Spectrum

They call this album a classic of the "fusion" genre. I think labels were more important then - looking back, there was actually a lot of fusion around in the early 70's that wasn't called fusion. This album certainly defies simple description. The record has some amazing and unique music on it. It is very much "a moment in time": 4 musicians, all at the height of their game, feeding of each other to produce some razor sharp improvisation. It was also recorded with the minimum of fuss and over-dubbing - and with musicians like these, you don't need it! Alas, downsides of that moment in time are the 4 short tracks inter-dispersed amongst the gems that really are throw-away self-indulgences that littered so many albums of the early seventies. The sheer eclectic mix and quality of the main tracks is such however, that one can easily overlook and skip the 2 minute drum solo called "Anxiety", the electronic blips that are "Snoopy's search", or some nice phrases of piano music that fade out into nothing after 50 seconds or so. The album explodes with "Quadrant": four minutes of storming double kick pedal from Billy Cobham and driving bass (from Lee Sklar), whilst Tommy Bolin and Jan Hammer trade solos and duet on guitar and moog, respectively. If you drive with this on, watch out for speed cameras! "Spectrum" (title track) is a cooler jazzier number with flute and brass giving it a faintly Brazilian feel, with some nifty, subtle drumming from Cobham in the background. "Taurian Matador" gets back to the Moog sound from "Quadrant", but is a funkier groove. Next up, "Stratus" is a true work of genius. Shift forward a few minutes in this piece and you have driving repetitive bass thundering along, again with Bolin and Hammer calling and responding with sheer beauty. And just when you think it's all over, it keeps going, and Hammer grinds in low range synth before the final climax. "Le Lis" goes contrasts totally by going back into a slow, airy, summery sound with a flute sound doing the melody and Cobham giving a conga backing: probably the most serene track on the CD and, if your into 70's noise big time, this is one your partner will like. The final track on the original album (Red Baron) reminds me of Steely Dan, but really there are few parallels to the sounds on this record. I scored this with 5 despite the silly tracks. Given the silly short indulgent tracks on the album, I might be tempted to advice to buy a compilation (eg Billy Cobham Chronology or Anthology has all the good tracks I mentioned above, without the flotsam and jetsam). I scored this with 5 despite the silly tracks. And you also get to hear more of Cobhams work: a stunning technical master of the drums, but also a great composer and band leader. I have tried to describe this album: better get it though and see for yourself. If you are a rock or heavy jazz musician into "structured" improvisation, this will not disappoint.

I have a Music on Vinyl pressing of this fantastic album but couldn’t resist getting this Rhino, Kevin Gray mastered version when it was released earlier in 2024. Sounds fantastic. There’s a snare hit on one of the tracks on side 2 which made me jump out of my seat. Oh, if you don’t know this album, have a listen to the track Stratus… when it kicks in, you’ll recognise it.

Cobham's debut solo project released in 1973. This vinyl pressing is spectacular- the soundstage and imaging is impressive with true 3 dimensional holographic quality. The deep bass and drumming are quite an experience as they travel through your body!

great drumming

Got this CD cheap having heard about it a lot. Stuck it on the CD player and discovered that the riff from “safe from harm” on the Massive Attack “Blue Lines” Album was stolen from here. You learn something new every day.

It’s brilliant…

This is an awesome cd with musicianship second to none

The much sampled Stratus alone makes this album worthwhile. But it also includes other proto funk classics, as well as more downbeat chilled pieces. Allround brilliant indelible proto-funk masterpiece!

Product arrived sooner than expected in perfect condition. Pretty great music

Billy Cobhamが1973年にリリースしたソロ1stアルバム。参加メンバーはTommy Bolin（Guiter）、Jan Hammer（Electric Piano,Piano [Acoustic Piano], Synthesizer [Moog]）、Leland Sklar（Bass [Fender Bass] ）、Ron Carter（Acoustic Bass）等です。本作品ではBilly Cobham、Tommy Bolin、Jan Hammer三人の熱いバトルが繰り広げられ特にBilly Cobhamの手数が多い超絶技巧ドラミングが堪能出来ます。本作品はTommy BolinがDeep Purpleに加入するきっかけを作った事（特に楽曲『Quadrant 4』での圧巻なギターソロ）でも有名でありそれだけ素晴らしい演奏だと言えます。4.0chのマルチ音源は基本フロントがドラムス、リアがギターおよびキーボードでたまに逆サイドに回る事もあり次にどのような展開になるのかワクワクさせられます。音の分離も良くマルチchと三人のバトルが相乗効果を生み出し一層素晴らしい作品に仕上がっていると思います。

For my money Spectrum is one of the best Jazz Fusion albums of all times and the 180 gram vinyl format allows it to shine even brighter. The price offered by Amazon was very reasonable and the delivery arrived promptly. All up this has been a good experience.

Muito bom, sonoridade excelente. Vale a pena esse clássico.

One of my favorite jazz/fusion albums. Billy Cobham is so very talented.