Head Hunters

Jazz Funk Perfection

Too jazz for me.

Fun jazz funk keyboards. Written as a suite of four pieces.

Its one of the coolest albums ever and needed to be twice as long

Stone cold classic. Loved this album since my teens.

Épico. Se siente muy libre y he estado todo el tiempo dentro de la jam que es este disco. Muchos samples por aquí y por allá y muy dinámico, ha sido bastante disfrutable, y hay pequeñas frases y momentos que son infecciosos.

1973. Watermelon Man, Chameleon

Leiðinleg plata

Perfect album

Нетленка Хэрби Хэнкока

2/5 nope!

An unconventional and accessible display of performing jazz masterfully despite nothing like this ever being done before. "Chameleon" is characterized by a recognizable funky bass line, electrifying piano and synths that come in and out at the forefront, and a groovy Miami-vibe half way in before slowly returning to the formula. "Watermelon Man" is an even stranger track, taking inspiration from African music with the beer blowing, and a much sexier, harder funk sound reminiscent of James Brown. There's so much going on that there's always something to idolize upon each listen. Has my favorite sax... there's even a segment around the 4-5 minute mark where I hear two saxes. "Sly" is the most colorful track for sure, undergoing a new transformation every couple minutes or so. It's crazy this is an album where people are calling THIS the weak track. Least iconic, yes, but impressively composed with attention made to each second. Starts and ends with a sexy spy theme, interluded with how fast can you keep up. "Vein Melter" is a slow, mellow, yet atmospheric closer to leave the audience satisfied after the insane displays shown previously. Feels a little classical here and there.

one of those records that makes me wish i'd been a band kid in high school

Absolute gem.

Listened to this while riding a bike. "Sly" was a real nice tune, it actually synced to the high and low speed moments of the ride. It reminded of "Bixiga 70". It's probably a very historically important album, but I'd personally not write home about it.

Pretty funky, long songs but only 40min. 3/5

Good but short.

Till this day I only knew one song by Hancock and I regret not having listened to this album before.

Not really fan of jazz and this was no exception

huh never ever would have listened to this of my own volition, so this is v interesante, no lyrics, just like...JAZZ and SYNTH its wonderful

Something new for me. Funky and fun.

Pleasant and unassuming, so not that interesting, but I'd never object to hearing it again.

sophisticated, swinging, funky electric jazz 4 stars

So fresh. So funky. This album hugger really hits the spot for me

This was kind of fun. It dragged on a bit, but some of those grooves were quite funky.

Funky, jazz music. More enjoyable than I would have guessed at first. Only complaint would be it’s was a bit repetitive and blends together. 3

Funky

Really enjoyable. Embarrassingly I only knew Rockit. This is really good

Me assustei no início com a quantidade de músicas: quatro. Também me assustei com a duração delas: em média, 10 minutos cada. Álbum instrumental com muitas experimentações. Deixei tocando e fui fazer outras coisas. Gostei muito.

I like Jazz, I like Funk and I like this. First song Chameleon a brilliant grove, maybe does get a bit tiresome after that. Chameleon a 4, but the rest of the album just a 3. An album I think I’ll come back to, but more likely to listen to a jazz classic over this.

nice

A classic of the genre. This is such a fun and groundbreaking record and I love it

Watermelon man is a classic. Funk-Jazz fusion at its finest.

it's nice when my notes for a 1001 album can be easy like "it's head hunters" It's head hunters.

Fun tippy instrumental album. Kinda old, kinda groovy.

I had heard everyone raving about this album but never thought I liked jazz enough to enjoy it so I never listened to it... turns out I like jazz enough to enjoy it! Favorite song: Chameleon

Love this album

Very good but in the 70s era on sound

Gott grúv. Hressandi stöff

Nope

Jazz fusion at its finest, perhaps one of the greatest jazz albums period. Chameleon and the rerecording of Watermelon Man are particular highlights

Jazzy and funky. Got really into some of his other stuff after listening to this.

I liked the first track,not really sure about the other tho,might give it another listen

Interesting listen. Not much of it really jumped out at me but would listen again.

Shoutout mike white, white lotus

3/5 for the song name “Watermelon Man”

I actually own this on CD and listened the shit out of it back in the day Classic

Memories of Jazz School come cascading down around me. They weren't all bad.

Nah… just too freestyle for me. Me and jazz is like me and olives. I feel like we should get on, but alas no!

Rating: 7/10

Groovy

Actually fucking slaps. Chameleon is a slight masterpiece

Pretty nice jazz album. It’s very unique in some aspects and it still flows nicely. They keyboarding is really cool and the horns are what ties it together. Solid album. 7.1/10

One of these albums that everyone knows and that is so clearly 5 star that there is not much to say.

One of the key jazz fusion albums of the early '70s. Love the funky and groovy sound, though I slightly prefer Hancock's older work with albums like Empyrean Isles and Maiden Voyage.

I don't like music without lyrics, but this one was pretty good

Fun background music. Veered between genres which was fun.

4 canciones y 40 minutos. Estos discos ya no se hacen. Partiendo del origen Jazz mete algo de electrónica, o eso creo. Escuchable como música de fondo y poco más para mi gusto.

Jazzy and awesome

Heel bijzonder jazz album, zou hem wel aanraden voor een gare zondagochtend

8/10

7/10. Pretty good. Watermelon Man wasn't as annoying as I remembered.

Good vibes. 9/10

absolute mastapiece

Nice jazz album. J'ai plus aimé ça que j'aurais pensé considérant la grosse influence fusion

Woo hoo! Herbie time! A funky 70s Herbie, a bit of fun but can't hold a candle to some of his other works. Fat Albert Rotunda is one of my all time top ten, so competing with that is hard.

There's an alternate universe where i'm a major jazz-fusion-funk fanatic. It would be a rather weird place.

An under-appreciated genius. There is some serious funk underlying the jazz. Talk about fusion.

One moment interesting and groovy, the next moment crazy free jazzy. Always cool though.

Instrumental and got bored at the first track.

Starts with a super funky vibe (Chameleon) and veers all over the place from there. Straightforward funk, electric jazz and way out space avant- garde, at least to my ears

I surprisingly enjoyed it especially watermelon man

Not my favorite Herbie album but a stellar listen nonetheless. Funky and soulful, perfect playing by all involved.

Funky. I like it.

Headhunters can best be understood as a reaction to being ignored. In a 1974 interview, Herbie Hancock said, "One thing became apparent to me last year. I’d go to friends’ homes and see my albums on the shelves with lots of other people’s records, and they’d play all the others except mine. My intention at the time was to play music to be listened to with undivided attention; but how many people have the time to approach music that way? Before, I was so interested in spirituality that I didn’t recognize that a person puts on a record with his hands and not his spirit.” So the emphasis shifted from “heavy musical trips that try to expand people’s minds” to “making people feel like getting up in the morning and going to work.” Yep, sounds about right. If you really want to hear something heavy and groundbreaking, try Herbie Hancock's Crossings, not Headhunters, but Headhunters does have its charms. It's undeniably funky, with music grounded in the best selling artists of the day, like James Brown and Sly & The Family Stone. The keyboard sounds are varied and they don't suck, even the synths, at least in this context. For sake of comparison, listen to some of the synths on the Ohio Players' mid to late 70s albums, which totally stink up the joint. Why? Well, those old jazz players had ears like an elephant and apparently the patience to program synths. And even though these tunes are long, Hancock keeps things interesting introducing contrapuntal lines in the arrangements and of course he's a world class soloist. And I shouldn't forget to mention that Herbie's band are wonderful rhythm players and being jazzers, the groove is constantly shifting and evolving. Aside from the intrinsic value of the recording, which is pretty high, Headhunters is also hugely influential, not only for putting funk front and center in jazz, but for its use of synthesizers. It easily earns its place on the 1001 list.

up there for album covers. good depiction of what happens to your head if you try to understand what is going on with this album.

Herbie Hancock, Matt's more accessible, more likeable, older brother. He paints a glowing rainbow of joy upon the faces of everyone who meets him. Everyone apart from me. Colour my life with the chaos of trouble, I just can't stand the man! His music SUCKS! He's a greasy weasel, a gym instructor, a nuclear rocket, a baseball bat, a fat controller, a modest mouse, a toilet brush, the misadventures of Romesh Ranganation, a stain upon a front tooth, a garden gnome, a rainy afternoon, a cunt.

Not arsed. This didn't light up the sky with fireworks on bonfire night.

Jazz funk. The mixture. The cerebral musicality of jazz mixed with the visceral groove of funk. What a combo. Jazz's deformed cousin.

Really creative and other-worldly. I like it a lot as someone who doesn't often get into jazz.

5/5 Disagree and i'll fight you.

-"Chameleon" got some cool grooves and at least 1 cool drum fill -"Watermelon Man" is definitely the weirdest one from the bunch, with that vocal recording thing as part of the main loop in the song -Lots of cool jams and grooves throughout -Pretty sure I heard the lick in there a few times

Stark fyra, chameleon e en femma, eventuellt också vattenmelonsmannen. Bör lyssnas i vilket fall som helst.

Classic banger

Groovy!

Awesome, this music is exactly what I like. Favorite track is Chameleon.

Headhunters by Herbie Hancock (1973) Here we have accessible jazz in a funk/pop spread. The groove and two-chord alternation in the opening track “Chameleon” are both recognizable and memorable. I suspect, however, that jazz purists would be disappointed by the album’s overall simplicity, repetitiveness, and electronic gimmickry. Herbie Hancock creates a pleasing enough sound, with colorful whiz bang electronic keyboard and off-base percussion, but the improvisations and solos are tonally elementary, except Bennie Maupin’s soprano sax and Hancock’s keyboard solos on “Sly”—excellent. There are several moments of comic character; one hopes that this was intentional. The bass lines are monotonous, especially when played on keyboards. But Paul Jackson’s bass guitar performance is very good. The key feature on this album is its accessibility. It cooks. Everybody can dig it, tapping feet and fingers (thanks to Harvey Mason’s excellent and precise drumming). The best track is the relaxed and reverie-inducing closing track “Vein Melter”. But the dated sound (Fender Rhodes and ARP synthesized strings) robs it of any potentially enduring quality. Hopefully a serious listen to this album will prompt one to explore Hancock’s more compositionally developed work. 3/5

great oldie music almost brackground music

Have listened to this album countless times - own it on vinyl. Jazz classic. Maybe the most Herbie Hancock of Herbie Hancock albums? Chameleon and Watermelon Man obviously carry the album, but side 2 is still groovy.

muy bueno, me sirvió de soundtrack para limpiar la cocina y también para leer

// Favs: Vein Melter Score: Strong 3

I just finished watching White Lotus and I'm pretty sure that they used parts of Watermelon Man to build eerie tension and impending doom in some of the episodes. I'm glad that I was introduced to this, Chameleon went on forever, and it was good, but could've ended about 12 minutes sooner. All of this was good to experience and provides a basic foundation of electrofunk. I'd be open to hearing more and exploring this genre a little further.

With a name like Herbie Hancock, who could go wrong!? And it's his real name, not a stage name! Born Herbert Hancock, and who wouldn't shorten that to Herbie because Herbies are famous. Like Herbie the Love Bug, that charming(?) automobile, maybe Herbie Hancock is more known for his name than his music? Because I don't know this album. Though I did watch Herbie the Love Bug. Not sure I could tell you what it's about other than a talking(?) car though. Oh! It's because I know Herbie Hancock for a song that sounds nothing like any of this! "Rockit" from "Future Shock," a decade after this, is the first "jazz hip-hop song," an anthem for breakdancers, and won 5 awards at the inaugural MTV Music Video Awards. That song I know! Both in it's original and in many samples I'm sure. It's filled with synth, scratches, samples, and is nothing like "Head Hunters." "Head Hunters" was mostly smooth and cool jazz funk that faded into the background until "Sly" came in with it's frantic, all-over-the-place self. Took me too out of it. But "Rockit" would get 4 stars. It's not on the 1001 though. Too bad.

I feel like one of these songs was definitely background music for one of those transitional Sesame Street sketches showing People in Their Everyday Lives.

I wish this album stopped after 2 tracks. Chameleon started off strong. I feel the FUNK! Watermelon man is weird…good weird. And then we get to Sly. Sly is all over the place…bad all over the place. Vein Melter bored me to death…bad boredom. I’m stuck at a 2.5 here. I’m putting a priority on the innovation in the first two tracks.

I liked this pretty well throughout bit it did sure feel like another trip to the jazz genius noodle factory. Too sophisticated for me probably.

This was some Grade A funk & jazz, man

I'm glad this album made one misstep so I don't have to give it a 5-star rating. If you reverse the order of "Sly" and "Vein Melter". As it is, it is only a 4.95-star album. Note: I rounded up.

The only Herbie Hancock track I know is Rockit. Which is great. I know that other than that, he is much more of a jazz artist. I think I checked him out when I was 15 expecting more electro and being disappointed when there was So. Muck. Saxophone. Chameleon has one of the dirtiest bass lines ever. I'm not a 15 minute funk jam person all the time, but this is pretty alright? It has the decency to essentially transform into another track at the 7.5 minute mark, which is a relief as it didn't feel like there were many places left for it to go. That bassline then feels welcome comming back at the 13 minute mark. Watermelon Man is weirder for the first minute. Once the beat kicks in it sounds like it could be a hip hop track. 2 minutes research tells me Dilla sampled it because OBVIOUSLY. Unlike Chameleon, I can't think of multiple ways to edit it down! Sly feels more traditionally 'jazz' than the first two tracks. And a couple of minutes in, I feel, depressingly like I'm listening to something I find boring, but that cleverer people will understand... Gets more fun when it goes double time. Feels like music from a hyperactive 70s spy thriller. Vein Melter is a brilliant song title. The track is vaguely atmospheric synth noodling and shmoove sax, at least up to the three minute mark. I do not feel it is melting my circulatory system, the name feels very misleading at this point. 5 minutes in and I am still very bored.Has it's great points though, but I can't say I'd be going back to it any time soon. A minute and a half in, and I can't see it going anywhere vein melty in the remaining minute and a half. Very disappointed, a waste of a great song name that should probably have gone to a speed metal band. Ultimately, there's some me brilliant, exciting fun stuff on here. As always with jazz, it has far too much widdly technical noodling going on. I would listen to Watermelon Man again, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice the listening time for the longer ones on here. I can see how the instrumentation must have been important to move jazz forwards, but I can't bring myself to love it.

Everyone, ever has sampled this.

Great Album. Something new for the '70s. Hancock still a leader for new music.

Good stuff, especially the first 2. There's just a bit too much going on in the other 2. I'd never listened to HH before. Glad that mistake has been corrected

I hate that jazz stuff.....jeeesus a 13 minute track.......oh that is good, that was never 13 minutes, what's next oh more YES but it's not really jazz.

Fantastic album. Herbie Hancock is a fusion pioneer and this album is an excellent yet accessible foray into jazz funk fusion. The songs are very well constructed and build gradually and naturally. The musicianship is top notch of course and driven by Hancock’s playing of the Fender Rhodes electric piano. The improv breaks are impressive as well. This album is an absolute genre bending classic.

Jazz no convencional

Really cool and unique jazz, ranging from free to smooth-esque. Enjoyed it a lot.

I like the funky rhythms and the drums are really effective. I like that with that comes the futuristic undertones which come from the keyboard which really pack a punch alongside the drum and clavinet and other instruments such as say the saxophone or a woodwind instrument. the jazz-funk of this album is quite a pleasure to the ears. my favourite probably being the longest, chameleon man. while it doesn't make the 5/5 for me its a close 4.

No Lyrics, pure music. Funky 😌

emilie efterskole start running marathon opener

It's so funky

4-song Funk album. Open Chameleon is a 15 minute jam, great tune really enjoyed this one. Watermelon Man I didn't like as much, it was still good but wasn't getting into the pipes. Luckily this was the shortest in the album. Sly gets a little more jazzy/slow to start and then gets more and more frantic throughout. The last track Vein Melter is a bit more trippy, it's quieter and slower and more focused on some psychadelic sounds with the keys. Good album, opening track is definitely the strongest, and the last track is enjoyable. Both middle tracks were a bit weaker but overall a good listen.

It was jazzy but not really my jam.

I feel stupid that I know almost all of this music but didn’t know it was ALL Herbie Hancock. What a legend.

eh it's aight

First couple of tracks were interesting then it got a bit boring.

Was a high 3 based on Chameleon. Fell away after that.

Nonsense.

Herb is the word

I don’t know enough about jazz to really talk about it, but I’ll say this: this is the kind I don’t like. I prefer surprising harmonies and modulations to the same damned chord progression a bazillion times over, nothing more than a predictable undergirding for individual riffs that don’t even feel related. Not my jam.

Not really my thing. I don’t enjoy 10 minute long jazzy instrumentals. Didn’t mind the first couple minutes, but 40+ minutes, nope.

Very interesting. A unique spot between jazz and funk. Not my jam, but glad I listened.

I listen to this album all the time, not even going to lie—might even be my fave Hancock release. Not just a classic, but let’s face it, a stoner classic—gets one’s head right, as it were. I prefer it to a lot of his more experimental 80s fare, pioneering though that may have been.

My method of how I want to review albums is still evolving. I may also do it differently based on album. Anyway, for this one, I wanted to share the bulk of my play-by-play experience of listening to the first (and longest) track off Head Hunters, "Chameleon." A roughly play-by-play retelling of my listening to “Chameleon”: Ooh yeah, funky groove. I’m into it. Okay the horns are getting a little sharp and too much now. Okay, they’re dying down, so I’ll make a note of the point at the song that I’m not really digging- ::checks Spotify, sees this had all happened between about 2:30 and 3:30 of...a 15-minute song? Wow:: Whoa this song is longer than I was expecting. But okay okay, I can settle into this. You could just like live in this groove you know? Ooh this part is really chill. Like a totally different vibe, really relaxing. The other energetic one wasn’t bad, but this is nice- OH LIKE CHANGING LIKE A CHAMELEON. Ha. Nice. And a break from horns (love you horns, really!). This isn’t the normal length of a song, and that’s okay. But it was much more relaxing to my brain to be able to see exactly how long to expect the song to be, because if I hadn’t seen I would have been constantly anticipating an ending that wasn’t coming for ten more minutes LOL Ah, and now I have a sense that it’s almost over ::looks, sees there are a few minutes left, so, yes:: yep. And now it’s circling back to the early motif. Good song."

Amazing groove. Instrumental jazz is not usually my thing but I may have to buy this on vinyl. Really cool. Even the synth is cool.

I sold a power amplifier while I was listening. So, it must have been good.

you have to be in a very specific mood for this one. perhaps one track, on a boat trip, with an Aperol Spritz, anything after that and I'm a bit done with the expressive jazz funk bass

An insane, electrifying album from front to back. Incredible performances, engaging music. Can't speak any more highly of this one. Favorite tracks: "Chameleon", "Watermelon Man"

So much envelope filter on the first song, love it! Enjoyed the rest of it too, though I got a little too jazz for me in places. I'm definitely more interested in funk than jazz. Also, it's instrumental so it's easy for it to kind of become background music. Pretty enjoyable overall though.

goed voor op de achtergrond, met momenten dacht ik dat het in ene rick & morty aflevering kon

oooh lekkere piano geluiden, deze hou ik bij voor tijdens het werken

Pretty cool listen

Funky

Starts exciting, but becomes a bit repetitive and uninspired. very nice bits but overall a bit too long. Sometimes you wonder if you did not put the same song on repeat.

Solid but just not able to get deep enough into its groove.

Not that original

One of my favorite jazz albums. I still remember hearing watermelon man for the first time in my history of jazz class. Great stuff.

9/17 Jazz Funk masterpiece.

I liked it

I’m not a fan of Jazz but there’s enough to cling on to on the first side to make this enjoyable.

One of my favorite records, and still probably only the third best Herbie Hancock album imo. I have a poster of this art hanging over my keyboard rig. This actually made me thinking about getting a tattoo of that weird yellow mask thing over Herbie's face

This sort of sounds like it could’ve come out at any point in the last 50 years. Very cool shit.

The funkiest jazz, most 70s sounding jazz fusion album ever

Cool album. Pretty good as background but not generic like a lot of "background music" albums on this list.

More please

Great cover, but then you should never judge an album by…

I cant get all of this album on Amazon. A first. Got chameleon and it was alright.

Enjoyed it! His later work is more adventurous, creative.

The year is 1957 on the mean streets of Chicago. Herbie can play, Herbie can compose. But here's the thing, you don't tape people. What is this society, that we tape everything? What's going on? Do we not live in the moment anymore? We just tape everything from a phone? I don't like that. You know, that's what Herbie's music is against. But that dog was not humping my head, despite what Herbie Hancock says. That's why I love Herbie Hancock. He loves to lie.

Absolutely classic and important album, to me at least. The grooves on this album are superb and arrangement is everything. Everyone was on

Epicly funky from the first second. This is a goddam masterpiece. Love the jazz fusion, love the balance of experimentation and improvisation against catchiness and hooks.

On repeat during high school and college years. Perhaps the most accessible jazz album of all time for those more inclined towards rock music. So solid and catchy. Dictionary definition of a groove from start to finish. Might be the funkiest thing I've ever heard.

Starting off, that is some funky as hell synth bass line (apparently from an ARP Odyssey. Love it. Once the horns came in I realized I've definitely heard this before, or at least a version of it, really good but for me might have went on a touch too long. Watermelon Man is a certified bop, definitely heard this one as well. Sly definitely increases the intensity. By Vein Melter I was starting to lose interest a bit though, but still overall pretty darn good.

Damn that Moog bass synth on the opening track just gives me the chills. Love it! Sly gets a little insane. 3.5

First jazz album to sell over a million copies.

Incredible Psychadlic Groovy as fuck jazz album masterpiece 9.5/10

Okay, hell yes. Chameleon alone makes this fantastic.

Freestyle jazz not my cup of tea

great

Funky and fun

Groove-adelic. Loved the creativity and fun-kiness.

not bad

Actually really liked this. funny only hearing an album with 4 songs. not seen very often anymore

Funky and great beats

Some nice funky jazz. 8.2/10

This jazz funk album has instruments all over the place, but they all come together to create an interesting piece of musical history. It's funky yet soulful - smooth jazz mixed with funk melodies. Amazingly this is the only "jazz" album to sell over a million records.

I liked it, cool music. Something completely new for me, but extremely enjoyable. Will listen to again.

Un des premiers album de jazz fuzion que j’ecoute. C’est bon et eclate mais je prefere encore le bon vieux jazz. Meme si cela est drole a dire etant donne les epoques.3.75

palloso

Quite funky, upbeat jazz.