Weather Report - Weather Report (1982), Jazz Fusion Album

‘Weather Report‘ is the title of the tenth studio album by the legendary American jazz rock/jazz fusion band Weather Report which was released in January 1982 through ARC/Columbia Records, the label with which they started and ended their musical activity. The fact that this Weather Report studio album is eponymous caused confusion among fans and some retailers at the point of its release given the fact that the band’s debut studio album (which was issued in 1971) also bears the same name (i.e. the band’s name).

Frontal cover artwork of Weather Report (1982) by Weather Report. Image source: www.blogspot.com

It is also important to note the fact that this is the last studio album to include legendary, highly creative, tremendously technical, revolutionary, and innovative American bass virtuoso Jaco Pastorius. This is also the last Weather Report studio album to include drummer Peter Erskine. With the future departures of Erskine and Pastorius, this is the album which was made by the best line-up of the band, as many fans consider.

Most of this album was composed by Josef ‘Joe’ Zawinul, the band’s keyboardist and co-founder, who, for its recording sessions, made use of heavy synthesized orchestration. The LP has a total length of 41 minutes and 4 seconds.

In terms of critical reception, the album was well to very well received by the following publications:

Allmusic (which gave it 3 out of 5 stars);
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide (which gave it 3 out of 5 stars);
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (which gave it 3 out of 4 stars).

The album has the following tracklist:

Volcano for Hire (composed by Joe Zawinul);
Current Affairs (composed by Joe Zawinul);
N.Y.C. (41st Parallel/The Dance/Crazy About Jazz; composed by Joe Zawinul);
Dara Factor One (composed by Joe Zawinul);
When It Was Now (composed by Wayne Shorter);
Speechless (composed by Joe Zawinul);
Dara Factor Two (composed by Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine, and Robert Thomas Jr.).

The recording personnel was as follows:

Joe Zawinul – keyboards, piano, synthesized horn/strings/brass/woodwind, clay drum, drum computer, percussion, voice, front cover concept;
Wayne Shorter – tenor and soprano saxophones;
Jaco Pastorius – bass guitar, percussion, vocals;
Peter Erskine – drums, drum computer, and claves;
Robert Thomas Jr. – percussion.

The technical personnel was as follows:

Neil Dorfsman – engineer;
Mitch Gibson – engineer;
Joseph Futterer – art direction;
Richie Powell – art direction;
Don Dixon – cover artwork.

Therefore, that being said and without any further needless ado or unwanted spoilers on my behalf, I wholeheartedly recommend integrally listening to Weather Report’s 1982 namesake studio album, track by track, embedded via Youtube below. All the best!