CD-Charts Position 1
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Pat Metheny Group

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date July 01, 1988
I like much of Pat Metheny's music and have many of his albums but if I had to select one as a favourite, then this is it. It has great melodies, great improvisation and a generally upbeat and happy feel. It's one of the few "Jazz" albums you can put on in mixed company and get appreciative comments. There's no duff tracks nor any to break the mood, and it doesnt resort to blandness or cliches. One for the desert island, especially if there's a great bunch of friends and a barbie going!

CD-Charts Position 2
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Speaking of Now

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date February 18, 2002
All the elements from 'First Circle' onwards are in place, largely unchanged and starting to sound very tired indeed. Crucially there don't seem to be any of the strong melodies that lift PMG stuff out of the sumptuous supper-club slot its critics have long consigned it to (and where this album seems content to reside). Usual excellent musicianship but wasted on irritatingly tepid pieces with push-button hustling rhythms. Sounds like the latest one ('The Way Up') might work harder to actually deliver some living music - shame to waste as much talent as resides in this group.

CD-Charts Position 3
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Pat Metheny Group-Way Up [Blu-ray] [2005]

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date July 30, 2007
At last a release that will make you want to go out and buy a high definition player. This is far better than the standard DVD release! That is in terms of picture quality and sound. The several movement piece is pretty astonishing. This composition coming in at just over an hour brings together what the group has done since its inception in the late 70's and includes a pastiche of Metheny's musical aspects over this period. This long piece was written in response to our modern leanings towards short soundbites, simplicity or dumbing down in music due to the increasing commercial pressures of mass culture in the media,radio and record companies. It takes several listenings to more fully appreciate whats going in this piece and there is a lot complex ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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Travels

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date August 01, 1986
I had become aware of Pat Metheny from the TV screening of Joni Mitchell - Shadows and Light, when this young guy went into this guitar solo whose tone and phrasing were like nothing heard before on Earth. I had always responded to music visually and did not yet know that this condition was called synaesthesia, and to this day feel sorry for those who cannot share this experience. With Pat's solo it was like someone was painting the whole sky with a huge brush of liquid silver, accompanied by a feeling of utter tenderness and compassion. (No drugs, honest)

Soon after, a friend of mine tracked down this album, Travels, and my first hearing was of the majestic opening track, Are you Going With Me? surging from his open attic window, across ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
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The Way Up

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date February 07, 2005
I think this work will become a jazz classic. To me it is a synthesis of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays work over the last 20 years or so but is in no way a retrospective. Having seen this incarnation of the group live you can see a new dynamic and can hear it on this album.

Though the music is not challenging like some of Pats recordings it does take a few run throughs to pick up the compositional thread. Give it a chance.

The cover art is great too!

CD-Charts Position 6
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Quartet

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date August 06, 2003
I've had a love/hate relationship with Metheny's work for about twenty five years. I don't care a bit for his Trio work and his Brazilian influenced recordings are a bit too sweet for me. Having seen him in concert a half dozen times I can attest that even the stuff I don't like on CD is excellent in concert. The Group is simply that good! However, he and Lyle have done some things which I've considered to be utterly sublime: Travels, Offramp, Imaginary Day, AFWSFWF, Pat Metheny Group and Bright Size Life. I consider all these to be HIGHLY original works and would not hesitate to classify them as masterpieces. And....I put "Quartet" in this category. Yes friends, I think VERY highly of Quartet. I can understand why some would dislike, or even ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
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Pat Metheny Group-the Way Up [HD DVD] [2005]

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date October 30, 2006
I've had a love/hate relationship with Metheny's work for about twenty five years. I don't care a bit for his Trio work and his Brazilian influenced recordings are a bit too sweet for me. Having seen him in concert a half dozen times I can attest that even the stuff I don't like on CD is excellent in concert. The Group is simply that good! However, he and Lyle have done some things which I've considered to be utterly sublime: Travels, Offramp, Imaginary Day, AFWSFWF, Pat Metheny Group and Bright Size Life. I consider all these to be HIGHLY original works and would not hesitate to classify them as masterpieces. And....I put "Quartet" in this category. Yes friends, I think VERY highly of Quartet. I can understand why some would dislike, or even ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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Letter from Home

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date August 24, 1998
Pat Metheny has made a very accessible yet musically-rich album that should appeal to the majority. Many of the numbers move so quickly that you sometimes feel that you can't keep pace with the rhythm hence resulting in a really "feel good" factor. The mood is Latin-American throughout with strong bass, drums, guitar, piano and harmonies. Its hard to pick a favourite..they are all excellent. "Beat 70" is particularly stimulating while the mood and beat is slowed down for the most fabulous love song "Dream of the Return".
To be played regularly in any interesting cafe...

CD-Charts Position 9
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Travels [VINYL]

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date July 01, 1983
Pat Metheny has made a very accessible yet musically-rich album that should appeal to the majority. Many of the numbers move so quickly that you sometimes feel that you can't keep pace with the rhythm hence resulting in a really "feel good" factor. The mood is Latin-American throughout with strong bass, drums, guitar, piano and harmonies. Its hard to pick a favourite..they are all excellent. "Beat 70" is particularly stimulating while the mood and beat is slowed down for the most fabulous love song "Dream of the Return".
To be played regularly in any interesting cafe...

CD-Charts Position 10
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American Garage [VINYL]

by: Pat Metheny Group

Release Date October 17, 1990
I am obviously in a minority, and while Metheny is an undeniably talented guitarist and his recording of Steve Reich's "Electric Counterpoint" is one of my favourite pieces of music, this album has left me cold ever since I first bought it second hand on vinyl a number of years ago. At the time I misread the title as "American Garbage" thinking that this was some early precursor of Blur's "Modern Life Is Rubbish" and certain that any recording which pronounces itself to be "Garbage" could only be anything but.

Years on, and the Touchstones re-issues stoked my interest in seeing whether I have been labouring under a misapprehension. Credit where credit is due: I have to admit that the cd re-release sounds good, much cleaner than my vinyl version but the actual ... Read More: