Weather Report were a three piece group made up of a saxophonist, keyboard player and drummer. This album was the band's eighth, and their biggest seller. It is considered Jazz-rock, and fairly accessible, which I agree with, as I didn't get confused by it every time I listened to it, which is my normal interaction with this genre.
There are enjoyable songs that have catchy moments, and clearly the musicians are technically impressive. It is not dissimilar in some respects to the Ambient sounds of Brian Eno we recently heard, just a bit more insistent overall. Birdland, the opener, is pretty catchy, and seems like good fun, and Palladium has some great synth and sax interplay. However, tracks such as A Remark You Made are just tedious, and fail to evoke any emotional response but boredom.
The final track, Havona, is the stand out for me, as it's full on energy, and builds into a coherent song with something like a familiar structure for me.
Overall, not a disaster given what I expected to think of it, but certainly it hasn't converted me to Jazz, even with the 'rock' moniker added. If you like impressive technical playing, and don't hate Jazz, then I'm sure you would enjoy this album.
Chloe's album rating: 5
Chloe's favourite track:
Olly's album rating: 5
Olly's favourite track: 8. Havone
Next week we have 300. Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield. I know that Chloe is nervous about this one.
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