Herbie Hancock - Head Hunters
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Free Music Notes for Head Hunters
Free Music Review: You a music lover? Get Headhunters
Hit: 5 Stars
When I first heard headhunters I was not impressed to say the least. Now why would I be un-impressed with an album that I gave five stars? Well, its because when I first heard it it sounded like any other made in the ninties. I walked into my house and my roommate was listining to "Headhunters" and I did not think much of it at all. Then when "watermelon man" was over he flipped the LP to the other side and I said something like "oh, is this the bands specail vinal" (Thinking this was an album from the ninties. He looked at me all wierd and said "no, this is the orignal LP". I was shocked to hear this and blown away to find that this album is over 30 years old!!!! At first I wasn't impressed but now I was floored by how ahead of its time this album is. I couldn't even tell he was playing a record.. thats how good this album was produced. It sounds fresh and clear and still seems like it is going to inspire musicains for years to come... I know its inspring me.
Now thats only, the production of the album... the music is a whole other subject. The first track Chameleon has just about one of the most simple yet amazing bass lines I have ever heard. Watermelon man is a very intresting song (my favorite) and Hancock plays his keyboard in a way to trick the listener into thinking it is a guitar... pretty cool. Sly is a song that takes a little while to really get into but when it hits you it hits you hard and you can hear new layers everytime you experince it. Vien Melter is a real slow song and a great way to cap off the album.
This was the first Jazz album I got and it has taught me that music can be simple yet complex at the same time... less is more. If you want to get into Hancock then this is the place you need to start. If you have ADD or no nothing about music then you will think its boring but if you have at least have a musical brain then this album will become a favorite. It is also a great vaule... a masterpiece for ten bucks.
Free Music Review: Great Album For New & Old Funk-Jazz Fusion Lovers
Hit: 4 Stars
I was introduced to this album upon a recommendation by a friend and the decision to buy the album was well worth it. I must however warn that the tracks on this album are VERY long and sometimes sound a little repetative. But with that in mind, the actual musical content is very enjoyable. Herbie was one of the great pioneers of the Funk-Jazz fusion era and this album truly showcases his unique talent. If you enjoy this album, I also highly recommend checking out some of his older stuff just so you can see how versatile an artist he is (his music from the 60's sounds completely different! - much more mellow and a more traditional, standard jazz feel to it, ex: "Cantaloupe Island").Free Music Review: In the present is the future meeting the past
Hit: 5 Stars
The jazz on this absolutely funky fusion album was ahead of it's time when originally released on vinyl in 1973, and it was an instant turn on for this reviewer, a college freshman at that moment. Though I couldn't possibly have known it then, Herbie Hancock would become one of jazz music's funk icons; he was a true innovator at the forefront of electronic jazz...melding synthesizer keyboards with jazz's traditional acoustic elements.The band includes Paul Jackson on electric bass, Bennie Maupin on woodwinds, Harvey Mason on drums and Bill Summers on all kinds of percussion.
Chameleon is the longest tune on the album at just under 16 minutes and is a driving jam improvisation around a rhythm that is pure funk.
Watermelon Man, the shortest tune on the album at 6.29, is an updated version of a tune originally released by Herbie in 1962. It is an exploration of rhythm and soloing that draws the listener into the heart of the ensemble and touches the very soul of the listener.
Vein Melter, at 9.10 in length, has always been my favorite tune on the album. There are so many rich, unique elements of sound in this slow and experimental song that it seems like the band is painting a sound picture that sits just out of reach.
Bennie Maupin's soprano and tenor sax, saxello, bass clarinet and alto flute will draw you in like a moth to a flame and envelop you in the overarching mystery and intrigue of sound exploration that awaits the listener of this album.
Reach for the sky and embrace the future. All the best to you.
Free Music Review: Herbie and friends put the "funk" in "funky"
Hit: 5 Stars
"Watermelon Man" is the funkiest few minutes of music I have ever heard and likely will ever hear. The bass and drum entries invariably send shivers up my spine (even after hundreds of listenings). I tend to believe that such a perfect groove was only achievable through some intense pharmacologic mind expansion prior to recording. If so, this CD is a strong argument for legalization of drugs, in my opinion.Free Music Review: Jazz never grooved like this.
Hit: 5 Stars
I got this album as a birthday present from a friend who heard I had an interest in jazz. After receiving it I initially thought that his definition of 'jazz' might be slightly skewed. But I was pleasantly surprised as this is probably the coolest sounding album I own. The opening track 'Chameleon' is the definition of 70's funk. For us foreigners this is as pure a sound of Americana as Louis Armstrong's 'Hot Five', Nelson Riddle's arrangements for Frank Sinatra or even Bob Dylan's early acoustic albums. The soundtrack of 70's urban America. With Hancock's extraordinary playing and improvised electronic sounds, I can almost feel those bell-bottoms flapping in the breeze.
'Watermelon Man' is an exercise in pure rhythm with some great ensemble work by all involved. Ironically the track 'Sly' is the least Sly Stone influenced of all the tracks on the album and the most conventionaly jazz-orientated. There's even a stronger sense of improvisation on 'Sly' and as a result I think it's the most intense track of the four. Its stops and starts lead Hancock to a seemingly unrelentless climax before it melts back into the original groove.
On 'Vein Melter' you can hear the influence of Miles Davis, like a 70's interpretation of 'Kind Of Blue'.
Headhunters is the sound of an artist who wanted to speak more directly to his audience and as a consequence helped to create a sound that is now so well-known in our culture, it borders on cliche. High praise indeed!