Miles Davis – Pangaea

Nothing to do with recording quality or mastering, just an observation.
In 1975 at the youthful age of 15 fed on a diet of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd I would listen regularly to the John Peel Radio Show. Then one day he played an entire side of Agharta and if it freaked the minds of “ Fans of Jazz” you can imagine what it did to mine . From there on in I went in search of the magical trio of Agharta, Pangaea and the very Dark Magus. Virtually impossible to find on LP as they weren’t released outside of Japan for many years I managed to get a copy of Agharta and it took until the CD era to actually get a listen to Pangaea and Dark Magus.
Here we are in what would be 2018 before I finally picked this up on record and guess what, it no longer sounds strange and outer worldly but just normal .It’s taken, well me any way , at least 40 or more years to catch up with what Miles was doing and I can still enjoy them to this day.

While Agharta might be the stronger of the two performances from Festival Hall, Pangaea is actually becoming more of a favorite for me. Case in point: the ending of Gondwana (Part II) on Pangaea concludes with some remarkably sensitive interplay between Cosey, Lucas, Mtume, and Foster, with Miles occasionally providing some complimentary organ. Paul Tingen argues that this last track "dissolves into entropy again, leaving Cosey alone on Synthi A to play out the concert," but to me it just sounds pleasant, emotional, and, at the very conclusion, pretty damn avant-garde. Also, the sound quality of the 1975 Japanese issue of Pangaea actually sounds cleaner to me than the '75 edition of Agharta--not sure why--with great separation between the instruments and, as wplj mentioned below, an "airy feeling." Worth it.

This pressing has a very airy feeling to it that I like. Balanced and nice, details emerge in this open landscape. Necessary for music like this.

Who is singing towards the end of Zimbabwe side B?

I have the '96 Japanese Sony Limited Edition (Mini-LP) CD issue and sounds great!!!! Love everything about this album!!! The tracks, track lengths (Love long songs, has more chances of being more creative but don't get me wrong, there are 3-5 minute songs that have changed my life!!), artwork, CD's themselves, and the overall presentation!!! People need to get this issue because not only of the KICK-ASS JAZZ-FUNK-ROCK ALBUM this is, but because of the 2-3 minutes worth of music that were cut from Gondwana! Gondwana starts off on the other issues with (from what I know so far but please correct if I'm wrong) Reggie Lucas playing a gentle, little wah-wah riff while Pete Cosey (or Mtume) plays a triangle for a moment and then Sonny Fortune comes in to lay it down and then it takes off!!! In the '96 version, it starts off Miles playing the Ife bassline on his Yamaha YC-45D Organ and then very subtle sounds soon follow and then it proceeds to the what happens in the previous sentence. For the ending of Gondwana on the other issues, Pete Cosey plays his synthesizer (Which almost sounds like a Predator!) then someone does a high pitch effect that almost resembles Sonny Fortune on his flute or it's probably him, I don't know. If someone knows who did that effect, please reply to me. Anyway, then Pete Cosey and Sonny Fortune (Or Mtume on his rhythm box) do some amazing tag team work on the ending then it fades. On the '96 version, you hear what happens afterwards that faded out on the other issues. What it sounds like blew my F**KING MIND!!! Around the 48 minute, I think, you hear some really cool sounds in the background towards the left channel and little bit of the center, what it sounds like, it could've been used for the scene in Conan the Barbarian (Original version) where the spirits are trying to take Conan's body and his soul while Valeria and Subotai are trying to hold him down, while Mako is in his hut, doing some funny ass mumbling!!! Anyway, this version I own is just truly amazing!! Got my copy for $49!!! Worth it!!! Oh one more, to Clippedwings, people who don't listen deeply enough to the music and use some shitty $10-$15 speakers from Walmart or Dollar General aren't getting the exact presentation that the artist intended!!! I have a Sony Mini Hi-Fi CD Player System and it's pretty good for my standards. The highs are clear, the mids are pretty good, and the lows are ever present, just have to raise the volume around 13-17 to hear the lows really good. But in the future, I want to get all the Klipsch Heritage Loudspeaker line-up. Heresy III, Forte III, Cornwall III, La Scala AL5, and the finally, the Klipschorn AK6's!!! And for Clippedwings, awesome comment!!!

What a damnfool response masquerading as a review. If you think Pangaea is potentially monumental, why not describe what it is that makes it so? Instead of offering a thoughtful critical response to the album, you reveal more about yourself than the music present. If you must blame somebody for why YOU don't like the music, blame Miles Davis. You better believe that he was in control, and if that hi-hat is loose, it is because Miles Davis wanted it that way. Some of us CAN hear the magic and beauty within, and are pleased to encourage others to find it for themselves.