Ranking the Studio Albums: Return to Forever

[@alder456]

Cheers Pete! My favorite Jazz Fusion band for sure. Al Di Meola savage guitar player, Stanley Clarke my favorite Fusion bass player, Lenny White great drummer second to Billy Cobham and Chick Corea one of the best keyboard players ever. Saw them twice and blown away both times. Agree no vocals required for RTF. 7) Return To Forever 6) Light As a Feather 5) Musicmagic 4) Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy 3) Where Have I Known You Before 2) No Mystery 1) Romantic Warrior

[@paull7539]

Light As A Feather's been one of my go-to albums for decades.

[@taffmanetothyme7]

Oh yes, with you on this! Light as a feather has always been my favourite RTF album by a country mile. Flora never sounded better by the way, and it's the recording that will and has best stood the test of time imo. 😎👌

[@diannecarpenter7718]

Wow!! I've never heard of this band until now. I gave Return to Forever a listen and they have a unique sound. Thank you for mentioning Return to Forever. 🎤🎸🎵🥁

[@rightchordleadership]

Great show Pete! Thanks for showing some love for the legendary RTF!

[@photopicker]

Return to Forever blew the lid off the world as we once knew it. Saw them on TV. DiMeola was 19.

[@milton1448]

Was that on Don Kirshner's Rock concert? That was the turning point for me... great memory

[@Jellybeantiger]

I love Flora Purim,her vocals work great within the context of the music.

[@Jarednhk]

Im in college and just recently got into Return to Forever, and as someone who played piano and keyboards in many jazz bands with my friends throughout high school I absolutely love them! I’ve been keeping up with your vids recently Pete so this one was just perfect timing for me. I enjoyed listening to your commentary about them, keep it real 👍

[@KickflipGnasty]

This was a terrific video Pete! Loved it, thank you!!!

[@ellielovelace4773]

Hey pete! Just gotta say I found your channel a couple weeks ago when I got suggested your Hawkwind rankings video. I LOVE LOVE LOVE what you're doing here and appreciate such rapid fire uploads during lockdown. Giving me stuff to do! :D

[@rockism59]

Thank you so much for reviewing this! One of my favourite bands of Jazz Fusion, I do like so much Light As A Feather but agree with you about the vocals, Romantic Warrior/Seventh Galaxy are my favourites without any doubt, the rest of the discography is equally enjoyable.

[@danielberrettini212]

I knew this band in your video of favorite jazz fusion albuns and since then I have listened a lot. Amazing band!!!

[@buffalosoldier7360]

Wow, what memories, my favorite jazz fusion band, saw them while growing up in San Francisco maybe 5 times. Jean Luc Ponty as well. Great review, loved it when the wife came home, good stuff.

[@adampoll4977]

Discovered Return to Forever (the classic Romantic Warrior) as kid exploring someone's record collection - you can imagine how mind-blowing it would have been. They had given me a bunch of blank tapes and basically said, "Go for it." I played that tape for about 15 years 😁

[@sheldoninst]

Great list... I’m gonna listen to “Hymn..” and “No Mystery...” as per your recommendation! After having the opportunity to see RTF during their last tour, I was able to go backstage and meet the guys... Stanley Clarke was cordial, Frank was cool, Chick was really nice and sort of hippieish with his expressions, and Jean Luc was super nice and very talkative. I was especially interested to ask these guys questions as it related to their contemporaries in other fusion and especially prog bands... Chick mentioned he did listen to prog guys and mentioned that he was also honored to have a back and forth of influences particularly with prog bands... I also asked what he thought of some of the “competition fusion bands”, mainly the Dixie Dregs and Happy The Man (although the Dregs were a bit more eclectic and slightly more prog rock)... Chick’s response was “sure, we were all friends even though we haven’t spoke in a while”. On this same topic, Jean Luc interceded by mentioning that he follows Mark O’Connor (Dregs violinist on “Industry Standard”) and thought that Mark is one of the best in the world, especially mentioning Mark’s violin schools. Jean Luc also talked about Scott Henderson (who was in the CK electric band) but had a falling out with Chick.... Jean Luc still said he maintains a friendship with Scott Henderson. Very interesting guys indeed...

[@arnaudb.7669]

Very interesting.Thanks!

[@urbangustafsson8067]

I do agree as well, very interesting reading.

[@jeffplus6652]

Don't forget to rank Weather Report.

[@raulmacias1311]

I just purchased a copy of "Weather Report Live In Tokyo" from 1972. It is a mind It was never released in the United States.

[@Dave-mb7kb]

Pete, your top 4 is the same as mine, and for the same reason. Of the 4 my favorite is whichever one I'm listening to at the time. I saw them in 2008 when they got back together. What an amazing show with the classic lineup of Corea, Clarke, White and DiMeola. Absolutely fantastic music, thanks for shining some light on these guys.

[@andrecito55]

Wonderful work, Pete. Your number one is mine also. Waiting for WR, Mahavishnu, Lifetime.

[@davidgagen9856]

Great analysis Pete

[@geol1936]

Thanks, Pete! I will enjoy your rankings of the fusion area. Looking forward to Pat Metheny too!

[@mikeschrammel1790]

Yes I totally agree with you on the vocals on some of these albums My faves are 1 - Romantic Warrior,Where have I known you before, Hymn of the seventh galaxy, - No Mystery. I don't care much about there early albums. Thanks Pete.

[@raulmacias1311]

DOWN BEAT ~ December 9,1971 AD LIB ~ Chick Corea unveiled a new group at the Village Vanguard in the last week of October, with Hubert Laws, electric flute, piccolo, Stan Clark, bass; Horacee Arnold, drums; Airto Moreira, percussion, and Flora Purim, vocal, making varied and interesting sounds.

[@georgelamie7001]

My ranks: 7. Musicmagic 6. Return to Forever 5. Light as a Feather 4. No Mystery 3. Where Have I Known You Before 2. Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy 1. Romantic Warrior

[@jbognap]

Yup. Side 2 of No Mystery is stellar - side 1 is cheesy at times.

[@garyjoyce2160]

Ok. Got it GEORGE, two years ago,wasn’t on board. This weekend I’ve played your no 1 and no 2 , 6 spins each already. Tremendous. At this point. I like your no 2 , slightly over your no 1. And I mean slightly. 👍💯

[@Kwame1959]

I would put The Romantic Warrior first , but I think he’s right about Where Have I Known You Before, “Songs to the Pharaoh Kings “ totally rocked my world as a 15 year old. I was just starting to write poetry and I don’t know if I would have stayed with it if I hadn’t been a fan of Chick Corea and RTF. All of the music ( except Musicmagic, which I hated so much, I listened to maybe once or twice then buried it in my record collection and never played again) he discusses are in my view foundational and fundamental to who I am (a relative nobody but a lifelong RTF fan).

[@the16thGemini]

Those are definitely my favorite RTF albums as well. Where Have I Know You Before had touches of Bill Evans and Sly Stone along with other influences. I wish they kept creating music in that fashion for that 1977 album. Their output had been so masterful and engaging on instrumental albums. As an listener you wanted more. However the only other way to enjoy music close to that sound is the early solo projects of Stanley Clarke, Lenny White and Al Di Meola. Nice breakdown of RTF !!!! Like someone stated earlier, your take on The Crusaders would be interesting.

[@OMW66]

Rest in peace, Chick Corea. Such a giant!

[@keithoday9896]

Huge Return to Forever fan here; thank you Pete. Romantic Warrior is in my Top Albums of all- time- that along with "Inner Mounting Flame" and "Blow by Blow" are my Top three Jazz Fusion albums of all time- four of the greatest musicians of all- time in one Band. Al Dimeola just Rips on guitar. Thank you Sir.😎

[@pauladams9287]

Great call. Throw in Elegant Gypsy by Al DiMeola and Spectrum by Billy Cobham and you have my top 5.

[@weatherered]

Outstanding Pete. I have a little more love for Flora, but Gayle was a hard pill to swallow. I saw the quartet on the "Romantic Warrior" tour and my head exploded. Went to the "Musicmagic" tour the next year and the disappointment registered by everyone in the audience that evening was unconcealed. Years later, got to see the Gambale and Ponty show with Zappa Plays Zappa opening. Absolute bliss.

[@pyratoothNL]

Just want to say thanks again Pete. I think I was recommended these guys years ago and never followed it up. Just bought Romantic Warrior and it doesn't disappoint. All the musicians are top class and they gel so well. To think Al Di Meola was 21 when this was recorded, his tone and technique is top notch.

[@mononoaware1960]

Absolutely adore bill Connors playing! Love the work he did on Stanley Clarke’s self titled and his solo acoustic work as well, master guitar player and criminally unsung. Funnily enough I prefer Al Di on his own, especially his first two solo albums. I thought Bill was a way better fit for that band but what do I know. Bill’s playing is so big and powerful, very similar to McLaughlin in Mahavishnu but less out there. His bends are absolutely astounding, especially for a jazz cat. Hymn and Inner Mounting Flame were the two that made me a jazz fan cause of the rock edge that permeates them. After that came Al, Larry Coryell, Abercrombie, Holdsworth, Scofield, etc, huge jazz fanatic now. Great video as always.

[@darlatidwell6255]

I don't think I've ever listened to Return to Forever...but I hit the like button and I like the Santana t-shirt, it's a good one. Keep up the good work. 👍🤟

[@garymilligan9038]

One of my favorite bands of all time. My list would be similiar but clip flop the top two. Romantic Warrior always held that special place for me

[@eriklauritzen6898]

Good stuff. My favorite sways back and forth between Where Have I Known You Before and No Mystery.

[@ziggylayneable]

You remind me of my dad Pete even though we're close in age(I'm 50).I absolutely love your taste in music because it's almost the same as mine man.we go all over the spectrum and we loved every minute of it. You're doing return to forever today..... We were doing Genesis Peter Gabriel era a couple weeks ago. I am so glad I found this channel.I'm going to find the newspaper article they did on my father so I can show you a picture of his CD collection. My dad has over 30,000 CD's.... He's kind of a"mini celebrity"here in Eastern Pennsylvania.

[@tns4421]

You started a new history of rock with ranking albums and it will be a great archieve in the future so it is inspiring!!!

[@rocky-o]

good stuff...my favorite return to forever albums are 'romantic warrior' and 'no mystery'....can't go wrong with corea, clarke, dimeola, and white...now ya' got me in the mood to pull out some old rtf vinyl and just close my eyes...peace pardo...

[@Cr8Tron]

Those were the two I bought and got into the most, ever since being introduced to RTF 25 years ago. I remember in highschool (Perpich Center for Arts Education), a fellow guitarist of the music department was mainly into jazz, and didn't really care for fusion. He always said he considered the more traditional jazz RTF did ("before Di Meola joined", as he would put it) to be the only work he liked of the catalogue. I kept telling him that he's missing out. For me, the best music is when the richness of traditional music can be unified with psychedelic timbres that have metamorphic qualities, often via electronic technology. HotSG, and WHIKYB would probably be my next favorites, if I was to revisit the albums I'm missing.

[@WarhawkBeyond2040]

Awesome rankings and I would love to see you do one for the Chick Corea Elektric Band at some point as I'm a huge fan of those guys. Keep up the good work

[@benavich8]

Hey Pete - saw RTF for the 1st time in the Fall of 1976- Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor, MI. I dragged along my bandmates who were heavily into the usual suspects...Sabbath, Zep, NY Dolls, etc. They were very hesitant, but being a bit more flexible with musical taste, I convinced them. Yeah, there jaws were on the ground before it was done. Saw Chick's Electric Band at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival in the 80's...Gambale, Pattituci....man, the memories of playing this stuff on college weekend road trips! 😎

[@MochaDaisy8645]

I generally don’t care for vocals in jazz or fusion but those first 2 RTF albums are the exception. This was an impressive band in many ways, which goes without say. Al DiMeola was in his teens and held his own with Chick, Stanley and Lenny. Bands like this are just too good to last

[@peterlisecki5954]

Saw them in 84 at the Academy of Music in NYC, as part of a reunion tour. One of the best shows I have ever seen. Awesome.

[@EvilVonRetee]

Listened this band for the first time today and really liked their songs! I'm not much of a jazz enthusiast...yet. But here we go!

[@jacobheaney3836]

When I started to really absorb music around 13 years old, I started out as a Heavy Metal & a Hard Rock kid with bands like Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Thin Lizzy. Then I moved towards more obscure bands like Steely Dan, Yes, Focus, Frank Zappa & The Mothers. Then when I was 17 years old I discover a genre called Jazz Fusion which completely changed my life and the bands from that genre that really helped define my taste. But the band that blew me away when I heard that first note from them was Return To Forever. You knew it might have been coming because of my profile picture but they are my favourite band of all time. I have only allowed myself to have one favourite RTF album, I could have easily just filled it up with all of their albums. The Romantic Warrior is my all time favourite album & if I could only have one album on a desert island it would be that one. I took a good long think about this question & I love the whole discography. I like the first couple Latin albums with Flora Purim. I adore the rawness & the variety of the early heavy Fusion albums. Their last studio album Musicmagic not so much but the live albums that they recorded just before they disbanded in 1978 are great. I also really like the Bill Connors era with RTF in 1973, I adore all the albums with Al Di Meola. Where Have I Known You Before is fantastic, No Mystery just a little bit lower in my ranking but side two of that album is beautiful. Of course Romantic Warrior is their masterpiece. Also all of their bootleg live recordings in 1976 are just amazing, I would have loved if they made an official live album during the Romantic Warrior tour, & even their reunion album Returns from 2008 is still really enjoyable. Overall when I looked at this entire catalog, not a very long one but with a lot of variety and live albums and recordings out there with all the jams and solos the musicians in the band created, I love the mellow music they do and the heavy music they do. I adore to death everything about it, I love Al’s phrasing & the dangerous nature of his shredding. Chick Corea is such an awesome composer and can really tell a story through a composition. Lenny White’s incredible monster drumming is so powerful, fiery & explosive, with Stanley being such a tight and direct bass player. Those two work really well as a rhythm section. I love Coreas Keyboard playing and like the whole fantasy/medieval world he makes with the tunes. Return To Forever never ceases to blow me away. The main reason I think they’re in here is because I have no problem with any of their albums and pretty much all of those records, I would listen to one on any given day and think yeah that’s got to be in my top list of favourite albums of all time.

[@rebeccassweetmusic4632]

I really love your channel, I've been following your favorite albums of the year vids and been commenting my favs on every video. I'm 21 going on 22 in August, and I always take pride in finding good music that features top-notch musicians with good musicianship. Your taste in music is almost similar to mine. Personally, I like Weather Report more than Return to Forever because they're a bit more jammy. But thanks for recommending No Mystery. As you talked about Excerpt from the First Movement of Heavy Metal, I went to my Spotify and listened to it. That song is AWESOME!!! \m/. I really hope that you do a Ranking the Studio Albums: Weather Report next. I'm big into Weather Report when Jaco Pastorius was in the band.

[@garymilligan9038]

I also agree on the vocals .Kills it for me too.

[@henktenktank3511]

nice show Pete，thanks，i liked the double live album with the great gerry brown on drums！

[@cfvanoostrom]

Completely agree with your assessments of Flora Purim's contributions - the very definition of extraneous. I feel the same way about Gayle Moran's intrusions on the Mahavishnu Orchestra albums.

[@garymilligan9038]

Some other great bands to do.Passport ,Jean Luc Ponty, and The Crusaders

[@TheGenreman]

Would the jazz crusaders albums be included

[@garymilligan9038]

@@TheGenreman Perhaps the same band? I think the band was called the jazz crusaders and just dropped the jazz from their name

[@kevintynan796]

1973 the Old Grey Whistle Test. They played two tracks from Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy. I was heavily into Sabbath , but was instantly transfixed by the magical precision of what I heard. Still have the ticket to their show at Birmingham Town Hall.

[@jukeboxcowboy]

I usually don't go for Medival themes, but I'll be hog tied if Romantic Warrior isn't near perfect. Your enthusiasm over the group is notable and appreciated!

[@LuisGarcia-ee2tr]

Romantic Warrior by far IMO. Great show Pete. You are an open big book about all rock stuff !!!

[@Jellybeantiger]

Romantic Warrior,incredible.

[@jeffkatt]

I for one absolutely LOVE the vocals. Flora Purim solo Lps are great as well. Gayle Moran has the voice of an angel....🎶🎶🎶

[@JosiMorreale]

my favourite jazz fusion band, got all their albums on vinyl. i can't argue with your choice here, as it's subjective but my top 2 albums are actually the Return to Forever album (not officially part of the RTF catalogue) followed by Light as a Feather which was the very first one i bought, back in 1973. i just love Flora on them, it gives the music an added spice. it was also my introduction to her and over time, i also bought all her records too. she was a babe! she is still with us and 82 now.

[@jamesgingrich3837]

You are awesome! Love your show! As you can tell, I'm a jazz rock fusion man although I like other music

[@ACrackInTheWall2006]

Because of your video I purchased No Mystery. I got it a few days ago and have been listening to it heavily. It's a great album. I'm new to Return To Forever but my brother is a huge fan and saw them on their reunion tour with Di Meola.

[@johnquest3102]

Good review, I feel the same, I discovered RTF in 1986 at the age of 28 and just love the music.

[@c.d.macaulay66]

For me, without a doubt, “Majestic Dance” is their high water mark. DiMeola’s solos SOAR and lift you off the ground in the process! Because of this song, I bought Elegant Gypsy, which shows his Latin influences.

[@jazzpunk]

No Mystery ("Flight Of The Unborn" kills) was my 1st RTF album...special for me. Grew to love Where Have I Known You Before as much ("Song To The Pharoah Kings", "Earth Juice"). Love Billy Connors...into Holdsworth? Check out Connors' Assembler!!!

[@marsl57]

Agree all the way. Remind me of my teenage years tuning into Italian Radio to hear this stuff.

[@bumpdunlop]

You mentioned Trans Siberian Orchestra. They played at the first Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival. They accompanied the silent film Battleship Potemkin. They had played with the movie severalew times before, but for this festival, the unedited film was played. There was about an 8 minute segment that they had never seen. They improvised their way right through that segment, so well that I have no idea where the expanded section was. Trans Siberian Orchestra accompanied several other silent films at the festival over the years. It was surreal to hear music that sounded like it was from the future as the sound track to a very early silent film.

[@agitation-free]

Love the two first albums the best. Spain and La Fiesta are classics

[@KickflipGnasty]

I haven't yet finished their whole discography, but from what I have heard mine would go... 1) Romantic Warrior 2) Where Have I Known You Before 3) No Mystery 4) Hymn of the 7th Galaxy 5) Light as a Feather

[@johnappleton8133]

How about both incarnations of the band Colosseum?

[@PaulMcCaffreyfmac]

I was thinking about seeing RTF in the '70s and who should pop into my head but Sparks. Do Sparks.....yeah :-)

[@shanebullock5005]

Al Di Meola and Scott Henderson [Tribal Tech]..super duper guitar players..

[@keithshapland903]

I so love Flora Purim's amazing voice and those first two albums. 500 mile high has lyrics so someone had to sing them. #1 Romantic Warrior #2 Where have I known you before #3 Hymn of the 7th Galaxy #4 Return to Forever #5 No Mystery #6 Light as a Feather #7 Music Magic

[@Ninjabadger76]

I only have the Al Di Meola studio albums + Live at Montruex (blu ray) and love those to death so to rank the studio 3 1. Romantic Warrior 2. No Mystery 3. Where have I Known You Before

[@rocky-o]

p.s...you could do a great dimeola solo video as well...'elegant gypsy'...'casino''...'electric rendezvous'...talk about guitar heaven....

[@jukeboxcowboy]

What would be your number 1? Mine's Electric Rendezvous. It's part of my drumming workout!

[@chungasrevenge9222]

@@jukeboxcowboy Kiss My Axe

[@jukeboxcowboy]

@@chungasrevenge9222 Solid.

[@rocky-o]

mine would probably be elegant gypsy...

[@fcamiola]

Casino

[@bumpdunlop]

I agree with your list exactly, EXCEPT for one major difference. I place their first at the very top, right above Where Have I known You Before. As similar as the first two are, I love one and think the other one is just o.k., therefor I place Light as a Feather right at the bottom of the list. Great stuff!

[@grimtraveller7923]

I put "No Mystery" and "Where have I known you before" together. I've been into them for 30 years but I've always considered each as only being half masterful so even in the days when I used to put my albums on tape, I would combine them as one album, something I've continued to do. The songs on them that I do really like are among the most wonderful pieces in all jazz fusion, particularly the song to the Pharaoh Kings and the Celebration Suites. RTF never really had a good reputation in the heyday of jazz fusion. Many people thought they were too fake, too "music by numbers" like they were trying so hard to be jazz rock. I could never work out what the problem was. For me they are easily among the best that fusion ever brought to the table. I like 5 out of the 6 songs on "Romantic Warrior." It's funny because that was the album I first heard of when it comes to RTF. Years before I heard the actual album. In Tony Parson's excellent book "All you need is love ~ The story of popular music" {it was also an interesting and long TV series} which came out in '76 {but which I first read in '79} there's a section where he's lamenting the state of rock and where it went after the Beatles and RTF get a mention. He talks with Chick Corea and in it Chick mentions that all of the band are master composers. I remember that from when I first read it although at the time, I was just getting into the heavy stuff and hadn't heard of jazz fusion although I was just hearing of jazz rock, I think. At the same time, I got a book on album covers {from the same person that got me All you need is love, actually} and the cover of "Romantic Warrior" was there. There is a kind of medieval feel throughout the album. Stanley Clarke once said that "The Magician" was the hardest song to play and he always struggled with it ! I absolutely love "Duel of the Jester and the Tyrant" and the way it ends is probably the best ending to any song within the genre ~ it was always a certainty for a rewind in my cassette days !

[@golddalek1961]

Interesting top choices Pete. I would swap them around but both very strong albums. A couple of albums I need to get. I have two Bill Connors solo albums. Check out 'Lydia'. A fantastic track. Quite Holdsworth influenced. Cheers for this.

[@rossmiller9326]

Great show Pete! I love RTF. To all RTF fans I would recommend Stan Getz' Album: Captain Marvel; Featuring Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Tony Williams and Airto Moreira. The heaviest thing Stan ever did with great playing all around. (And no Vocals).

[@arnaudb.7669]

Yes, good album.Tony Williams shines as always!!!

[@angusorvid8840]

You're right Pete! RTF did not gain a thing with vocals. I think Chick was trying to figure out what RTF was all about at that point. Although the first effort is decent, Light as a Feather is a big improvement, and Hymn of The Seventh Galaxy with the great Bill Connors on guitar is superb. I love the Di Meola Trinity of Where Have I Known You Before; No Mystery; and Romantic Warrior, which is the peak of RTF both creatively, and it has the best production values. It doesn't have the jams of the first two Di Meola efforts, and it's a lot tighter, more structured, but I still love it. It was always hard for me to think of Musicmagic as an RTF album because of what Hymn and the three Di Meola efforts. Musicmagic was a winding down of the RTF concept. I think Chick was more interested in his solo efforts at the time, which were still great, with albums such as The Leprechaun and Secret Agent. Great ranking vid!

[@keithshapland903]

On a slight deviation have you heard Captain Marvel album by Stan Getz? The band is Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Tony Williams Airto Moreira. It has a cracking 'La Fiesta' and also '500 miles high' without Flora Purim. I have it on lovely vinyl!

[@peterholmes5217]

Totally agree with your number one choice. Personally I would have Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy in second place because these are the two I keep going back to.

[@contextmatters8243]

My favorite? "Romantic Warrior" in the stratosphere with "Songs to Keys of Life"...

[@grimtraveller7923]

Some years after he started to concentrate more on the acoustic guitar, Al DiMieola commented that he'd really been immature in his RTF days, that all he really wanted to be known as was the fastest guitarist alive. He may have achieved that, yet, while I like his playing and really dig the albums he contributed to, for me he has always trailed in the wake of Bill Connors, a man who, ironically, has been mainly known as an acoustic guitarist. I used to have an album by Bill but I had to chuck it after a few years because I found it such a snorefest. Yes, it was beautifully thoughtful but you really had to be in the mood for it and from 2002 to 2009 I just never was ! I was spoiled by his electric exploits on the first two albums I heard him on. The first was Stanley Clarke's 2nd album "Stanley Clarke" {the one with him wearing the brown scarf on the cover} in which he does some serious pyrotechnics on a couple of tracks along with Jan Hammer and Tony Williams. The other was RTF's incendiary {and my fave of theirs} "Hymn of the seventh galaxy." This is the first fusion album to appear that really takes on the Mahavishnu Orchestra in the heavier jazz rock stakes and gives them a good run for their money. The MO had a 2 album start and both of their albums were outstandingly out of this world whereas the stuff from the Corea/RTF stable had been lighweight in comparison, good as they were. And within a month of "Galaxy"'s release, the MO had another outstanding album out so RTF really had to pull it out. But interestingly, this is where RTF really began to push back and put out quality albums as the MO went slightly on the decline. Other jazz rock outfits like Isotope, Gateway, Friends and 11th House that were no strangers to volume and heavy guitars also appeared on the scene and for a while there, the scene got quite well populated with outfits that utilized guitars. But "Hymn" remains for me as heavy as it got in fusion, thanks primarily to 2 elements ~ that crazy bass drum foot of Lenny White and the wild electric guitar of Bill Connors. It's all the more amazing when you consider the album was actually recorded twice ! The first version was done with Steve Gadd but he wasn't into touring so Lenny White came into the picture and the band re~recorded the album with him. The Gadd version apparently got lost but it really doesn't matter ~ the version with new boys White and Connors is so explosive and has held my attention for 36 years so well, I wouldn't be interested in hearing the original recording. It's such a leap from the exciting but relatively sensitive sound of the first incarnation of the band. I love that incarnation, I thought that they were an excitingly, creatively varied band and pretty dynamic. But they were not loud and electric in a rock sense. The only prominent electric instruments came from Chick Corea's arsenal of keyboards. But when he heard John McLaughlin's stuff on the first Mahavishnu albums, he told Stanley Clarke that he wanted to write for that sound and that's when Clarke really took up electric bass guitar ~ he was a double bass player up until then. An early version of their electric band also included percussionist Mingo Lewis and guitarist Earl Klugh in it but it was when Connors and White landed that they hit the perfect balance between heavy rock intensity with volume and jazzy invention and fluidity. There isn't a boring moment on the album "Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy". Every one of the songs sizzles and fizzes into life, White crashing his drums to death with such heavy rockingness and cool fleet-footed funkiness {he loved John Bonham's playing and turned down the chance to play in Hendrix's band ~ an invite that came from Miles Davies !}, Clarke playing bass parts so fast that sometimes you can barely hear them, Corea twisting and turning his way through a series of outrageous melodies and rhythms and Connors heating up the fretboard so hot you could bake biscuits on it. His riffing and lead work is a revelation and if not quite as varied and skillful a player as McLaughlin, he's every bit as intense and heavy. As electric guitarists in jazz go, these two are the pinnacle for me. There are some great performances from guys like John Scofield, Larry Coryell, John Abercrombie and Gary Boyle but McLaughlin and Connors are a duo that have yet to be beat. I love every song on the album but the title track and "Space Circus" take the biscuit for me. It is quite simply an album that is indispensable and for me head and shoulders above the rest of the band's superb output. No disrespect to Al D, but it was a shame that Bill Connors quit after recording this one album with the band. They went on to do some more great stuff, some of the songs better than on here, but album-wise they never hit this outstandingly heavy height again.

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

what a fantastic band

[@srednuasrmit]

Pete’s gone through some costume changes today. Favourite 1981 album - Allman Brothers Band shirt, Top 10 Riot songs - Iron Maiden shirt, Ranking the albums Return to Forever - Santana shirt.

[@gwts1171]

Though I have a lot of respect for fusion, I just never got into it much. I have really only heard two of the RTF albums, so: 2) Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy ("Theme To The Mothership" always stood out to me) 1) Romantic Warrior (The title track is beautiful) Thanks, Pete!

[@arnaudb.7669]

Theme To the Mothership contains one of the best keyboard solos of all time.

[@MrMaynardWR]

Can you rank the albums of John Mclaughlin including Mahavishnu, Shakti etc

[@captainbeyond7469]

Billy Connors incredibly underrated player. Not quite Dimeola’s league but awesome non the less. Romantic Warrior for me.

[@jmsbk12345]

Incredible band, 2nd greatest fusion band of all time IMO. Have you heard the incredible RTF live in Jimi's Electric Ladyland studios 1975? Fantastic.

[@phreeky5497]

Love the Huskies!! Thanks for the RTF love too 🐕

[@johnhenfrey5936]

Do t know if you have ever heard a fusion band called, Isotope? If you haven’t check them out I think you would like them.

[@grimtraveller7923]

I actually really like Flora Purim's singing on the original Chick Corea "RTF" album. It's a really good example of early jazz fusion ~ electric piano, sax/flute, bass, drums, percussion, good accessible songs of a good length, lovely atmospherics, lovely singing in parts, some beautiful sax from Joe Farrell. Flora was Airto's wife and they were very much a team. It's interesting that Airto was on the debut Weather Report album too {although most of the percussion wasn't done by him}. But I totally get where Pete was coming from on the singing although I don't feel it on that album. I get it because I feel exactly the same way about the early Lifetime albums. The first 3 should be absolute masterpieces of the highest order with John McLaughlin in savage form, Larry Young showing himself to be an organist of note, Jack Bruce playing superb bass and Ron Carter doing likewise once Bruce had left and Tony Williams drumming with such swagger, panache and aplomb. The music is so exciting, songs like Vuelta Abajo being virtual heavy metal jazz.........but those first 3 LPs are prevented from ever reaching classic status because of Tony Williams awful singing. At least Flora Purim could sing and had a lovely voice. Tony Williams did not ! In fact, some of the songs on Lifetime's second album "Turn it over" and the third one "Ego" are unlistenable because of his singing. He was pushing it on the debut, "Emergency," but by the second he was out of control and it'sthe instrumentals that win the day on that one. Some of his singing on the third one makes my nerves crawl ! It's not until Tequila joins the band on "The old bum's rush" as vocalist and Tony stops singing that they get the vocal balance right but by then Lifetime were no longer the force they started off as. With RTF, I feel that they got the balance between the vocals and the music right and in comparison to the instrumental passages, Flora actually doesn't sing that much and where she does, her melodies stick around for just the right length of time. Much more singing and she _would_ have outstayed her welcome ! The piece I love most of all is "Crystal Silence." It's the least dynamic. It's so atmospheric and it just reminds me of being underwater, probably because I once saw this film about surfers that utilized the song in parts.

[@robmills537]

Enjoyed the video very much indeed, I would like to recommend a great album love devotion surrender by Carlos Santana & John McLaughlin a truly great listen.

[@jbognap]

RTF first recorded Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy with Steve Gadd, but he decided to split and focus on studio work. They re-recorded it with Lenny White.

[@MyEyesBled]

Corea sure did “Return to Forever” .... RIP Chick 🙏

[@lunatic7700]

Return to Forever ensamble super! I like both with the voice of Flora Purim., Hymn to the sventy galaxy, Romantic warrior

[@markgreene1162]

Please rank the Al Di Meola albums sometime.

[@smashdalde9713]

Apparently Cliff Burton was a fan..I've heard Romantic warrior,liked it too(lollypop of a bassline on the opening tune)..I'll delve further,Pete.

[@matt_pacheco_music]

Can't agree enough with your #1 and #2. Where Have I Known You Before best RTF album no doubt

[@xriswolf78]

Pete, any chance to get your top Gino Vanelli? Cheers mate.

[@seaoftranquilityprog]

Never owned anything by him, sorry.

[@yggdrasil9039]

Some of the more obscure fusion bands from the 70s 80s and early 90s need highlighting and showcasing.

[@ziggylayneable]

Birds of fire... Yeah do mahavishnu... John McLaughlin is incredible. I saw him with Al Di meola & Paco de Lucia back in the eighties doing that flamenco stuff they toured around doing.

[@sealisa1398]

Everything Music And Guitar Shenanigans I love those albums with Paco John and Al.

[@ziggylayneable]

@@sealisa1398 they're really good.I don't know if you've ever seen the live video footage of them in concert playing some of that material. They keep complimenting each other without speaking.one of them will play something and then the other one next to him will play the same exact thing and then they'll smile at each other. It's a lot of fun to watch....

[@pauladams9287]

Hey Pete hope you are well. I agree with you a 100% on the vocal thing. Also for me, I much prefer my Jazz fusion to have electric guitar. It one of the main reasons why I like jazz fusion, and as brilliant as Chick is, it's just not the same without electric guitar for me . Especially when the electric guitar is someone is amazing as Al Dimeola. Now regular contemporary jazz , fine , I don't need guitar on that kind of stuff. But jazz fusion… gotta have it

[@vinnieoskokie]

have you ever heard the stan getz captain marvel album? it has chick corea and members of his band playing la fiesta and 500 miles high and others with out vocals. it's a great jazz fusion album.

[@matthewclark9652]

Got "Romantic Warrior" (1976 & remastered) & "No Mystery" (1975) but that is it.

[@psbarrow]

I completely agree with you about RTF music not needing vocals, and how it detracts from the wonderful musicianship on offer.

[@timothywills7709]

Great list and band. Maynard Ferguson has a great version of La Fiesta and a great version of Dayride. Hope you have heard them.

[@michaelpennacchio712]

Before I watch the video like will state my favorite all-time album by Rtf ROMANTIC WARRIOR.