The fourth album by keyboardist Chick Corea’s Return To Forever was the first with its ultimate lineup: guitarist Al Di Meola (only 19 at the time), bassist Stanley Clarke, and drummer Lenny White. Corea had expanded his instrumental palette to include synths in addition to Fender Rhodes, clavinet, and electric organ, and between his florid solos, Clarke’s furiously popping bass, Di Meola’s harsh, post-Santana shredding, and White’s hit-everything-twice drumming, this is some of the most rock-out-with-your-cock-out fusion you’ll ever hear. The opening track, Clarke’s “Vulcan Worlds,” is closely related to “Vulcan Princess,” which opened the bassist’s own self-titled album the same year.

– Phil Freeman