Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Inner Mounting Flame
That pretty much says it all.
Among the also-rans, there are a few others worthy of consideration.
A quick preface. Before the first notes of "Meeting Of The Spirits" rang out on record players
across the world, "fusion" did not refer to a particular sound, but rather an attempt to meld
elements of rock and jazz into something new. Some, like Chicago, BS&T, Oblivion Express
and If were successful both commercially and artistically, but are left out here in order to
keep the focus on the pioneers of the field of interest.
1971 was the year the Germans seized the bull by the horns in that regard. Krautrock, as it
came to be known, was rife with experimentation on a number of fronts. In electronic music
there were Organisation/Kraftwerk, Neu! and, of course, Tangerine Dream. Faust practically
invented industrial music. And in the melding of rock and jazz, Toto Blanke and Wolfgang
Dauner were supplanted by others either emerging onto the scene or finding the mix of
styles that would define their early 70s work. In retrospect, some of it merits the "fusion"
categorization without giving a second thought, and some doesn't, but remains important
to the history of the genre's development, as well as being wildly entertaining.
My picks from the "everything else" bin are as follows:
Eiliff - s/t
Embryo - Embryo's Rache
Modrý Efekt & Jazzový Orchestr Cs. Rozhlasu - Nová Syntéza
The latter was not German, and is perhaps the most remote from the "fusion" brand, but is
included here because it was a unique attempt at enjoining big-band jazz and hard bop with
blues rock, and, IMO, achieved its goal with flying colors. That they had one of the premier
guitarists in all of Eastern Europe in their ranks didn't hurt either.
Now you might be wondering (or more likely not) why Sunbirds didn't make this list, or for
that matter why Earwax didn't make the 1970 picks. My answer would be: The dearth of
solid choices for these 2 years is reflective of the genre still being in its infancy, and just
because an album finds patterns that would become familiar later does not equate to it
being top o' the heap stuff.
One not-so-familiar album that would make my list if we were considering jazz-rock as well
is the s/t Syrius, aka Az Ördög Álarcosbálja = Devil's Masquerade, and is mentioned here for
reference purposes only.
