Herbie Hancock
Sound System

Excluding the jazz-afro-tribal hints of the varied and experimental "Karabali" (also notable is the piano-sax duet with Wayne Shorter), little to nothing is salvaged from this "Sound System", an album by Herbie Hancock released in 1984 and mostly remembered as the unlucky sibling of the successful and more inspired predecessor "Future Shock". 

"Hardrock" has good rock elements that contribute to momentarily vary the electro/robot/futuristic concept embarked upon in these records released between 1983 and 1988 with the support of Bill Laswell; but the experiment is only half-successful: scratching and rhythms are always the same (not coincidentally, it’s a semi-clone of the classic "Rockit"), but the presence of the electric guitar is welcomed with its very -simple- solo that hints at the curious title. "People Are Changing" revisits the disco/funk/soul ideas that animated records of the previous artistic period (Sunlight & co); Bernard Fowler’s vocal is undoubtedly better and more "professional" compared to the vocoder-heavy one that Herbie himself used to place in those, still valid, records; unfortunately, the track never takes off. Aiyb Dieng is without a doubt the standout guest, the Senegalese percussionist, already working with other legends such as Brian Eno and Jon Hassell, performs excellently on the outstanding "Junku", a sunny exotic episode with Hawaiian hues featuring the kora (by Foday Musa Suso), an African instrument that will appear multiple times, managing to save from absolute zero even the mediocre "Metal Beat". Absolutely insignificant is the title track: Hancock’s decent synth work is not enough; the rhythms, in particular, are really too repetitive considering the regular recycling over 3 consecutive albums.

An album that, like many of the pianist’s works, calls to world music and electronics, presents some good moments, especially in the more "afro" parts, but unlike other gems (the extremely experimental and crazy "Sextant" above all), it doesn’t seem to have any precise direction. Disjointed.