The back liner photo gives the impression of a grungy Midwestern garage band, but no, that doesn't describe this sophisticated jazz-rock quartet, which was simultaneously breaking into mass-market acceptance and away from the contemplative ECM stereotype. The arrangements are more structured, the playing often more intense and searching, with a more pronounced rock influence. On the title track,
Metheny
digs in and displays some authoritative rock-oriented licks and intensity, and the rhythms on
"The Search"
have a slight, at times asymmetrical Latin feeling. The nearly 13-minute
"The Epic"
finds the
group developing some real combustion in the improvised sections as
, keyboardist
Lyle Mays
, bassist
Mark Egan
and drummer
Danny Gottlieb
grow tighter as a unit. In hindsight, some of the music seems a bit too tightly conceived to allow adequate breathing room, but this is still high-quality jazz-rock for its time. ~ Richard S. Ginell