Track Listing

1. Mind Ecology
2. Face To Face
3. Come On Baby Dance
4. With Me
5. Daffodil AndThe Eagle
6. Happiness Is Being
7. Together
8. Bridge Of Sighs
9. Get Down Of Sruti
10. Peace Of Mind

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12178 in Music
• Released on: 1998-03-23
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

John McLaughlin's best album - open-hearted and brilliant
This is the peak of the Shakti albums. It stands above the others, as its name suggests, because of its strongly melodic roots. Of the 8 (not 10!) tracks, only the first, "Mind Ecology" plays the rather one-dimensional speed-blues game of other Shakti pieces. The others are very varied and colourful, without lacking instrumental brilliance. In fact the playing is all the more impressive for being directed towards such human feelings. The standout track is "Get Down and Sruti", in which the band gives its own sly take on the reggae beat. You will still be skanking hours later.

Get Down & Sruti - Right on Mahavishnu!
McLaughlin's Shakti period climaxes on this album with an orgasmically spiritual brilliance that's hard to put into words.

His dazzling chops are paralleled by Indian instrumentalists of equally dazzling ability, Zakir Hussain etc. A lot of the time, even with McLaughlin, this can get tiresome, but not in this case.

Aside from the blistering 'Mind-Ecolgy', this is a fairly mellow album. And at all times it is atmosphere that transcends technique. This is an early world-music/fusion landmark. Both of those terms can lead to an involuntary gag-reflex, but beware, you could miss out on something stupefyingly beautiful!

The mixture of Tabla, Guitar (various numbers of string arrangements feature guitar-wise, with McLaughlin employing modified instruments with 'resonator' strings etc), Violin, and Mridangam, an Indian double-headed drum, is astonishingly rich (there are timbales on 'Happiness Is Being Together' too!). The music mixes ridiculously complex unison passages with long improvisations, though this is still the most focussed and jewel-like of the Shakti albums.

There's a joyful vibe here, hard to describe, but immeditaely discernable on listening. Highlights include the funky syncopation of 'Face to Face', 'Happiness Is Being Together', with it's wordless vocaling, the mournful 'Bridge Of Sighs' and 'Get Down & Sruti', with it's groovy tabla/percussion intro. Shakti's 3 album lifespan comes to an end with the heart-achingly beautiful 'Peace of Mind'. Talk about going out at your best! Essential.

Best album ever, by anyone
I've been listening to this cd for years, since a friend played it to me at university in about 1991. I then looked for it for about five years before stumbling upon it when I was living in Japan (at that time it was out of print everywhere else). All I can say is, it's beautiful! There's nothing else like it in the world. My personal favourites are the daffodil and the eagle, which has a very interesting climactic rhythmical structure, and get down and sruti, which I would say is more like a blues than a reggae - the highlight is Shankar's crazy, funky solo. get it, listen to it, and expand your mind and soul!