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Review by JW May 27, 2003 (4 of 4 found this review helpful)
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Performance:  Sonics: |
Once you make it through Miles Davis' traditional jazz period you end up with Miles Smiles, the start of the more improvisational Miles. By this time it's 1966. When I reviewed "Nefertiti" ('67) I called it a bridge to the more modern Miles. The same counts for this album, and perhaps even more so. It's more explorational than Nefertiti in my view, although both are cut from the same cloth so to speak. 'Miles Smiles' contains only one ballad ('Circle') and the rest is uptempo. Sometimes I get the feeling the band is in a hurry :-), and that is perhaps why I prefer "Nefertiti".
As opposed to the sadness one can hear in "Seven Steps To Heaven", here Miles does indeed smile. Assisted by Wayne Shorter they both use a more open horn technique (as opposed to muted) which also plays a role in giving this album its upbeat character. Sometimes asymetrical, at other times hard driving, pushed by Tony Willams' drumkit, the SACD nevers fails to hold your attention. But you have to be open to the more free and improvisational aspects of Jazz to appreciate this one.
Jw
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