Spyro Gyra Album: “Love & Other Obsessions”

Believe me, this album takes the mind into a new stratosphere beginning with the best cut, " Arianna ". This song in itself shows the ultimate creativity of a band that knows no boundaries when imagination and sexuality fuse into an ultimate orchestation. I turn this one track on and fell like I'm riding the mountain roads in Rio de Janeiro. My advice, have that special lady by your side for full effect of this one. You wont be disatisfied, promise.

Although it was strange listening to vocal tracks on a Spyro Gyra album, I thought that this album wasn't that bad. The sound quality for one was very good and the vocal tracks aren't as bad as some others I've heard on other smooth jazz artiste's albums. Overall, the themes are a little more serious and moody than what you'd expect from listening to say, "Collection" but the Love theme or in the case of the vocal tracks, Love Gone Wrong theme does come out very strongly and the cd booklet opens up into a shape of the cross, symbolising the greatest love of all. All in all, quite a well packaged cd and the music clearly reflects the theme of the title. Recommended for all smooth jazz/light pop instrumental lovers.

Este cd de Spyro Gyra es muy bueno. Buena mezcla de sonido, excelentes arreglos. Los dos temas cantados muy buenos (interesante la voz del cantante Billy Cliff) y como siempre maravillosa interpretación. Jay Beckenstaein extraordinario, como siempre. Vale la pena!!!

This was definitely a different type of CD for the jazz-fusion band Spyro Gyra. The first song Lost and Found is wonderful and is one of the highlights of this CD. Ariana is another great song which received a lot of airplay when this CD was new. The next song Serengeti is a latin-style song. I would rate it as okay. The song Fine Time To Explain is the first song on this CD to feature vocals. It is well-done!!! Next up is a fusion-style song called Third Street...this is another good song. Great drumming and sax playing!!! Group Therapy is one of my favorites...Listen to the bass line on this one! Horizon's Edge...is another good song that is typical of Spyro Gyra's lighter side of jazz...This is more of a smooth jazz selection. Dim the lights for this one. Let's Say Goodbye is a nice song featuring pop vocals. I can't say that it is one of my favorites. Yet another instrumental called On Liberty Road...good song. The next one is called Rockin' A Heart...this one kind of starts out sounding a lot like Tower of Power. Definitely a fine song! The last song is called Baby Dreams...yes, it's lights out here and time to go to sleep after this moody little interlude. If you like jazz fusion with some vocals you'll want Love And Other Obsessions! Enjoy!

I'm a longtime Spyro Gyra fan, but I have mixed feelings on this disc. I don't particularly like the two vocal pieces. They just don't add much to the Spyro Gyra flavor. Tracks one, five and seven are somewhat non-descript "sleepers". As with the closer, aptly named "Baby Dreams". You may note that this covers six out of the eleven tunes...so how did it even rate a 3?! Well, I really like the remaining five cuts! Number two has an upbeat tempo, a lot of movement, and at the 2:15 mark Julio takes off on nice guitar solo. "Serengeti" has a bouncy African rhythym and then switches gears into a Carribean feel...cool! Being a bass player myself, "Group Therapy" is one of my favorites! Newcomer Scott Ambush (he's actually been sitting in for several years), lights it up with some serious play. The tempo-slowing breaks seem odd, but Julio tears into a "Breakout" style solo at the 4:30 mark to take the song out. Song nine has a fun pulse and cut ten has an intersting feel that takes a mid-tempo bump at the two minute mark, lets Julio rock out in the middle and then drops back down to a more energetic version of the tune's beginning. So, as the name suggests, I "Love" portions of this album and have "Other" feelings about the remainder. Still, regardless of my rating, you almost can't go wrong with this group. Their timeless in the contemporary jazz field.