Pat Metheny Group – First Circle

The composer Stuart Greenbaum wrote his Masters thesis on the song "The First Circle". (Google "Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays The First Circle: transcription and analysis".) Somehow I think that tells you all you need to know.

Oh, and Metheny writes amazing ballads, like "Mas Alla", which is stunningly beautiful.

What a truly brilliant suite of music. I've enjoyed this album for many years and finally bought it again on vinyl. This particular pressing is wonderful, 3-dimensional soundstage with full range frequency response. Excellent mastering.

'First Circle' may not be the album on which the PMG sound comes together as a cohesive whole, but throughout its weird and sappy moments there's nothing but proof of the work of musical geniuses -and i swear that's not a term i use often-. Main concept throughout the album could be 'beauty', mind you: all i can make up from the album's title and artwork is that a rainbow was actually the first circle the primitives ever saw (delightfully dumb artwork this one has). But to shake things up they just had to open the whole thing with the stupidest track they ever recorded only for the hell of it. Only to soon reach the heavens with the title track, which has such an uplifting power to it i wouldn't EVER want to meet someone who could remain untouched by it. Acoustic guitar ballads, trickily timed stravaganza, countless layers of synths, stylish solos and the phantasmagorical gem of "Más Allá" with the best use of Pedro Aznar they ever did. Definitely besting their previous recordings, not yet reaching the best which was yet to come, developing that special PMG sound, which to this day remains an enigma to me, as in: how come a band taking cues from so many genres and world influences, who were constantly trying new stuff and whose records were as conceptually and musically eclectic as this one is, achieved such an unmistakable sound of their own, which remains as unique to this day as it ever was? Sound that is, no doubt, the very reason why people either loves the band or hates it.

About the record, again, a mixed bag. But a mixed bag i couldnt have developed my love for music without. Couldn't have learned that music could be this beautiful, this silly, this precise and this expressive, without this record. One of my favourite records ever.

Methany was probably the biggest seller on the ECM label, and he certainly had his moments, but for me, he's one of the least interesting and least enjoyable artists on the label, often either boring or annoying. On the other hand, this set is full of surprises and quite interesting for the most part. Even when it gets a bit boring, it usually remains enjoyable. It makes me wonder if I should at least sample more of his releases.

-- winch (Green Noise Records)

Review by Richard S. Ginell
In First Circle, the Pat Metheny Group settled into a lineup that lasted for quite a while -- with Metheny, keyboardist Lyle Mays, bassist Steve Rodby, and new drummer Paul Wertico forming the core quartet. The ever-restless Metheny also mixes up the music, not quite leaving the Brazilian glide behind but coming up with some fascinating permutations always affixed with his personal stamp. "Forward March," the album opener, is a bizarre parody full of detuned instruments and half-cocked trumpet from Mays; one wonders if this was directed at a few silly skirmishes of the day (Grenada? the Falklands?). "The First Circle" has Brazilian elements, but now in the service of a grander architectural context, while nothing could be simpler and yet more sophisticated than the delicate ballad "If I Could." "End of the Game" might be the best track on the record, equipped with a beautiful pop-flavored set of tunes and harmonies, with a rock beat fused to the floating ambience of South America as personified by the new Argentine percussionist/vocalist Pedro Aznar. "Praise," the closer, is an out-and-out rock tune, an affirmative flip side of "Forward March" and the last of a series of delightful surprises.