Birds of Fire
| Birds of Fire | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||||||||
| Studio album by Mahavishnu Orchestra | ||||||||||
| Released | March 29, 1973 | |||||||||
| Recorded |
August 1972 at CBS, New York, NY and Trident Studios, London, England | |||||||||
| Genre | Jazz fusion, progressive rock, heavy metal | |||||||||
| Length | 39:53 | |||||||||
| Label |
C.B.S. Columbia | |||||||||
| Producer | Mahavishnu Orchestra | |||||||||
| Mahavishnu Orchestra chronology | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |  [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (A-)[2] |
| Sputnikmusic | [3] |
| The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide | [4] |
Birds of Fire is Mahavishnu Orchestra's second album. It was released during the first half of 1973 and is the last studio album released by the original band line-up before it dissolved, although Between Nothingness and Eternity, a live album, was recorded and released later that same year. The final studio recordings by this line-up would be released as The Lost Trident Sessions in 1999.
As with the Mahavishnu Orchestra's previous album, The Inner Mounting Flame, Birds of Fire consists solely of compositions by John McLaughlin. This includes the track "Miles Beyond (Miles Davis)", which McLaughlin dedicated to his friend and former bandleader.
The back cover of the album features the poem "Revelation" by Sri Chinmoy.
A remastered version of the album, on CD, was released in 2000 by Sony Music Entertainment. It features a facsimile of the album cover and a new set of liner notes by Bill Milkowski, as well as photographs of the band.
Including all formats and remastered versions, there have been at least 67 issues and re-issues of the album worldwide.[5]
Track listing
All tracks composed by John McLaughlin
| Side one | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 1. | "Birds of Fire" | 5:50 |
| 2. | "Miles Beyond (Miles Davis)" | 4:47 |
| 3. | "Celestial Terrestrial Commuters" | 2:54 |
| 4. | "Sapphire Bullets of Pure Love" | 0:24 |
| 5. | "Thousand Island Park" | 3:23 |
| 6. | "Hope" | 1:59 |
| Side two | ||
|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length |
| 7. | "One Word" | 9:57 |
| 8. | "Sanctuary" | 5:05 |
| 9. | "Open Country Joy" | 3:56 |
| 10. | "Resolution" | 2:09 |
Personnel
Charts
- Album
Billboard (North America)
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Pop Albums | 15[6] |
References
- ↑ Ginell, Richard S.. Birds of Fire at AllMusic
- ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: mahavishnu orchestra". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ↑ Fisher, Tyler. "Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds of Fire (album review 3) | Sputnikmusic". sputnikmusic.com. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
- ↑ Swenson, J. (Editor) (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 135. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
- ↑ "Mahavishnu Orchestra - Birds Of Fire". discogs.com. Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ↑ "Birds of Fire - Mahavishnu Orchestra | Awards | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 1 January 2014.