Mahavishnu Orchestra keyboard ace Jan Hammer offers up quite a thorough study in synthesizer technology with his second solo release, titled The First Seven Days. With the liner notes declaring "for those concerned, that there is no guitar on this album," Hammer makes it a point to further blur the distinction between the genres of jazz, rock, and classical music. Wishing to portray the first seven "days" of earth's creation, Hammer states that "assuming that each of these days lasted anywhere from one day to 100 million years, the scientific and biblical views do meet in certain points. These points were the inspiration for this album." His incorporation of the piano, electric piano, Moog synthesizer, Oberheim synthesizer, Freeman string synthesizer, and Mellotron vividly evokes images of bubbling cesspools and budding birthrights as his inspired version of the physical world sonically takes shape. While The First Seven Days is atmospheric in nature, with no proper pop sensibilities, its thematic construction yields nothing short of a classic narrative.
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