ProJazz.net

The Inner Mounting Flame is the debut studio album by multinational jazz-rock fusion band Mahavishnu Orchestra, released in August 1971 by Columbia Records. After their formation, the group performed several debut gigs before they entered the studio to record their first album featuring all original material written by guitarist John McLaughlin.

Reception.

The AllMusic review by Richard S. Ginell awarded the album 5 stars out of 5 and wrote that The Inner Mounting Flame “is the album that made John McLaughlin a semi-household name, a furious, high-energy, yet rigorously conceived meeting of virtuosos that, for all intents and purposes, defined the fusion of jazz and rock a year after Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew breakthrough”.

Track listing:
All tracks composed by John McLaughlin.

Side one
1. “Meeting of the Spirits” 6:52
2. “Dawn” 5:10
3. “The Noonward Race” 6:28
4. “A Lotus on Irish Streams” 5:39

Side two
1. “Vital Transformation” 6:16
2. “The Dance of Maya” 7:17
3. “You Know You Know” 5:07
4. “Awakening” 3:32

Personnel:
Mahavishnu Orchestra:
John McLaughlin – guitar
Rick Laird – bass
Billy Cobham – drums, percussion
Jan Hammer – keyboards, organ
Jerry Goodman – violin

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Released: November 3, 1971
Recorded: August 14, 1971
Length: 46:15
Label: Columbia
Producer: John McLaughlin