In Collection
#392
| Complete Science Fiction Sessions - Disc 1 |
60:57 |
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| 01
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What Reason Could I Give |
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03:07 |
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| 02
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Civilization Day |
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06:05 |
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| 03
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Street Woman |
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04:50 |
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| 04
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Science Fiction |
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05:02 |
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| 05
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Rock the Clock |
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03:17 |
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| 06
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All My Life |
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03:56 |
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| 07
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Law Years |
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05:22 |
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| 08
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Jungle Is a Skyscraper |
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05:27 |
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| 09
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School Work |
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05:36 |
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| 10
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Country Town Blues |
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06:25 |
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| 11
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Street Woman [Alternate Take][*] |
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05:46 |
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| 12
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Civilization Day [Alternate Take][*] |
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06:04 |
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| Complete Science Fiction Sessions - Disc 2 |
47:57 |
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| 01
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Happy House |
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09:47 |
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| 02
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Elizabeth |
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10:26 |
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| 03
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Written Word |
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09:44 |
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| 04
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Broken Shadows |
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06:42 |
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| 05
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Rubber Gloves |
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03:24 |
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| 06
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Good Girl Blues |
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03:05 |
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| 07
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Is It Forever |
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04:49 |
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| UPC (Barcode) |
074646356920 |
| Packaging |
Jewel Case |
| Spars |
DDD |
| Sound |
Stereo |
|
Ornette Coleman's first album for Columbia followed a stint on Blue Note that found the altoist in something of a holding pattern. Science Fiction was his creative rebirth, a stunningly inventive and appropriately alien-sounding blast of manic energy. Coleman pulls out all the stops, working with a variety of different lineups and cramming the record full of fresh ideas and memorable themes. Bassist Charlie Haden and drummers Billy Higgins and/or Ed Blackwell are absolutely indispensable to the overall effect, playing with a frightening, whirlwind intensity throughout. The catchiest numbers — including two songs with Indian vocalist Asha Puthli, which sound like pop hits from an alternate universe — have spacy, long-toned melodies that are knocked out of orbit by the rhythm section's churning chaos, which often creates a totally different pulse. Two tracks reunite Coleman's classic quartet of Haden, Higgins, and Don Cherry; "Street Woman" just wails, and "Civilization Day" is a furious, mind-blowing up-tempo burner. "Law Years" and "The Jungle Is a Skyscraper" feature a quintet with Haden, Blackwell, tenorist Dewey Redman, and trumpeter Bobby Bradford; both have racing, stop-start themes, and "Jungle"'s solos have some downright weird groaning effects. "Rock the Clock" foreshadows Coleman's '70s preoccupations, with Redman playing the musette (an Arabic double-reed instrument) and Haden amplifying his bass through a wah-wah pedal to produce sheets of distorted growls. The title track is a free septet blowout overlaid with David Henderson's echoed poetry recitations, plus snippets of a crying baby; it could sound awkward today, but in context it's perfectly suited to the high-octane craziness all around it. Science Fiction is a meeting ground between Coleman's past and future; it combines the fire and edge of his Atlantic years with strong hints of the electrified, globally conscious experiments that were soon to come. And, it's overflowing with brilliance.
