Bitches Brew (Remst)

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Product Details

Artist : Miles Davis
Binding : Audio CD
EAN : 0074646577424
Label : Sony, BMG Japan
Number of Discs : 2
Product Group : Music
Release Date : 1999-06-15
UPC : 746465774246

ASIN : B00000J7SS

Track Listings for

Disc-1
1. Pharaoh's Dance
2. Bitches Brew

Disc-2
1. Spanish Key
2. John McLaughlin
3. Miles Runs the Voodoo Down
4. Sanctuary
5. Feio [*]

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Editorial Reviews

The revolution was recorded: in 1969 Bitches Brew sent a shiver through a country already quaking. It was a recording whose very sound, production methods, album-cover art, and two-LP length all signaled that jazz could never be the same. Over three days anger, confusion, and exhilaration had reigned in the studio, and the sonic themes, scraps, grooves, and sheer will and emotion that resulted were percolated and edited into an astonishingly organic work. This Miles Davis wasn't merely presenting a simple hybrid like jazz-rock, but a new way of thinking about improvisation and the studio. And with this two-CD reissue (actually, this set is a reissue of the original set plus one track, perfect for the fan who's not so overwhelmed as to need the four-CD Complete Bitches Brew box), the murk of the original recording is lifted. The instruments newly defined and brightened, the dark energy of the original comes through as if it were all fresh. Joe Zawinul and Bennie Maupin's roles in the mix have been especially clarified. With a bonus track of "Feio"--a Wayne Shorter composition recorded five months later that serves both as a warm-down for Bitches Brew and a promise of Weather Report to come--this is crucial listening. --John F. Szwed

Customer Reviews

Am I doing something wrong? (2007-06-30)

OK, I don't know much about jazz - I kinda get lost after dave Brubeck - but I gave this a go because I read that it was an influence on Radioheads OK Computer, one of my favourite rock albums.But sorry, I just don't get it. I'm sure all these guys are very good musicians, but it's all just random noise to me. I'm sure it's my fault. Can anyone give me any clues what I'm doing wrong?

He's not another Zappa, but this is very addictive (2004-06-29)

Music is to be listened to. It's not to be applied as a reaction to one's social environment. If the derivative, formula-reliant, three-minute pop or rap ditty is all you really stick to, you might want to stay away from this...or even better, use it to force your ears open.

In the realm of "music for its own sake," this is among the most successful non-Zappa attempts to turn improvisation into composition.

Lovely, violent, insistent, original, dreamy, merciless, one-of-a-kind....this is a companion piece to the prior album, In a Silent Way, and scratches brain-itches that you didn't even know you had.

If it's too "weird" for you, listen to it about 20 more times and then come back and talk to me.

MUCH more interesting than Miles's earlier, more customary jazz. And what good is music unless it speaks for itself instead of reflecting a limited, bygone era?

Miles would never be a Coltrane or Parker on a blown instrument, and nor would he ever be a Zappa, Fripp, Emerson or Anderson, regarding combining previously segregated idioms like jazz, funk, classical and rock. But there's only one Bitches Brew in history, and your ears will thank you for it. It won't even need a label, a compartment, a square to draw around it.

A video game for the aural senses, a lotion for the lobes, caffeine for the blood and an adventure for any dreamer, it's an album that will let you down if you come to it expecting something in particular. Inversely, it will surpass your expectations if you keep your ears open and stay ready for anything.

the turning point in a prolific career (2004-06-24)

A lot of people go "I'm a big Miles Davis fan but Bitches Brew sucks. It's too loud and wandering and the tracks don't go anywhere." Maybe they have a point. Disc one is just two songs that are, like, 20 minutes each. The recording of these two features long repeated sections that were apparently spliced by tape by Teo Macero. The second disc has songs of a more manageable length, but the discordant jazz rock fusion is still too much for some people, even with songs like "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down."Artistically, he was building up to this for years, ever since the jam-oriented material of the late second quintet, much of it staying unreleased for years. He was allured by the rock stardom of the likes of Sly and the Family Stone and managed to lure some of the finest musicians anywhere (maybe back then they just had potential, it's hard to tell in this setting) to complete his daring vision. The fact is that this album (and also In a Silent Way) turned jazz on its ear, maybe for the worse, but its reversal of the conventions of form and its entire rejection of swing not only signaled that Miles Davis was never turning back, but jazz was never turning back. Miles davis derailed about six years after this, reappearing only to go further in the electronic direction until the early 90s, when Doo Bop found him costarring with subpar rappers. This album is one of the more fresh and listenable works of Miles' 70s electric period; many other works are even more overburdened with cocaine-addled masturbatory jam-orgies that drag on without semblance of melody or form or sometimes even time. This is one of the better representatives of a style that was radical in its inception, but which, for Miles at least, failed to go anywhere.

Absolutely The Most Groundbreaking Recording Ever (2004-06-20)

Still to this day the most groundbreaking recording ever...period!!!!!This one absolutely changed my listening habits in music forever. Don't believe me?...Turn out the lights and listen uninterupted, start-to-finish. I gaurntee it will make you a believer.

Give it time... (2004-06-15)

Considering that this album has some extremely talented artists, including John McLaughlin, Lenny White, and many more, the album is really a unique experience. It takes time, however. The first time I listened to it, I thought, What is this CRAP? Why is this claimed to be such a landmark? It took me a few listens before I really started liking it.

On the first disc, Miles experimented heavily with effects and tape loops (if you read the liner notes, it states that the real beginning of Bitches Brew actually begins at about the 3 minute mark). These songs are extremely lengthy, and over the 20-some minutes of experimentation, they surprisingly manage to maintain some highly listenable improvisation. Some people will find it really odd, and that is ok; I admit the music tends to loose its melody at times, but it never loses its intensity.

The second disc contains the same improvisation, only (from what I noticed), much more melodic and rhythmic. These songs tend seem to have a more traditional jazz layout, the bass and drums maintain pretty much the same throughout the songs, and the other instruments build on them and make it interesting. The beauty of these songs is the incredibly catchy bass lines, especially in Miles Runs the Voodoo Down and Spanish Key. John McLaughlin, naturally, does the majority of soloing on his self-titled song (although this song lacks Miles entirely). Sanctuary is a mellow ending, much like an electric Flamenco Sketches (which is on the album Kind of Blue). This is by far my favorite disc.

Many people compare this album to Kind of Blue or Rock'n'roll in general, and I find that a bit unfair. This album is really neither Jazz nor Rock in particular, its a fusion. However, I must advise that I found this album particularly more listenable after I became better accquainted with the jazz genre and Miles Davis' music. This album is really amazing, just listen carefully!

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