On The Corner
by Miles Davis

Fucking Miles Davis. Just when you thought he'd already broken more new ground and created more timeless masterpieces than could ever be matched, he drops this piece of fusion genius, which is probably the most ambitious thing Davis ever released in his career. And I mean this is fucking Miles Davis we're talking about. Made really just as an attempt to reconnect with a younger audience who had strayed from jazz, Davis ended up crafting what would later be seen as an important forerunner of everything from post-punk to drum'N'Bass. He played with weird structures and repetition and all kinds of avant-whatever else he felt like screwing with because he's Miles fucking Davis. He mastered the electronic music aesthetic before electronic music was really even a thing. As "out there" as all this sounds, throw in some funk and still maintain some jazz, and what could have been a Stockhausen tribute instead becomes a funky as fuck Stockhausen tribute album. The avant-garde has never been so catchy.

It’s not surprising that, upon its initial release, On the Corner was met with not only critical scorn projected by those who just really didn’t get what they were listening to, but with a massive backlash from anyone who had been a dedicated fan of Davis’ jazz for any great amount of time. To them, this album must’ve felt like a complete abandonment, a monstrosity that marked the fall of a giant. But really it was quite the opposite; Miles Davis had hit a point where his artistic ambitions required him to advance sonically, and so advance he did. Fuck anyone who didn’t like it. Oh and I’m sure the shocking offense which was the actual music of this album was only worsened by those who cared to look into those credited, because holy shit what a lineup. Prominent featurings of everyone from Chick Corea to John McLaughlin to Herbie Hancock (just to name a few), what could possibly go wrong? Well in the eyes of the 70s jazz community, everything. In actuality, not a goddamn thing. No matter how many unexpected sounds are thrown at you, not matter how unfamiliar this album is from most anything the average listener is likely to have heard, its “weirdness” is the furthest possible thing from a hindrance on what is, in the end, an album without fault. Though I can’t really make statements like that when On The Corner doesn’t exactly have any peers to which I should be comparing it to judge its relative awesomeness. Though I’m sure if it did, they would all fall flat.

tl;dr I agree with Borve

From Nobodyisemo 06/24/2016 05:16 | #169616 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Hypnotic, it dripped on me on the schoolbus and I watched the men in yellow hats with jackhammers make music.

From Amirkhosro 11/24/2016 21:45 | #179084 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Ever wondered what Ambient Punk is?

From NowhereMan 09/01/2014 23:07 | #121019 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

A wonderful whirlwind of groovy chaos. I love this.

From RoundTheBend TOP 100 COMMENTER 04/13/2013 12:51 | #72803 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

Hahaha, nice review Borve... this is funk, and I actually love Funk, Sly and the Family Stone and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are honestly 2 of my favorite bands... and then Miles Davis playing with it... I actually like this better than Bitches Brew...

So far Vote For Miles and Black Satin are some of the best compositions I have ever heard.