Electromagnets

Writing in 2005--has it really been 30 years? In 1975, I was a 19 year-old guitar player in what might have been the only other fusion band in Texas (Denton, that is). When I heard Eric Johnson and the Electromagnets, I almost deep-sixed my axe...except it was so inspiring. Johnson had such sparkling agility--and not just in terms of speed, but variations of sound, melodic contour, feedback control. He could get such a light, woody, singing tone (out of what I think was his Gibson 335), like no one else we'd heard.Somehow, we got ahold of dubs not long after the sessions were recorded, and I listened until the music, and particularly Johnson's playing, was burned into my brain (though my fingers couldn't catch up). But I hadn't heard this music since I more or less retired my turntable. Then I found the CD. I wondered: How would it hold up?Magnificently. This really was one of the best fusion records from that time, and I can't say I've heard much since then that matches it in youthful exuberence, a glowing sense of excited discovery, yet a modest grace. I suppose one could criticize some of the writing as being overly episodic, not quite convincing. And surely there is better-sounding live material out there than the two additions to the original LP. But those are quibbles. I played the first cut for a 71-year old artist buddy of mine, and he said, "Wow!" You will, too.

This is the best fusion release you may have never heard.Originally recorded as a demo-tape and then re-mastered for its 1975 independent release, the Austin, Texas-based band clicked musically, especially with the interplay between guitarist Eric Johnson and keyboardist/vocalist Stephen Barber - comparable with John McLaughlin & Jan Hammer in the Mahavishnu Orchestra - whose work on electric piano, organ and mini-Moog synthesizer is scintillating.The group included Kyle Brock (b) and Bill Maddox (d), though several guests appear, including vocalist Chris Geppert, who later raced up the pop charts as Christopher Cross.This re-issue includes two live cuts and a new cover. This is an absolute gem, which demonstrates - again - that when the major labels miss on a pitch from a solid band, they fan with a Ruthian swing.

I've always been an enormous fan of the great Eric Johnson and his utterly awe-inspiring abilities with electric and acoustic instruments (guitars or keyboards of all sorts). It's great that this music that Eric basically "cut his musical teeth on" has survived to this day so that the world can learn just how wonderful a guitarist he was then and remains to this very day.

This album was a fantastic find! I didn't realize it was available until recently and it was a fantastic blast of jazz/rock fusion. Eric Johnson is stellar, but the whole band is excellent throughout. For fans of Return to Forever, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Dixie Dregs and other 70s guitar-driven fusion, this is a must have.

If you want to hear early Eric Johnson on guitar, this is the disc to get. His playing, as well as the entire band's, is excellent and this 1975 set holds up very well with time and repeat plays.

I missed this band when they were around during the "Fusion Era". Familiar with Eric Johnson's solo work. Good stuff! I recommend!

You have to love guitar to love this album.I have an Eric Johnson Strat. I guess I love this album.

I love Eric Johnson, and the rest of the musicians here are quite goodThis album reminds me, mercifully, why atonal guitar music has diedRemind me of the influences here, Thelonious Monk and the sound a trash compactor makes when you crawl inside it?

<tones>以前のEric Johnsonのプレイが聴きたくて購入。フュージョンをコンパクトかつスマートに弾きこなしており、20 歳そこそことは思えない大人の演奏で驚きました。