In a Silent Way

Two Joe Zawinul days in a row. This one much better than the last. Loved the repetitive groove of the first track especially.

2 tracks, side A and side B, of improv jazz. Chilled out background music, just a serious vibes album. The trumpet man is gonna take you to the unknown destination, and we're gonna have fun along the way.

Thoroughly enjoyed Miles Davis embracing a minimalist approach and the innovations he adds. More approachable that the later electric work like Bitches Brew. I especially like the reprise on In a Silent Way, kind of the second half of side two, where the guitar plays an ostinato that reminds of Eno's Music for Airports I, the melody kind of revolving around itself without ever fully resolving. Innovative and lovely. Really subtle, bears repeated listens.

Two wonderful pieces, even if I don't really understand jazz yet. I got properly lost in the music, to the point of doing nothing except listening - which I rarely manage to do. An unexpected joy, which I'm sure I'll enjoy even more when I come back to it - and I certainly will return.

Not bad, but not my favorite Miles.

Het eerste nummer is veel te vaag. Het doet me daardoor niet veel. 1 ster.

In het tweede nummer is de repeterende basis catchy. Bijna triphop, met daaromheen geen zang maar getoeter. 3,5 ster.

Gemiddeld: een 2 plus

Solid jazz. Was great to do work and play chess to. Don’t think I would listen to it by itself.

This really blew me away. I've only listened to Miles Davis' most well known albums; Birth of the Cool, So What, Bitches Brew, etc. But hadn't gotten around to this one yet. The playing and the grooves are fantastic on this, I can see why it's so well regarded. It's a very obvious precursor to the very improvisational Bitches Brew too. Really makes me want to check out more of Dave Holland and Chick Corea's solo work as well.

Am I a bad person for not getting it? I'm can just feel someone in a velvet jacket with an impeccably waxed 'stashe and a jaunty Gitanes hanging out the of corner of his mouth calling me an "uncouth clod". Yes, they're talented. Yes, it's a pleasant enough sound. But where are the feels?

Maan I should listen to more jazz WHAT an experience...

Ei mikään suosikki Davis, mutta ei tosiaan mikään huono levykään. 3.5/5

Not another Miles Davis album.... How many of these are on this list? This will be my third album of his reviewed thus far. This is the album right before Bitches Brew, which I reviewed a week ago. This is the start of that exploratory/experimental electric jazz that he continued to explore on Bitches Brew. I didn't enjoy it last week, and I still don't enjoy it today.

The trumpet is an instrument fashioned by the devil to irritate the fuck out of people, and give them headaches; At least when the player is "experimenting" with the sounds it can make. If you're playing in a register that only dogs can hear, you can fuck off with your shrill sounding trumpet.

I've learned that Herbie Hancock played keyboard on the first song, Shhh/Peaceful. That could explain why I disliked that song more than the second song. At least this album only consisted of 2 "songs" at 20 mins a piece, so it was over relatively quickly, but my God, how hard is it to have an idea, shape it into a song with a hook, and a structure, and record it? I like some smooth jazz, but this experimental bullshit is just garbage. Bad enough that they included 1 of these shitty albums, but 2? Fuck off.

Favourite song: In A Silent Way, I guess...

Least favourite song: by process of elimination, Shhh/Peaceful

1/5

I love the mood he creates here, especially on the title track. It sets the template for his working style going forward through the 70s creating albums from editing extended jams. Although Bitches Brew gets the lion's share of attention from this era, I find this album to be largely more listenable.

Wasn’t sure about listening to another Jazz fusion album, as although I respect bitches brew personally I find it a really hard listen. This was much more accessible, great album feels parts of the guitar on the second song remind me a bit of mogawi so clearly years ahead of it’s time, this is now probably my second favourite miles Davis album after kind of blue.

I'm in favor of most jazz most of the time, and I really have been enjoying hearing from this 60s-70s era where historically, rock would've been in the process of completely overtaking the airwaves, and so the jazz artists start getting up to even more ambitious experiments. YES, I like jam music, YES I like prog,

Never thought I'd get moved again in such a way by an album. Absolute masterpiece.

Two tracks, 40 minutes, kind of perfect.

A chill soundscape that apparently pioneered the genre of Jazz fusion. Not much music or material there to really hang your "this is genius" hat on, in my opinion, but I can appreciate that this represents a milestone in modern jazz.

No matter how much the generator and the book try to get me to like Jazz, I just don't. I didn't turn it off, but I can't see a time I'll put it on again.

I never feel up to the task writing down my thoughts about giant albums like this. What can I say that’s not already been said? In cases like this, I just stay away from all reviews and scribble down my disjointed thoughts as I listen. This album is a music painting. I can hear the colors. The sounds are stroke patterns and wet paint, layer by layer, from the undefined center to the consummate edges.