Additional information
Personnel: Stomu Yamashta (synthesizers); Al DiMeola, Brother James, Jess Roden, Doni Harvey, Linda Lewis, Klaus Schulze, Paul Jackson, Peter Robinson, Michael Shrieve, Lisa Strike, Doreen Chanter, Ruby James, The Martin Ford Orchestra. Recorded at Camp Colomby, New York, New York. All music written or co-written by Stomu Yamashta. All lyrics written by Michael Quartermain. Personnel: Doreen Chanter, Liza Strike, Ruby James (background vocals). Audio Remasterer: Ben Wiseman . Liner Note Author: Jon Wright. Recording information: Camp Colomby, New City, New York. Photographers: Adrian Buckmaster; Bill King ; Bob Ellis; Guido Harari; Peter Robinson; Robert Vente; Keith Morris ; Paul Cunningham . With the departure of Steve Winwood from the Go collective, Stomu Yamashta seized the opportunity to radically shift the group's sound and direction. A coterie of vocalists and backing singers, led by Jess Roden and Linda Lewis, were brought in, along with former Headhunter Paul Jackson and the extraordinary orchestra of Martyn Ford. GO TOO, the group's resultant album and grand finale, was a curtain-closer of magnificent proportions. A majestic set where organic soundscapes merge with soulful funk fusion, the entire album is glossed with a superb cinematic sound that earned arranger Paul Buckmaster and co-producers Dennis MacKay and Yamashtu deserved acclaim. The set is bookended by the instrumentals "Prelude" and "Ecliptic," the former a space-age extravaganza of sounds and cracking thunder, the latter echoing a deep, whale song. The deeply romantic "Mysteries of Love" and introspective "Beauty" are also twinned numbers, wed by a cinematic sweep consisting of Al di Meola's haunting guitar solos and gorgeous, emotive vocals. The rest of the set is given over to funk in all its glory and possibilities, from the "Shaft"-ish soul of "Madness" to the hip-swaying funk-pop-soul delight of "Seen You Before," which effortlessly melts into jazz-funk fusion and features another stunning di Meola solo. That number's poppy edge is mirrored by the orchestral pop that fires up the simmering funk of "You and Me," while the prominent and complex rhythm of "Wheels of Fortune" sidles straight up to jazz. But even these funk fusion songs are laced with more organic elements--the whale song that opens "You and Me," the calling sea gulls that close "Fortune," and the sweeping waves breaking over the last minute of Madness" included. These natural and elegant touches help weave the album's highly diverse elements tightly together, giving the set cohesion and each track a sense of a grander scheme, one that joins East to West, space rock to classical music, and fusion to rock in its broadest sense.
