best Weather Report album?

[claaa7]

i got interested in Weather Report because the main members are very talented saxophonist/songwriter Wayne Shorter (who played in Miles second great quintet) and keyboardist/songwriter Joe Zawinul (who also did some recording and writing for Miles such as "In A Silent Way", "Directions" and "Pharoah's Dance"). i bought "Night Passage" which i didn't think was all that and then i bought "Black Market" which was alot better but not really what i had hoped for, it's a good album but not mind-blowing. any recommendations?

[issues]

Heavy Weather..

one of the greatest Jazz Fusion albums of all time..

and 8:30.. which is a live recording.. (besides a couple of tracks at the end)

basically all the albums with Jaco Pastorius on Bass including Black Market & Night Passage..

the others being Mr Gone & Weather Report..

..

[claaa7]

yeah i like "Black Market" for what it is, but with Zawinul and Shorter on board i would have hoped for something a little more progressive. it's been growing on me though, "Night Passage" got too much of the '80s pop synth sound imo, and more plastic drums like alot of music from the '80s.

i listened to their first two albums recently, "Weather Report" (which was very different, more ambient music, more accoustic sounding) and "I Sing The Body Electric" which i gotta say is my favorite album out of the 4 i heard. i love when jazz artists throw some live tracks on to their studio albums. how come jazz artists had íncredible sound on their live performances in the '1970s (and even 1960s) and yet hip-hop artists often have trouble with converting a decent sound to a live record (besides The Roots)?

[benzo]

co-sign Heavy Weather. you should also check out Jaco's solo stuff. there's one of a live performance from his birthday concert that's fucking mind-blowing.

[issues]

Originally Posted by benzo

co-sign Heavy Weather. you should also check out Jaco's solo stuff. there's one of a live performance from his birthday concert that's fucking mind-blowing.

definately.. "The Birthday Concert" is great..

and his self titled album is a must have..

Jaco is one of the all time greats.. a leading pioneer of the fretless bass..

..

[INF]

I have heavy weather and most ppl that really know WR tell me thats the bottom of the barrel.still have yet to peep anything else though.

[Taskmaster2112]

"Weather Report" and "I Sing the Body Electric" are the best Weather Report albums in my opinion. Joe Zawinul's "Zawinul" album is dope too. It's basically a Weather Report album in all but name, and it came out just before the first Weather Report album. I like Wayne Shorter's solo Blue Note records from the 60s way better than any of the Weather Report stuff.

[issues]

Originally Posted by Infinity

I have heavy weather and most ppl that really know WR tell me thats the bottom of the barrel.still have yet to peep anything else though.

strange.. Heavy Weather is definately the best..

Heavy Weather is Weather Report's seventh album, released in 1977 through Columbia Records. It is the band's second album with bassist Jaco Pastorius. On Black Market, Pastorius played on two of the seven tracks, but here he is a full member of the band. It is on the short list of LP's considered to be the greatest of all Jazz-Fusion recordings.

Featuring the jazz standard "Birdland", the album is one of the best-sellers in the Columbia jazz catalog. Heavy Weather is considered a landmark album in the jazz-rock or fusion movement of the 1970s. Its opening track, "Birdland", was a significant commercial success, something not typical of instrumental music

..

[benzo]

i was gonna say... Heavy Weather had a commercial feel to it that maybe put off some of the more "purist" type listeners.

[claaa7]

thanks for engaging in the discussion everyone. i tend to like the first "Weather Report" and "I Sing the Body Electric" the most but "Black Market" has really grown on me. i think Wayne Shorter was given alot more time to shine on the two earlier albums whereas Zawinul takes up all the space on the '80s album i've heard. i read an interview with Pastorious where he said this was one of the reasons he left the band (like Zawinul constantly doubling his bass lines on the keyboard).

btw, does anyone have the album "Live in Tokyo"; the three tracks from that show that closes "I Sing the Body..." are just AMAZING, and i really want to hear the complete show. if anyone got a link please hook me up

[claaa7]

nevermind, i found it

[claaa7]

as i'm building up my jazz collection i received Herbie's "Maiden Voyage" and Weather Report's "I Sing the Body..." and "Mysterious Traveller"; the latter which i've never heard before. i was very impressed with "Mysterious...", i think that's the finest piece of work i've heard from WR so far, very atmospheric and cool - the first track was right away mindblowing! still a little dissapointed that Wayne Shorter isn't on there enough, especially as Zawinul seems to want to appear every second of the disc but he is very skilled.

[Memory Man]

my favorite is "sweetnighter"

[claaa7]

i have yet to check that one out, but i've heard good things about it for sure! pretty much all the Weather Report albums i've heard have grown alot on me so repeated listens are rewarding with this group. i prefer the '70s stuff to the '80s albums by far tho, my two favorites right now are "Black Market" and "Mysterious Traveller".

[claaa7]

since i made this thread i found a lot of the Weather Report albums for cheap and whatnot and i now have all their albums from "Weather Report" (1971) to "Weather Report" (1982) except their live albums (though i've heard "Live in Tokyo" from '72 which I think is incredible - how is 8:30 btw?) and "Mr. Gone".

they made plenty of good albums for sure but i tend to like their earliest albums much more than their later - their first four albums are my favorites, "Weather Report", "I Sing The Body Electric", "Sweetnighter" and "Mysterious Traveller" is by far their best all around efforts to me. after that it would be "Heavy Weather" followed by "Black Market".