Pros: Mellow, intellectual, exciting, relaxing
Cons: Alternate takes disrupt the mood

I was pleasantly surprised when I picked up this album. I've been acquiring Miles Davis albums for a while, and wasn't sure what to expect with Sketches of Spain. In a word, perhaps mellow best describes the album, but I don't think that would be a fair and inclusive summary. Indeed the album is a slight departure from some of the other "essential" Miles Davis albums, in that it has a very definite flamenco/latin influence.

Despite the full orchestra, this album is surprisingly light, and frequently leaves instruments (especially Davis himself) entirely naked. The album tends to err on the side of less, the notes and rhythms that don't belong are left out entirely. In this regard, I think also that the music, especially the work of trumpet, is extremely emotional in the recording, and shows a lot of care and effort was put in place to create the overall impression. During the creation of the album, there were some who felt that it was a wasted effort, and it seems as though everyone involved tries to disprove this feeling.

The recording quality is quite good, as is typical of the Columbia Legacy remasters, and it is pleasing to listen to, whether in my portable system or through the Linn system in the house I live in during the summer. Despite this, after comparing the album to the original version released on CD by Columbia, I've found a strange change in emphasis between the two versions. While I can't always notice it, I find it especially apparent on Solea. On this song, it seems like the original version emphasized the texture instruments more than the remaster. Particularly, I found the trombone to be much less apparent in the remaster.

Additionally, as I commented on in my Kind of Blue review, I find the bonus tracks once again upset the mood of the entire composition, and feel no hesitation to leave them off entirely, or listen to them separately. The whole impression made by merely listening until the end of Solea is incredible; the album builds up from all directions, and reaches a focused point towards the beginning of this track, until it accelerates into chaos and then finally relaxes in a satisfying conclusion. The bonus tracks that immediately follow break this entire theme, and leave me wanting to start the album over again, left wanting the feeling I had before hearing them.

I'm not sure if there are any other albums that I could say have a similar sound. This album was certainly daring and different, but is unique enough that I've failed to find another to compare it to directly.

I do tend to think that if you enjoy this, you will also like many of Davis' works during this time period, even though they lack the same Latin influence within this album. If you are trying to amass a Davis collection, I wouldn't be without this one.