Label: Ecm
Audio CD: (November 16, 1999)
Recorded at Power Station, New York, New York in October 1981
Jazz
Opening with some beautiful synclavier and Lyle Mays' exquisite soaring synths on 'Barcarole', this is an atmosphere album. It moves from delicacy to beauty and is arguably the most complete album of his incredible career. The delightful 'James' (a tribute to James Taylor, listen to the guitar inflections) is complemented by the awesome 'Au Lait'; and if that was not enough, this contains surely Metheny's finest moment, 'Are You Going With Me', a song that builds and builds over the most fabulous rhythm, and even after nearly nine minutes it leaves you begging for more. A stunning piece of music that is neither jazz nor rock.
From CD Universe.
**
I have to admit to a bias: I have been listening to Pat Metheny albums since 1977, and I sincerely believe him to be the most important composer/musician in the field of intelligent popular music in the period 1977-2000. For me, this is the PMG's finest album yet, and so it ranks in my all-time Top 10.
This was the album on which Metheny and Mays showcased the Synclavier for the first time. A synthesizer developed by New England Digital, it could be driven by either a guitar or a keyboard controller. From this point onwards, it has often been near-impossible to discern whether it is Lyle or Pat who is playing any particular phrase. On this album, Pat chose to generate trumpet-like sounds, particularly for the opening 'Barcarole' and the anthemic 'Are You Going With Me?'. A friend at the time asked me, "Why didn't he just use a real trumpet?". That friend just didn't understand the flexibility of the synclavier.
For me, the whole album is magnificent. 'James' is a wonderfully uplifting, perfect composition, in which not a note is wasted. But the two absolute stand-out tracks are 'Are You Going With Me?' and the under-rated 'Au Lait'.
'Are You Going With Me?' was a concert highlight for years, and would not be out of place on a rock album. Or a slow latin dance album. There is some wonderful wailing guitar towards the end of the tune, and I've often thought that this is the track I'd want played at my funeral. The downside of this idea is that I wouldn't want my partner to be thinking 'Am I going with him?' as my coffin glided past on the conveyor belt towards the flames.
I read in a Metheny interview around the release of the next live album ('Travels'), that Pat felt the live version of this song was very special indeed, implying that it was better than the studio version. I don't feel one is better than the other -- they have very different guitar solos, but they are both exceptional.
I simply adore 'Au Lait' because it instantly puts images in my mind of lazy summer days. I also somehow associate the tune with the music that Bacharach composed for the Bolivian bank-raid interludes in 'Butch Cassidy'. Vasconcelos brought an ethnic integrity to the PMG that his replacements have never been able to touch. His vocal and percussive contributions particularly on this track are outstanding.
This is an album that no lover of intelligent, optimistic, modern music should be without.
By Gavin Wilson.
**
This 1981 recording by the Pat Metheny Group represented a crossroads for the guitarist, a creative expansion from his original concept in terms of acoustic and electric instrumentation, folksy roots material and modern jazz influences, American and third world sources. Having thus marked out the territory for a decade's worth of experimentation and growth, the Metheny Group cemented its standing on the cutting edge of contemporary jazz with Offramp. Lyle Mays' harmonica-like synth theme, Metheny's soaring, vocalized synth-guitar lead, some rich orchestral touches, and an easygoing blend of backbeat and chord changes made "Are You Going with Me?" one of Metheny's most enduring arrangements. Still, for every gentle, alluring set piece, such as the tangolike "Au Lait" or the rural vistas of "James," there was a visceral, emotive free-for-all like the title track, where Metheny unleashed wild, wailing synth guitar elisions over a loose, abstract pulse--anticipating the energy of the guitarist's collaboration with free jazz guru Ornette Coleman some four years hence on Song X.
By Chip Stern.
**
Pat Metheny- (Synthesizer, Guitar, Synclavier);
Lyle Mays- (Piano, Synthesizer, Autoharp, Organ, Synclavier);
Steve Rodby- (Acoustic & Electric Basses);
Dan Gottlieb- (Drums).
**
01. Barcarole 3:15
02. Are You Going With Me? 8:47
03. Au Lait 8:28
04. Eighteen 5:05
05. Offramp 5:55
06. James 6:41
07. The Bat Part 2 3:50
**
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