Heavy Weather

1+ Stars (3/15)

Trash

Meh

Weather Report is a band I’ve generally steered clear of over the years. I'd loosely file their sound under modern jazz—a genre I've never quite clicked with. Still, I figured it was time to give Heavy Weather a fair shot. Most of the jazz I've explored so far for this challenge has been from the late ’50s, and truth be told, it hasn’t really resonated with me. So how does ’70s jazz stack up in comparison? Let’s find out. The opening track, “Birdland,” was an enjoyable listen—upbeat, polished, and packed with vibrant wind instrumentation. I found myself liking it, along with a couple of other tracks. That said, the album as a whole strikes me as a rather bland attempt at modernizing jazz. Technically impressive, yes—but emotionally, it left me cold. Favourite track: “Rumba Mama” stood out as a fun, energetic detour from the rest of the album. It’s very short, but memorable. “Birdland” was also a highlight. Least favourite track: “Palladium” is the kind of jazz that really puts me off—disjointed and hard to engage with. Album artwork: I genuinely love the cover. It’s bold, vivid, and perfectly captures the experimental vibe of the music within.

This is like the Brian Eno of the fusion jazz world. I’m sure the players on here are proficient, and may well be gifted, but I found it wholly soulless. It just sounds like bland, background music from wine bars in the 1980s. The cover is more interesting than the 37 minutes of music and it didn’t engage me at all. I never want to hear this album again and I’m pretty sure I didn’t need to hear it before I die either.

I've heard duller records but I can't remember when

Das Album wird Jazz-Fusion betrachtet, es war jedoch kein Musikgenuss. Auch die Experimentierfreude der Band half es nicht einen emotionaler Zugang zur Musik zu schaffen. Tracks wie „Birdland“, wirkten auf kalt und mechanisch. Insgesamt konnte das Album weder mit seiner Atmosphäre noch mit seiner Komposition punkten.

1. bird - 1.5 2. made - 2 3. teen - 1 4. harlequin - 1.5 5. rumba - 1 6. palladium - 1.5 7. juggler - 1 8. havona - 1 9. market - 1 10. touun - 1 11. land - 0

I believe this album might have also served as the soundtrack all those Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor movies. I'm dying. This sounds like the music to the Roblox game Bee Swarm Simulator. I bet these guys love the Night Court theme. This had to be added as an inside joke. I guess Rumba Mama's Portuguese shouting at least breaks up the soft jazz. All the fusion jazz songs just blur into one terrible, long, hazy jam.

My least favorite type of album, Jazz. My musical blind spot. I didn't enjoy this at all.

Like a Mario kart soundtrack

Today in Halifax it started off sunny but felt cool due to an easterly wind. This weather has been typical of April 2025 due to the jet stream being to the south of the UK. High pressure has been across the UK. Consequently the UK has been dry all month with plenty of sunshine. It is expected that the wind direction will change tomorrow so temperatures are expected to rise until the weekend when the high pressure will move away to the continent and it will then become changeable with rain. All in all glorious weather for this time in April so able to sit out in the garden listening to music streamed to my smart speaker. But not this album. 1/5 9/4/25

Too experimental for me. ;-(

Meh lichy jazz Nawet nie dokończyłam

HATE the synths, those things shouldn't be anywhere near jazz. Sweet sax but I couldn't enjoy it because of the synths. Great cover art though I'll give them that.

Fucking hell, how did this make it into the 1001? Sat through 2 tracks then switched back to Elvis Costello. Reminded me of vintage porno soundtrack and not in a good way. My disappointment cannot be described with letters and words.

Bad songs good name. Should have been an Indie band.

When jazz goes bad. Sounds too much like the incidental music of terrible family films from the 1980s. I'm sure I heard that saxophone in Three Men and a Baby.

That was soo tough going!

Nah, that’s a pass dog.

It’s jazz and it’s shite

I was expecting Jazz, I got slightly jazzy lift music instead. I happen to be able to enjoy jazzy lift music in the right setting. Today was one of this moments where 90% of my brain was occupied elsewhere, and this seeped through the cracks in my concentration.

Ahhhh le jazz fusion. Quelle horreur. Tout ce qu’il y a de plus moche dans les bandes originales jazouille des années 70 - 80, ça fait vieux film de cul, course poursuite foireuse dans une série américaine foireuse de ces années là, c’est limite supportable et parfois drôle tellement c’est cliché. Après avoir survécu au premier titre “Birdland” et à alors qu’on croise les doigts pour autre chose, je crois que l’attaque au saxophone du deuxième titre (“A remark you made”) me fera toujours rire. Il y a un public pour ça, grand bien leur fasse, mais c’est un grand non.

not my vibe

Really not my thing. Couldn't make it through a full listen through.

bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad

I… don’t like this. I’m not a big fan of jazz in general, and this type of jazz in particular. I just don’t get anything here, it doesn’t mean anything to me. I’m sure these are very talented musicians who are all time greats but I would never choose to listen to this again.

What a pile of shite. Elevator music. Utterly undistinguished. I swear I heard this as the hold music the other day with my insurance company.

Too Jazzy

Someone must have bastardized the genre they represent because this sounds like a shitty sitcom intro that just won’t end.

It was alright, don't have too much to say about it. Instrumentals were fun I suppose. Not sure why it's here

No. I can’t imagine what type of person thinks “gee, what shall I listen to today?” and then chooses this.

I can appreciate Jazz music however this one was quite dry. The one track that lit a fire under me was Rumba Mama, I would have loved more of this. I don't usually have to forward tracks but with this I felt the need to jump ahead to confirm that how a track started was indeed how it was ending. This would probably be appreciated by more technical listeners of Jazz.

Easy listening jazz. Yawn

I tried. i tried so hard to love this. I made excuses for it. I blamed myself. I remembered that jazz is challenging, revealing listeners' limitations more than anything else... But this feels unfocused. Playful, but shallow. Like a kid that takes out all of the toys from the toy box but then doesn't really enjoy any of them and doesn't put them away. Maybe it's the "edge of the 80's" vibe, maybe it's that I just finished listening to Thelonious Monk, but--like a good boy--I finished all of the songs on the platter, but only because I was looking forward to some sort of dessert... Not an album or band I'll ever likely listen to again...

Play instrumental album. Just not my cup of tea.

This Albums forecast: Boring and disjointed with a chance of scattered snooze early on. This 1001 project has introduced me to some off the beaten path Jazz fusion that I like, but this ain’t no “Ye Ye De Smell”.

I can recognize the talent of the players involved here. But damn…it felt like I was in a non-stop montage scene from a late 70s movie or at times trapped in the opening credits of an 80s sitcom that didn’t get renewed for a second season.

Someone’s gonna have to tell me how the last 80% of this album was.

I loved it! Psych… Fuck Jazz fusion.

In the words of Randy Jackson: that’s gonna be a no for me, dawg. Not really in the mood for 80’s sitcom elevator music. Lulz 1.5/5

The aural equivalent of hospital food

To my ears, fusion (aka jazz rock) does a disservice to both jazz and rock. This sounds like one of the shitty demos on the keyboard my parents bought in the 80s.

No it just dont speak to me at all

Just not my music

First listen Saved 0/8

Pretty boring album, has an elevator music feel, or background music for a movie soundtrack. I like jazz but I don’t like this. This is a real chore to get through. Never need to hear this album again, and would’ve been fine never hearing it at all.

Zzzzzzzzz.

No.

Meh

I was expecting the news was about the come on at any moment. 1/5

Not for me

This is one of those times when I wish that I could advance without rating the album. I do not like this album at all. It's not my thing. BUT, people I know whose thing it IS say this album is in their top 10. One friend said they thought of Hardcore or Speed Metal as sped up Jazz Fusion. I love Hardcore and Speed Metal, but I do not make the same connection.

First track was pretty good. Then it devolved into elevator music. Jazz can be better than this.

Dull

Caused an uproar in the office and I was forced to turn it off

Gähn... lagweilliger Jazz

congratulations on the Weather Report for being incredibly committed to the bit, music suitable for a weather report intro scene when you want the vibe in your movie to be extremely 1980s. sounds exactly like the album cover, quite a feat there too. music: hated. (⌐■_■)

What is this? This is awful. How it made this list is beyond me.

why was this shit included

No. Did not enjoy this at all. It’s lame.

Piece of garbage

Stick to the weather

1.5 Didn’t even bother finishing it. Again how the fuck is this on a this list. What a load of shit

Fuck the Weather Report. This garbage isn't created for music fans - it's targeted to executive producers in network television in the hope that one of these "songs" will play over the opening credits of a late 70s TV show. This shit is created to grab royalties, not music fans. Fuck 1001 Albums Generator for introducing me to this unbearable noise. 👎👎

Welcome to Jazz Club…

It's looking pretty bleak out there.

Heavy going

couldn’t wait for this to end

either too soft or too intellectual

I don't think jazz is for me

Felt like i was bein battered by a piano while a saxophone laughed at me

These are clearly incredibly talented musicians. Still sounds like muzak/hold music to me. I want to like this; I do not like this.

The worst kind of technically accomplished but overindulgent, soulless toss

Never heard of this band before. Not being a big fan of jazz, I will certainly say that it was a lot of jazz. That is all.

I don't even like legit jazz from legit musicians like Miles Davis. But this noodling drivel that sounds like it might have been the background music at a shitty lounge in the 70s? Nope.

UGH. Did not enjoy this.

I don't want any of this in my life 1

Terrible, like being stuck on hold whilst in a lift that has broken down between floors but the music still works.

The first track is a classic. The rest is dross. Another disappointment.

Not for me, did not finish.

Who put this on the list? What critic listens to elevator jazz and is like, "Oooh, yeah. That's my shit. The world needs to hear these saxophone solos." Piss off, mate. This was a waste of everyone's time.

Fome.

Seventies US tv theme tunes. The live sounding track woke me up a little. Not my thing.

pissing it down here, guv

Not my thing, like the genre, but not enough funk from these guys

Wow. 80s background movie music. So bad

Meh

Obviously great musicians but way too muso for my liking

All I can see when I hear this music is a load of moustachioed men, bobbing their heads and grinning earnestly at each other. Birdland used to be the background music to every incidental sports medley on British television. Rumba mama doesn’t even sound like it belongs on this album, but was the best of a bad bunch. This has reinforced my view of how much I hate jazz fusion. It only brings one word to mind – SMUG!!!

I liked Rumba Mama. Otherwise, no thank you. I looked the band up and they’re really important in jazz circles. And that Rumba Mama was a live version. So while I will never listen to their studio recordings, I would probably have enjoyed them in Montreaux. The album title is the same as a song by Cousteau, a band I like very much. Now I’m listening to them.

Just, no.

instrumental, not my jam.

No me ha gustado el estilo de este disco y no lo termine de escuchar.

to smart for me maybe one day

Never again.

Alsof je een in olijfolie badende worm naar binnen probeert te werken...

Mjah, jazz is niet mijn ding en dit al helemaal niet.

Nope.

So boring! I guess it started to grow on me by the end but seriously, no likey.

Meh - not for me. bit a a jazz lounge style

This was difficult to get through.

I don't like jazz, sorry bee from Bee Movie.

Surto.

Whatever

🤮

Mmmm probando el Jazz-Fussion con sus creadores. En principio suena a intro de teleserie de los 80. No me ha interesado lo más mínimo.

Wtf is this album. Used emilys for the playlist… low end theory

Couldn't finish - sounded like a bad example of tedious noodly lounge-bar jazz

Terrible. Absolutely. This is a soundtrack for a B movie knockoff of Lethal Weapon or something.

An album I would have happily missed

I have to say.....I did not like this one

Meh

Didn’t enjoy, found it boring

Crap

Såklart veldig flinke musikere, særlig bassisten. Men jeg blir oppriktig irritert av å høre på dette. Det er noe med hele stemninga som er så cheesy og flåsete. Det albumet jeg har slitt mest med å komme meg gjennom så langt, merkelig nok.

Very strange and boring

Horrendous. Sax, cheesy bass, electric piano and congas

Seelenlose Architektenmuzak Angewiderte 0.1

Meine Güte, war das anstrengend. Hyperprätentiöses Zeug! Nachdem ich hier schon einiges entdeckt habe an Jazz den ich mag, tut es ja fast schon gut, zu hören wie Jazz klingt den ich nun ganz bestimmt NICHT mag.

Was soooooo excited that this might be a precursor to The Dead Weather... because Alison Mosshart. Will most likely never listen to this again.

I do love his voice.

I’m going back home 🏡 and I’m just trying not really trying I’m not going anywhere and it’s hard because it’s so busy but it’s just so busy so it’s kind and I’m not really feeling it right now I just want to get back home and I know it’s a long road so I’m trying and it’s hard but it’s not a hard one 1️⃣ to get home 🏠 so it’s a little difficult 😣 I’m sorry 😞 I’m sorry 😢 I’m so glad 😌 I’m sorry 😢 my love 😍 you are the most amazing 🤩 you and your friend and your sister 🧑 have ever love ❤️ you so many hugs 🤗 love ❤️ you both have an extra heart ♥️ I love you 😘❤️ and you.