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This remains one of the most important records in my life. Bought, oddly, when I was 15 and a big fan of Deep Purple and an acolyte of loud guitars. It wasn’t the sort of music 15-year-olds liked but I loved it. I didn’t have to try, it was a perfect fit for my brain.
I didn’t know how revolutionary and influential it was. In fact, I don’t know why I bought it brand new and not second hand. I must have heard it somehow. Of course, to a guitar obsessed kid, it was perfect. McLaughlin’s twin-necked Gibson is set on stun, played fast and loud and there are moments when it’s almost out of control but it’s always melodic and accessible.
Matching the guitar is Billy Cobham’s drums, often in sync with the guitar, following the riffs, adding syncopation. Previously, a drum seemed to be just there to keep the beat, not demand your attention.
Even listening now, it remains intense and feels … spiritual, or at least yearning for something yearning for the spiritual. And when you’re 15 your brain is very malleable and it gets moulded by your experiences. So it was for me, with this record. I couldn't have articulated where it took me, mind, but I knew it was away from my daily life.
I’m struck now that my relationship with the music remains the same. It hasn’t changed. Maybe it should have but it still delivers a magical, spiritual quality and now I realise most of it is recorded live, particularly on The Noonward Race where you can hear him try to make the guitar deliver bursts of frantic playing, then tries to stop it in favour of the violin, but can’t quite manage it and it spills over. At one point, he plays the same riff time and again, adding a beat each time, it’s a triumph of technique and yet it doesn't feel cold or robotic.
It didn’t chart in the UK but made #89 in the USA and paved the way for the more successful Birds Of Fire which made the top 20 on both sides of the Atlantic.
