THIS IS THIS

"This Is This" is the 14th full-length studio album by US Jazz rock/fusion act Weather Report. The album was released through Columbia Records in June 1986. It´s the successor to "Sportin´ Life" from 1985 and was more or less released to fulfill the band´s contract with Columbia Records. Growing tensions and a feeling that the band had run its course meant that Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter ended Weather Report after the release of "This Is This".

Although Omar Hakum only performs on "Consequently" and Peter Erskine performs the drums on all other tracks, the remaining part of the core quintet lineup who recorded the two direct predecessors is intact: Joe Zawinul (keyboards/synths), Wayne Shorter (soprano & tenor saxophones), Victor Bailey (bass), and Mino Cinelu (percussion, vocals). Carlos Santana makes a guest guitar appearence on the opening title track and on "Man With the Copper Fingers", and his unmistakable playing style makes those songs stand out quite a bit. It´s not often Weather Report have included guitar on their music.

Stylistically the material on "This Is This" are relatively diverse and the listener is treated to ethnic world music styled fusion, ambient jazz rock/fusion ("I'll Never Forget You"), and a furiously fast played fusion track in "Update". If you´re familiar with the last couple of albums, you won´t be surprised by what "This Is This" has to offer. The musical performances are on a high level on all posts, and the album also features a well sounding production job, so while it´s certainly not the band´s most interesting release, it´s not a bad quality release either. On the other hand the choice to disband was probably the right one, as "This Is This" and the last couple of releases before that, only offer very little new and for the most part the music is lacking the edge of the band´s 70s heyday. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.