Shadowfax - Watercourse Way. 1976 USA-Illinois

Shadowfax were a band from Chicago, who made a name for themselves on the New Age specialty label Windham Hill back in the 1980s and 90s. Watercourse Way is their debut from many years prior to that, and has very little in common with the sound that made them famous. Here Shadowfax is following the same footsteps as fellow Windy City denizens Streetdancer. That is to say, a band who studied Mahavishnu Orchestra's Inner Mounting Flame, and made a go of it. There are some ferocious instrumentals here (and one vocal) track, and fans of intense jazz rock/fusion are highly encouraged to pursue. There are two acoustic pieces, one a Medieval styled walk in the park ('Petite Aubade'). The other is the title track, an Asian styled piece similar to Oregon. These latter 2 would be the blueprint for their future.

For what seems most of my life, I was informed that the CD was inferior to the original LP. Truth be told, I only knew the album's sound via the CD so I didn't know the difference. I bought a sealed LP copy some 25 years ago - but I never wanted to break it! Typical record collector... In any case, it turns out the LP is still a sub $5 album, so I bought another one in shrink just to listen to it and compare. I haven't heard this album in forever, and possessed no musical memory of it, so I started with the vinyl for the comparison and then listened to the CD. Honestly I don't think there's that much difference. For certain, the CD sounds much better. The mix is far more clear, and the 2 acoustic tracks really shine better here - which isn't surprising given the heritage of both the band and the label at this point. As for the heavier tracks, I hear the keyboards moved up front a bit more, but it isn't like they hid the fiery guitar (not sure how one could do that to be honest). Nor did they erase the mellotron or anything crazy like that (I had read that they did too, jeesh folks don't pay attention do they?). The only flub up I see is the album cover. They really should have used the cool nature setting of the original LP. But I can understand why they wanted to use their standard aesthetic. I do appreciate the rougher original too. So I think it's worth keeping both (or all 3 in my case lol).

Ownership: LP: 1976 Passport. Single sleeve. Own two copies as noted above (one sealed). The sealed copy was acquired at the Record Exchange in Kansas City (1991)

CD: 1985 Lost Lake Arts. Jewel case release with short history. Lost Lake Arts is Windham Hill's label for reissues and archival material before joining the label. 

11/10/91 (first listen); 9/21/18 (review/new entry)