Kraan - Flyday
It’s hard to believe that Kraan actually have splotches on their record considering their early albums are classics, their later fusion period is still pretty damn good and their reunion went off like they’d never broken up. But I’d never heard Flyday until now and in many ways I wish I never had, it’s kind of a clumsy mess that sounds more like a pop/rock group with a big Kraan influence. With albums like Widerhoren and Tournee in the same general time period it’s almost hard to imagine they could do work this weak but then again their studio follow up to Andy Nogger, Let It Out, wasn’t much to write home about. Their hearts don’t seem to be in this much or perhaps that’s how I was reacting to it. But wow, I never saw this one coming.
Return to Forever - Calderone Concert Hall, Hempstead, NY 11/22/75
Return to Forever were pretty smokin’ hot in 1975, in fact only Mahavishnu Orchestra before had the sort of tendency to write very complex melodies and lines and then double or triple the lines with various instruments. It’s hard not to be left with the wow factor when this happens, listening to these accomplished and incredible musicians pulling this off. Then after about 5 or 10 minutes I find myself growing fairly numb to it all, which doesn’t help when the band starts taking their tedious solo spots later in the sets. I’d probably be happy never hearing Clarke or DiMeola alone again. It reminds me of the way Jethro Tull would operate around 1970, they were so preoccupied with each member getting a slice of the egopie that they forgot what they were doing best, being collaborative. Especially when RTF nearly wrote the book on this style of fusion.