The first time I listened to this release, in 2002, it was on a shameful obsolete CD player, the only one I had at this moment. The sound was horrible, but melodies were there. A cold, scandinavian jazz, very slow, so moving. Since that time, I invested in a good hi-fi system, I can now listen to a CD with a real sound... And I had a surprise with this one... What a disappointing production ! Compared to most of my jazz CD in my collection, this one is well below the average. Strange thing for this famous trio... One of the best track on this release is "Behind The Yashmak" ; about ten minutes of progressive breathtaking melody and ambient breaks. But in my view, pleasure is spoiled by a bad production, not enough clean. What is a good sound ? A sound as near as possible to the live performance. I saw E.S.T, live in a small theatre, no amplification, just acoustic sound, pure sound. They played this track, and now it's difficult for me to find again the feeling I had at this moment...

It's funny that the only comment regarding this album is one addressing its 'disappointing production', when in fact it's the only release in the E.S.T. discography wherein the production didn't annoy me, allowing the instrumentation, especially the drums, as well as the wicked arrangements to breathe freely and truly feel alive without over production or affectation from behind the board. A stunning release, and arguably the best of the lot, regardless of your system or means of listening. Highly recommended.