Ranking the Albums: Al DiMeola (w/Andy Edwards & George Lamie) 

Land of the Midnight Sun for me bought it new when I was a kid and still go back to it often. Just an astonishingly gifted guitarist.

Sunday night prime time.!! !! 🙂🙂Thanks Pete.!! !!🙂🙂

I have the early DiMeola releases through Tour DeForce live, but nothing beyond. I look forward to hearing some other high ranking releases from Pete, George, and Andy. School is in session!

Elegant Gypsy is my favorite Al Di Meola album. Tour De Force - Live is a great live album. Al's band on that album is incredible.

I just saw Al, and picked him up at the Airport... great day ..2pm till 2am.. ❤ & ✌

Excellent post that just makes me want to listen to all those albums again. I remember the first time I heard DiMeola, I think on a mix tape a friend gave me, The Wizard. That outro solo was so magnificent I became an instant fan and he is still stands as a paramount guitarist for me.

My next oldest brother was a big Al Dimeola fan and that Casino album cover really brought back old memories of him for me.

spot on ranking! I enjoyed the show!

You guys got it right, Land of The Midnight Sun, every song they knock it out of the park, Elegant Gypsy, close second……but that section in Golden Suite, the funky part that’s a Jaco signature lick that he brings back on Weather Report, and other albums….I don’t know why Al never teamed up with that rhythm section again…it was absolute magic. Good job!

Thank you so much for this video. One hour of pure pleasure

Great show! Hoping for more fusion shows with this magic team (Edwards, Lamie). My ranking : 1- Elegant Gypsy 2- Land of the Midnight Sun 3- Casino 4- Splendido Hôtel 5- Passion Grace and Fire

Nice one! Thanks.

As George is always the most straight faced, curt co-captain on the Tuesday Night Prog show, it was refreshing to see him open up and smile / laugh in this show. I guess you can be this way when you really love the artist you are discussing.. Thanks SoT for introducing me to the music of someone I have heard of but never listened to .... AGAIN! now to find more hours in the day to listen to these albums.

Andy Edwards! Great to see you here, mate. We met many years ago when you were touring w/ Priory of Brion and were in touch for a bit in the years after. Hope all is well with you and your loved ones during these crazy times.

I've seen the trio a few times in London and can't wait for Saturday Night in San Francisco, due this summer. I've been a fan since 76 so Midnight Sun holds a special place for me but Elegant Gypsy is so good. The recent live album is excellent, as is the second Beatles album.

This was fun -- I totally agree about the album covers.

Thank you so much for delivering this one, I've been waiting for a ranking the albums on Al Di Meola and it was definitely well worth the wait. Al Di Meola is one of my all time favourite guitar players and he's one of the best in the world, I'm a huge fan of his acoustic work as there's some really beautiful music. Here is my top ten ranking 1. Soaring Through A Dream 2. Kiss My Axe 3. Tirami Su 4. Cielo e Terra 5. Orange And Blue 6. World Sinfonia 7. Heart Of The immigrants 8. Consequence Of Chaos 9. The Infinite Desire 10. Opus

Enjoyed hearing your three lists. Your opinions align quite closely to mine. Top 3 for me are Elegant Gypsy, then Casino, and then Land of Midnight Sun. Al D's other albums move up & down my top 10 depending on any given listening. Thanks for a great show. Looking forward to more of these ranking videos.

Saw Al at a small venue doing his acoustic show around 2010. He had an accordion player rather than a keyboard player which was very weird but not horrible. I went to the Elegant Gypsy anniversary tour and had front row seats and...WOW, he had it smoking.

Great Episode!!! Love DiMeola! couldn't wait to hear George's Ranking and comments. my ranking will be slightly different, a couple albums I need to revisit for sure. my last Al D purchase was The Infinite Desire, and that wasn't bad. so, it'll be Al D Day today!

Right off the bat I'm going to say great video Pete and crew. I like watching these videos because I like to see if there are albums by artists I've missed out on or have overlooked but I think I can safely say that in Mr. Di Meola's case I have pretty much all that I would want except "Saturday Night in San Francisco" which I hadn't even heard of until now. But each of your #8, #9 and #10 choices there didn't seem to be that much enthusiasm where I would want to run right out and get them. But again great video, keep it up!

Howdy, ya'll. New viewer, new subber. Surprised to stumble across an Al DiMeola panel in 2022! My intro was Tour de Force Live in a high school summer drumline camp in 1983ish. A Peartophile like most 80s drumliners, nevertheless instantly hooked. Thanks for posting these. Godspeed!

Hey Pete, would you consider doing a top 20 beginners guide to Jazz-Fusion. I'm aware of Dimeola, Billy Cobham, Stanley Clarke but not much else.

Went to see Al D at the Blue Note the other night. He's only doing the acoustic stuff now but his skills haven't diminshed at all, he can still bring it! Thanks for posting

Love everything from Al -- but my number one has always been his debut -- Land of the Midnight Sun

1) Elegant Gypsy 2) Casino 3) Land of the Midnight Sun 4) Passion, Grace & Fire (McLaughlin-Di Meola-De Lucia trio) 5) Splendido Hotel 6) Electric Rendezvous 7) Opus 8) Elysium 9) World Sinfonia 10) Heart of the Immigrants 11) Pursuit of Radical Rhapsody 12) World Sinfonia III - The Grande Passion 13) Consequence of Chaos 14) The Guitar Trio (McLaughlin-Di Meola-De Lucia trio) 15) The Rite of Strings (Di Meola-Clarke-Ponty trio) 16) Kiss My Axe 17) The Infinite Desire 18) Flesh on Flesh 19) Tirami Su 20) Di Meola Plays Piazzolla 21) Vocal Rendezvous 22) Orange and Blue 23) Cielo e Terra 24) Cosmopolitan Life (with Leonid Agutin) 25) Winter Nights 26) Scenario 27) Soaring Through a Dream

Other than the classic 70s albums and Friday Night I'd have Kiss My Axe, The Grande Passion and Infinite Desire in my top 10 for sure. Elegant Gypsy #1 though, my first. Saw him in a top ten guitarist poll in Guitar Player mag in 1991, bought it and never looked back.

I would love to see album ranking/top 10 for Honeymoon Suite they are so underrated!

"Nobody touches the beard!" Brilliant from Andy - it should be the title of DiMeola's next album.

Elegant Gypsy #1!

Great discussion. As recall expands, worth noting that our 1985 NTSU Drumline repertoire won PASIC for the Nth time, the closer was an adaptation of Electric ("Electronic"...) Rendezvous.

Elegant Gypsy number 1

First 3 solo albums are astonishong ...Anyway...Di Meola is a very diverse and not top notch albums artist....album after album....Tops amd downs.....Essential in the history of guitar and fusion ..Congratolations to everybody....👍🤘

Interestingly, I sometimes do not listen to a cd all the way through unrelated to it being too long. Sometimes I learn its not the right time for that cd, other times I'm enjoying it immensely and still want to leave some for another time, other times - as in the case of Land of the Midnight Sun - I'm not enjoying it as much (as I did Elegant and Casino) and stopped after the completion of track #4. Good to know their is still hope in that tracks 5 & 6 were underscored by George, if I'm not mistaken, or others. Psyched to go finish it off!

Loved the show and no real disagreements, just kind of shocked that “Orange and Blue” wasn’t even mentioned! To me, it should easily be in most top 10 lists, definitely stronger than even “Elysium”, IMHO. Loved the video though; great stuff and a great topic!

I've never heard of Al DiMeola, but I like jazz, jazz fusion, and even flemenco. I t sounds like it's half, and half. Is there a best of, or is it on the early albums? That Elysium cover looks like a comedy album. George you're always great. Brief, but always informative. Andy have not seen you in SOT. Nice to meet you. Thanks Pete. Always good.

I way behind on videos. Got hit with the DiCovid.

Love Jan Hammer music

My Ranking: 1) Land Of The Midnight Sun (1976) 2) Elegant Gypsy (1977) 3) Casino (1978) 4) Splendido Hotel (1980) 5) Electric Rendezvous (1982)

Mingo Lewis WROTE The Wizard from Land of the Midnight Sun :)

My favourite but not the best is “Tour de Force”

I would put Al up there with Van Halen in terms of his impact on guitar in the late 70’s. Nobody had his precision.

1. Elegant Gypsy 2. Splendido Hotel 3. Land of the Midnight Sun 4. Tirami Su 5. Cielo e Terra 6. Casino 7. Kiss My Axe 8. Flesh on Flesh 9. Electric rendezvous 10. Tour de Force live

I started listening to Di Meola during the 1970s-I like his music from after the 1970s more than his 1970s music. I believe he grew as a composer. I prefer his acoustic music. Don't worry Al, there are some people who understand and appreciate your later music. I never became a Heavy Metal fan, but I like Piazolla's music. Some of your music sounds like Pat Metheny's music only in a superficial way. You have a different melodic sense than Pat, a different way of playing guitar, and a different way of composing. By the way, the Pat Metheny Group sound is derivative of Native Dancer, by Wayne Shorter and Milton Nascimento, an album both Metheny and Lyle Mayes were influenced by. Certainly they aren't the only people who can be influenced by Brazilian music and use guitar synths. Airto Moreira played on "Soaring through a dream," where is he from? I bet you know Airto from when he played with Chick Corea.

I was at the Carnegie Hall show of RTF which was Di Meola's first gig with the band. He was just 19.

I first heard Al DiMeola in the late '70s and was blown away by "Fantasia Suite for Two Guitars" which is on "Casino" but the first of his albums that I purchased was "Land of the Midnight Sun" which is great and then later bought "Casino". I'm not a fusion fanatic and so I stopped with those two.

check out this great list of guitar solos that includes both DiMeola and McLaughlin. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zNCb0RCQ6SQ.html

I'd have to go for Splendido Hotel, Elegant Gypsy, and Midnight Sun in 3rd place. Splendido, I love its sprawling nature, and even its slight incistancy....makes its best bits even better. I think I'm also alone in adoring when fusion bands stick in a poppy vocal track....I Can Tell, In My Life by Mahavishnu....always gives an album a bit of a break from the intensity within.

SCENARIO could have received a little more love. Not as ferocious, but nicely reflective with a little more 80s vibe using chorused strat sounds with the trademark palm muting.

Your music knowledge is damn impressive, Peter. Love the videos. I was wondering if you work or have worked in the music industry. Thanks!

Q to Pete - do you really think Al's record covers are by Hipgnosis?

1. Elegant Gypsy 2. LOTMS. 3. Casino 4. Splendido 5. KMA 6. Heart of the Immigrants 7. Winter Nights 8.Consequence of Chaos 9.Tiramisu. 10. The Infinite Desire

If I could keep only a handful of albums I'd go with Kiss My Axe, Tirami Su, Splendido Hotel, Cielo e Terra, World Sinfonia.

Make sure you check out Mingo Lewis’ “Flight Never Ending” album. It’s the best Al DiMeola album not by Al DiMeola.

My top 10 DiMeola albums Elegant Gypsy Land of the Midnight Sun Casino Electric Rendezvous Splendido Hotel Friday Night in San Francisco Kiss My Axe The Rite of Strings Consequence of Chaos Across the Universe

Does Iommi's aftershave smell like leather, pot smoke, and whiskey?

Nice lineup of panelists today...One of the handful of all time great fusion guitarists ever, no doubt about it. Also unique in his "fusion" of jazz with Latin sounds, he's kinda like the bridge between Santana & McLaughlin with his obvious world class chops but also the feel/soul of (Latin) rock. His recent discography has to me been somewhat spotty, with DiMeola concentrating more on acoustic albums, also world music & more jazz than fusion. So most of those recent records will naturally chart lower for me than his earlier straight-up fusion releases. McLaughlin's (he's 80 now!) album rating is coming. Wonder if Pete'll also do Larry Coryell as well... So here goes, I own something like 25 or so solo albums including the best of's (not included here) but excluding the RTF stuff & collabs with McLaughlin/DeLucia (they made some of the very best acoustic records ever), so similar to what I did with Tommy Bolin's albums I'll rank all of those in a top 10 format by grouping them: 1) Elegant Gypsy - a 5 out 5 for me, just perfect. Great songs & really fiery playing. Jan Hammer, Anthony Jackson, Steve Gadd, Lenny White, Mingo Lewis - and I thought RTF had a great lineup. Not a bad or even average track here, just greatness. Nice mix of electric & acoustic numbers. Really a fusion classic 2) Casino & Splendido Hotel - a tie, both great records. "Fantasia Suite For Two Guitars" is great acoustic work, and Al reimagines RTF's Senor Mouse too. "Alien Chase On Arabian Desert" would be right at home on Elegant Gypsy 3) Tour De Force Live & Scenario - great live album, Al is joined by usual characters Hammer, Jackson, Gadd & Lewis plus Philippe Saisse on keys. Again a great band. The standout track is Jan Hammer's "Cruisin". This is almost a live best of featuring stuff from the first couple of albums. Scenario contains some African influences but also features the track "Sequencer" that has a more modern 80's type sound, unlike most other DiMeola compositions to that point 4) Electric Rendezvous - the studio version of "Cruisin" (great song), plus the acoustic "Passion, Grace & Fire" that sounds like the McLaughlin/DeLucia trio in action. Nice. "Black Cat Shuffle" is another cool track in the "Cruisin" vein, written by Philippe Saisse 5) Morocco Fantasia & Kiss My Axe - another tie, these are later records & the best of his post 70's classic period. Kiss My Axe from '91 includes more world music influences but still has some really great fusion moments too. The title track is probably my fave here. Morocco Fantasia is a mix of different influences, the live version of "Egyptian Danza" rocks. Lots of acoustic stuff also 6) Orange And Blue & World Sinfonia - the theme of ties continues...Again plenty of acoustic work featuring some reworked RTF tunes: "No Mystery" & "Theme Of The Mothership". Some of these songs can tend to blend in together but there's still some fine material here 7) Land Of The Midnight Sun, Elysium, Opus & Consequence Of Chaos- The first solo album (Midnight Sun), "Suite Golden Dawn" (great track), "The Wizard" & "Short Tales Of The Black Forest" are the best. Some of this is fiery & classic DiMeola but there's just not enough of it, he didn't yet have the material for a full album of great tracks. Elysium & Consequence are more electric & Opus acoustic, honestly I like about 3 tracks off each record (same as the for debut). Not bad but... 8) All Your Life & Across The Universe - two Beatles cover albums. Pretty nice instrumental versions of classic tunes, not totally sure we needed these but hey, why not..."Here Comes The Sun" is cool, so is one of my faves "Blackbird". Hearing the acoustic instrumental "Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite" reminds you of how much went into that track, there's a lot going on 9) Pursuit Of Radical Rhapsody - Just two tracks appeal to me here, this is very laid back fusion. More jazzy than I like. "Destination Gonzalo" & "That Way Before" are good, that's about it 10) Everything Else (all post 70's) - all of these are one track each for me: The Grande Passion, The Infinite Desire, Soaring Through A Dream & Winter Nights. All acoustic (at least the tracks I like), all so-so records

Hey Pete, do you think a Ranking the Albums of Meat Loaf would be possible?

When is the John McLaughlin episode going to happen?

Those tacky plants were on the stage of his live performance videos of that era also.

1. Land Of The Midnight Sun [Raw and crisp clean] 2. Elegant Gypsy [A touch less - more produced] 3. Casino [Classic but a little less fire]

Wow passion over Friday night? Never considered it. Interesting opinion Andy..

Not being brilliant doesn't mean that you suck. Interesting discussion.

Sorry to say -- Splendido Hotel is when I gave up on Al. Of course, he's till a great musician and did some noteworthy music, but he never surpassed those first three solo albums, so...

I love Jan Hammer. Big figure for me.

When the trio went on tour in 1983, they invited Steve Morse who opened for them but then also joined them onstage for a few encores… brilliant stuff! Morse was actually brought in to replace DiMeola, but rejoined last minute leaving Morse out to dry. There’s a few bootlegs of a few shows here on RU-vid. As far as picking, Morse is also mind blowingly precise, with amazing muting and vibrato control without the whammy bar… in fact, I’d say Morse has a stronger picking technique in some respects over DiMeola, especially with the strength of the strokes when performing alternate picking and also the vibrato control. Not sure why Andy brought up Malmsteem, whose picking compared to Morse or DiMeola is quite sloppy and misses notes. An honorable mention for fabulous precise picking would have to go to a country guy, namely Brent Mason.

For me Tirami Su..

I read Michael Lang has died today...

World Sinfonia? WTH?

16:36 A nice shot? That's when Al had a horrible hairpiece. He looks much better now.