SWEETNIGHTER

At once I got a whole collection of Weather Report records on vinyl and this was just a pity. Most of those records were really inaccessible. So I decided to give some of those records to my brother who experienced the same troubles with this band. This Sweetnighter however was an exception to this rule. From the first time on I did like it.

Sweetnighter is one of the -if not the- funkiest records of Weather Report. I do like the really good controlled wah-wah pedal keyboard soundings. The wind-section fell right on it's place and the percussion session make a good match. The keys and bass are as good as the other instruments. This is the first record of the Weather report I got the idea this band was really playing as a band. I don't mean there other records were not played good - Weather report always had excellent musicians, but on this record I got the idea the music was somewhat more natural in it's soundings because the musicians seem to be more cohesive.

Still this record has some shortcomings. Side two is a bit less good then the first side and fails to get my attention all the time. There are just a few supprises for me and it fels like lounge music. I think it's just the problem of fusion: with good musicians it's quiet easy to make a good sounding fusion record, but it's really hard to make an excellent one. The absence of vocals are hard to compensate and so it's really hard to make a record which is entertaining for more then 30 minutes I guess.

Well, this record really wishes us a sweetnight, which was needed after the inaccesable "body electric". It well deserves 3,5 star.