John A Warrender

The caption in the advert for this album was “Stuck in rock n roll traffic? Take this Offramp”. And yes, that was totally my experience; it was the early 80’s, arena rock was on the way out, ‘New Wave’ was still a bit of an unknown. Big hair bands were emerging, metal was there along with disco remnants. Yes, a lot of traffic, but taking the Pat Metheny Group ‘Offramp’ opened up a whole new sonic world for me. From Pat Metheny Group fans I learned of ‘Weather Report’, and Steve Khan (Eyewitness), and Billy Cobham, John McLaughlin, developed a renewed appreciation for Steely Dan (Aja and Gaucho). And more. Have to agree with others, not a bad track on the Offramp album. But, ‘As Falls Wichita’ is still my favourite Metheny album.