Herbie Inadvertantly Invents Jazz Funk
Here he's managed to curb the interstellar jams and add two more songs to the album. This has to be the last in line of what I call the Herbie Hancock jazz-fusion trilogy, the previous two being "Headhunters" and "Thrust".
Its full of amazing funk/fusion, the first being "Hang Up Your Hang Ups" which contains some great horn stabs. It also drops down to smooth flowing fusion in "Bubbles" and Herbie fires up the synth for a Chameleon-esque bass line in "Steppin' In It". Thats such an infectiously funky tune!
Musically, its an all star cast. Wayne Shorter, Paul Jackson, Mike Clark and Stevie Wonder on harmonica are just a few of the names you can find on the musicians list.
As far as 70s jazz-funk/fusion albums go, this is devoid of cliches and any tackyness. Its just such a funky album with great musicianship and even greater songs. A welcome additive to any collection!.
Still one of the best
You might have to fire up your turntable and throw on the LP like me, and it's worth getting up in the middle to turn it over. Man-Child is still one of the best electronic funk collections going. Classic 70's riffs with one of Hancock's best piano keyboard solos to this day toward the end of "Hang up your hangups". Bright, clean, this album will pull you out of your chair and have you moving your feet.
Nice and funky
By the way, "The Traitor" is also a kickin' piece of Stevie Wonder-like clavinet-driven funk. Herbie has fun with synthesizers here, and it actually turns out to be fabulous: I think the weird, buzzing synth on "The Traitor" has a lot of personality and sounds totally unlike anything I've heard the instrument ever do. And I like "Hang up Your Hangups" even better: unbeatable bluesy jazz-funk. And even though the quiet, mellow funk "Bubbles" doesn't really break any new ground, the fact is I admire that song too, particularly the light, tasteful wah-wah guitar, soprano sax (played by Wayne Shorter, of course) and shimmering keyboards. Oh, and the bass groove. Can't forget that. And the burbling funk of "Steppin' in It" has Stevie himself playing a great harmonica solo. This is probably Hancock's funkiest overall release, but it's not without its problems: "Sun Touch" is downright annoying, and it isn't a significant advance beyond the Head Hunters sound: more Hancock resting on his laurels than anything else. Still, if you like the sound, you can't lose here. .
Get Funky!!
Don't worry about that. I love this album!! Lots of commentary in the reviews about where it falls compared to Herbie's other mid-'70s albums with the Head Hunters band. Just get this album and get your funk on!
If a comparison is necessary, it's probably not as strong a group effort as "Thrust", but the funk grooves run very thick on "Man-Child," and Herbie seems to have a little more solo space here than on "Thrust," including some very nice acoustic piano to funk with your mind a bit. Both albums are definitely heavier and more funkified than "Head Hunters", as classic as that album is.
This particular European release of the album claims to be a remaster on the front, with the distinctive orange cover border from Sony's early '90s round of remasters, but there aren't any details given in the booklet about where or when it was remastered, so we'll just have to take Sony at their word, I guess. Sounds fine to me, but I haven't heard other CD issues of the album to compare with. About the booklet: the essay is not very informative and has hilariously bad spelling and punctuation. Obviously not aimed at an English-speaking crowd, and I have to think this would have been fixed had the remaster been released in the USA. Speaking of which, why isn't this album included with "Head Hunters" and "Thrust" in Sony's most recent round of jazz remasters? It deserves to be.
It just doesn't get any better than this
It's 2007, and this album STILL rocks heavy weight. Geez. These tracks burn just as bright as when they were realeased; the solo's, the arrangements, the grooves, the songs, everything is slammin'. This is definately a "Desert" album.
You can see a complete list of all Herbie Hancock discography, or go back to the Herbie Hancock tabs
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