THRUST

Herbie Hancock and the Head Hunters band (with mild lineup tweaks) return for another assault on the funky side of jazz fusion. Whereas the first Head Hunters album felt like a real band effort, with Hancock regularly stepping back to let other group members enjoy the spotlight, this time he just doesn't let those synthesisers alone. At points it feels like Hancock is showboating and not giving the rest of the group space to showcase their own playing, at other points it feels as though that Herbie wants to take the album off in a radically different direction but the Head Hunters just want to crank out another commercial hit. It's still an adeptly performed funk-fusion piece, but the cracks are most definitely showing.