.

There are enough good clean-tone chord arpeggios and tricky odd-meter riffs here and there in the album that help me imagine how Vernon Reid or King Crimson would play the songs, but ultimately they’d have to be rearranged and rewritten, or junked: the songwriting is just plain weak.

The Trident Sessions were lost for a reason. Enjoy Mahavishnu’s beautiful studio albums The Inner Mounting Flame and Birds of Fire, and any live footage you can get (such as on YouTube).

Comments