HEAVY WEATHER

Heavy Weather was also Weather Report's best selling record. It reached number 30 on the Billboard pop chart, quickly sold nearly half a million copies, and has subsequently gone gold (signifying sales of 500,000 copies). In his January 2001 Down Beat retrospective on the band, Josef Woodard said, "In 2000, Heavy Weather still sounds like a milestone in the cultural unconscious of jazz history. By some accounts, the album is the crowning achievement of the band's recorded output, and therefore, by extension, a towering landmark of 'fusion.'"

Birdland (10/10): Aggressive and gentle jazz with several steady basses and cymbals that warn of the coming rhythmic changes, the beautiful and sensual saxophone accompanying the brilliant melodies of the keyboards and basses. In my opinion, always the most important thing to take into account in an album is the ambience of the beginning... and by God! What a splendid way to start! I was really fascinated with the beauty and magic of the joyful and fantastic sounds that all the instruments made for such a brilliant entrance.

A Remark You Made (5/5): Here we go with a piece, this time, much more sensually intoned, that starts with a bass and a saxophone that, to specify a little, would appear in a movie in which the protagonist arrives tired and desolate of everything to a bar at night, and meets the love of his life for the first time... to give us an idea. A night melody, passionate and as ardent as the summer sun. And how can we forget that excellent piano that acts as an accomplice of the saxophone during the middle of the song, or that synthesizer that enters the scene, about a minute before the end of the song, with those futuristic sounds and so "satirical (to find a suitable term). And Pastorius' unmistakable bass is one thing that drives me crazy when I listen to this again.

Teen Town (6/10): Something faster and shorter. Ever present haihat and bass throwing out random melodies with the saxophone doing the same as if to give some ambience. This is more pure experimental than anything else, so I didn't find much to analyze, heh. it's good, but it doesn't convince me.

Harlequin (4/5): A slow keyboard start, and then something more groovy and with synthesizers creating a flying atmosphere. Something to highlight is the piano chaperone that finishes and helps the keyboard between verses. Like the previous track, this is also something more ambient and experimental. All very normal... until near the end, when the drums start to "get angry" and there are abrupt and cool breaks and solos that, to be honest, caught me by surprise and made me give the song some extra points.

Rumba Mama (2/5): It would all start with fade-in clapping that continues with what seems to be some strange stomping, and well... the guy yelling things I don't understand is something that was weird and I was kind of dumbfounded. I really like the percussion that follows that weird act. And meanwhile... the guy still yelling weird stuff... he doesn't seem to learn, but admit it made me laugh a little haha. And yes, he concludes the song with more applause.

Palladium (10/10): We continue with the aggressive and super happy funk music. This song is perfect from any point of view. A sweet melody, some rhythm changes and tuning algorithms from another world, the infallible sax and Yaco's bass, the pop atmosphere that is generated in the environment, the softness with which the synth plays with the background percussion .... Really admirable the work of the band. It's been a long time since I heard something so funk that moved me so much, besides, considering what we heard before with "Rumba Mama", it was a very "voluptuous" and sensational change. I felt like I went from listening to "Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols)" to "Anonymous II (Focus)", in a way.

The Juggler (4.5/5): First thing to note, I was fascinated by the keyboard riff at the beginning. It was very addictive to finish the track and play it again just to hear that. The drums, as always, starring the changes and the fierce speed so provocative to generate all the time super fluid and interesting rhythmic breaks. The atmosphere full of tension that is generated between the drum and the keyboard I loved it.

Havona (4/5): In this last part of the album the synthesizer takes initial prominence, creating chords and hopeful melodies, so to speak, that introduce us to the last track of "Heavy Weather", another aggressive Jazz, this time more accentuated to the intrepid and subtle, rather than to the passionate. A great piece of action and melodic percussion. I really like the clash he makes when he violently combines the pianos and drum with the cymbal.

I'm not a person who listened to a lot of instrumental stuff, but this really captivated and excited me too much, considering as I said before, the immortal beginning of this adventure. I think if it had lyrics, it would be just as fascinating, but meh..... I can't complain, tremendous piece of work!

8/10, 4 stars. Some of the most sensational and funkiest stuff I've heard in a long time.

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