I'm going to buy it after sampling a few of the tracks on Spotify... It's not comparable with the ECM-releases; soundwise it's closer to 'Secret Story', but with more unity in its production. I need more time with it to call it 'a masterpiece', but so far it think it's a great album!
I've had a couple of listens to From This Place now... i like it, don't love it at this stage. Similar reaction that i had to Kin. Favourite song currently is Pathmaker. This is one of those albums, again a bit like Kin, where there is nothing wrong with it... it's objectively good but it will be in the ear of the behearer as to whether it moves you or not. All i'll say is that your prediction is probably correct, either way. Slight downer for me is the political title track... not going to get in to it one way or the other (obviously can't discuss politics here regardless) but i just prefer not to be reminded of such things when listening to a Pat Metheny album lol. Combined with the album cover it just kind of casts a shadow over the whole thing. I prefer "Better Days Ahead" Pat to "The Sky Is Falling" Pat.
Judging from the song titles alone, it doesn't strike me as a "Better Days Ahead" album. And then there's that cover photo. I dunno? I'll have to mull it over a bit more about whether I want to buy a copy.
Bright Size Life is still my favorite Metheny album. Besides his obviously great melodic playing you get stellar Jaco Pastorius to boot. Such a great album.
Just some more thoughts on From This Place for what it's worth... the first 5 tracks total approx. 42 minutes and are a nigh on perfect Pat Metheny LP. Tracks 6-10 are not bad but i can live without them at this stage; not that i'm dismissing them outright, they're not bad songs and there's plenty of room for them to grow on me, but for now i'm just enjoying tracks 1-5 as a wonderfully tight Pat Metheny album... it's like tracks 1-5 alone it's a 9.5/10 PM album, tracks 1-10 it's a 7/10 PM album for me at time of writing.
It is a great album. But it's tough for me to pick out one album as best because he was always exploring. And his PMG albums went in a different direction than his non-PMG offerings. I love his duet album with Charlie Haden, Beyond The Missouri Skies. I also love his album of John Zorn, Tap. Those are both as great as BSL, to me.
xybert, there's something to be said for the old album length records. These 70 + minute CDs aren't always successful. Secret Story was an exception.
Nice to see I’m not the only one who feels this way. This would have made an excellent album at 45 minutes, give or take. As it stands, it loses me on the back end. I’m not sure the orchestra adds much to the proceedings, and I could do without the song. I’ll give it a few more listens and see how it goes but looking into the crystal ball, this may be a future donation to my local library.
Heads-up, U.S. West Coasters: Metheny Side-Eye (James Francies [keyboards, piano] and drummer Marcus Gilmore) dates are beginning to be posted for Sept / Oct, including a date at Monterey Jazz Festival. Stay on the look-out.
We've quickly moved from complaining he hasn't released anything for too long, to complaining that he released something too long.
For me the first half is worth the price of admission, so i'm pretty happy, but like @AnalogueAndy the second half loses me.
I'm sorry if this is the wrong thread for this question, and I did do a search before posting this question a couple of different ways to see if this question had been covered elsewhere but was unable to find anything, but I was wondering if anyone would be able to comment on which particular CD's of the ECM years stuff are the best sounding to get. I have the originals of all of the ones that I want (sorry, but I was never able to get into "American Garage" or "Rejoicing"), and I also have the SACD of "Bright Size Life" and the Gold CD's of "Pat Metheny Group, Offramp", and "As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls", and I do seem to hear an improvement on those particular CD's, but I would love to hear more input. Unfortunately, the SACD's are wayyyyy pricey, as are the Gold CD's of Bright Size Life and New Chautauqua, the later of which I only have the original. I also have a recent copy of the "Travels" live 2 CD.
Seeing Pat Metheny tonight. Palais , Melbourne. Pre drinks at the unrecognizable Prince of Wales hotel.... New album very good. Piano heavy. Reminds me of PMG circa L.Mays sound.
I’m enjoying his new album From This Place...it’s a grower. Nice vinyl too. Being picky, the artwork for a gatefold could have been great, given the cover, but you do get some nice liner notes.
Parallel realities is such a great album. I allways thought it's more a Metheny disc rather then a DeJohnette album. I remember when I bought this CD, when it came out, in 1990. I thought "this is timeless music, it's up to date now, and it will be modern after 50 years too". Well, now we are 30 years further, and I still think so. And then, let it be said: it SOUNDS so good... it is a really audiophile pressing. (normal red book CD!) Now playing in my cd-s3000. When it had ended... I pushed that 《play》 button again....
Thanks for this! It was great to see those fresh faces and bell bottoms again. The playing was great too. Man those 43 years went by fast. All Metheny fans check this out.
I continue to be impressed by PM's latest. 24/96 dl sound great and it really lets you hear the real orchestra. I never cared for the orchestrion.
I've listened to a few of the new masters (7/31/20) on Qobuz. They sound great to me. I compared San Lorenzo (I did not level match, except by ear) and I thought the Qobuz stream was a definite improvement over my CD. It sounded clearer, with better definition, more alive, very dynamic. From JazzTimes: For the first time ever, ECM Records is releasing Pat Metheny’s full 11-album catalog on the label for high-resolution downloads and streaming. Classic Metheny albums such as Bright Size Life, Offramp, and 80/81 are included as part of this initiative, which spans from 1976 to 1984. “The main premise in digitizing the Pat Metheny tapes was not to change the sound of the recordings, but to realize them in the original form, in the best possible quality,” explains ECM mastering engineer Christoph Stickel. “The work was based on the original, analogue stereo master tapes. The masters are in very good condition and can be played without problems. All tapes were played by a Studer A820, which was meticulously calibrated to the respective tape. The analog signal was digitized in 96kHz/24-bit, which covers the complete spectrum of the original bands. In each case, a decision was made between a PrismSound ADA-8XR, an Antelope Eclipse Mastering AD, and a Mytek Brooklyn ADC, depending on which one suited best the respective recording. No de-noising and no other restoration affecting the sound was carried out.” The albums in question are: Bright Size Life (1976) Watercolors (1977) Pat Metheny Group (1978) New Chautauqua (1979) American Garage (1979) 80/81 (1980) As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (1981) with Lyle Mays Offramp (1982) Travels (1983) Rejoicing (1984) First Circle (1984)