Customer Reviews

Future Shock

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Musically, I would give this CD 5 stars for 'Rockit'
the seminal track that fused DJ scratching with Herbie's
jazz tinged analog synthesizer experiments over a drum
machine. The amazing remix 'Rockit (Megamix)' is also
quite stunning with some very creative use of samples
(ahead of its time).

The problem is that whoever remastered the music follows
the modern trend of overcompressing the music, draining
all dynamic range out of it to increase the apparent loudness.
This makes the music jump out at you, but it's very
tiresome on the ears and drains the life out of it.
Personally, I can't even listen to the CD anymore.

I would recommend prospective buyers pick up one of the old
school hip hop compilations with Rockit on it instead
(the other tracks on the LP/CD haven't aged as well)

I bought this album when it came out as an experiment and at first I really didn't know what to think. It was just completely alien to me being a teenage metalhead. Over the following weeks however, I became addicted to it, playing it regularly- something I've done ever since.

Rockit is fairly representative of the albums electro/hip hop content but other tracks such as Earthbeat and Rough go much deeper to incorporate ambient and even world music. The title track is like electro vs. a rather camp P-funk!

The main strength of this album for me is that has a completely unique atmosphere that it maintains throughout. It is rather like a strange alien landscape- it provides excellent escapism because of the inhuman feel created by the stiff rhythms and huge warm soundscapes. FUNK is the key word here, meaning that the album has only dated in an academic sense.

It is impossible to turn off. It is definately recommended for the car. In my opinion the Rockit megamix is the only track that has dated to the point of embarassment- the title gives it away! Every other track though remains classic electro. F-F-F-F-Fresh!

The legs of one of the robots in the fantastic video for Rockit says it all; grooving to the funky beat while moving in a tight circle, keeping in step with the turntable scratches and driving the beat where dub, hip-hop and jazz became a new dynamic in the studio. Everybody dance now!

Future Shock was a new sensation when released in early 1983, as Herbie Hancock (and his Rockit band) & Bill Laswell teamed up to deliver electronics with funk, fusion and a sprinkling of avant-garde.

Rockit garnered a Grammy award for best R&B instrumental performance, while the video captured five awards - including Video of the Year - in the first MTV Video Music Awards show.

The CD has five cuts sandwiched between Rockit and Rockit (Mega Mix), the latter not on the original release. A true gem is Future Shock, a Curtis Mayfield composition. Earth Beat and Rough pump the funk through the speakers, while Hancock lets the jazz notes do the talking in T.F.S. and Autodrive.

That the collaboration of Hancock and Laswell was unable to reproduce the magic in subsequent releases speaks greatly about the quality found in Future Shock.

I'd like to defend this album, because between his more mellow jazz albums of the 70s and what he's doing now in 2005-2006, this 1983 album is still one one of my favorites from Herbie Hancock. Herbie took a big risk with going for the hip-hop sound and he succeeded. Every one of the six original songs are dynamite, are edgy and very creative for that period. I still love Rockit, perhaps one of Herbie's finest performances. Its mix of urban jazz and the turntable scratches of hip-hop was very unique. It has some hard hitting beats that could even rival most of Run-DMC and LL Cool J's albums. I couldn't stop playing the 45 single of the single and album versions for several months! It's still played over 2 decades later! The video for that song was phenomenal with the art direction and the marionettes moving to the song's beats. The album's very keyboard oriented, but Hancock kept the jazz style intact on most of the songs. I don't think he sold out,as some purists say. I think this album helped make him a more respected jazz musician and artist later on. Even if the album's massive success took him by surprise, he did it with class and he is still respected today. Very creative, chance-taking and wonderfully performed and done!

Herbie's alway's had his hand on the pulse of music, especially cutting edge stuff. He hooked up with Bill Laswell just when Laswell started an incredible run of "production jobs" that continues on through the 90's, and beyond. It's hard to figure just WHO get's the most credit here. Who cares? If you like it, dig! If you don't think it's "jazzy" enough, that's cool too, because it's very hip-hop/beats oriented (no guest "raps" but some cool soul vocals). A jazz artist incorporating the use of turntables and a whole array of synths and such-- read the liner notes with all the folks who appear here. One can't expect "Kind of Blue" now can you? Get funked up!

The first of three collaborations with the innovativeproducer/bassist Bill Laswell, 1983's FUTURE SHOCK finds an effectivebalance between state-of-the-art studio production techniques and street-wise rhythms that are in the forefront of the hip-hop idiom. Hancock's then decade-old expertise with synthesizers complements Laswell's cutting-edge approach as a producer. The results manage to sound both technological and funky. In fact, the album spawned an invigorating hit single (ROCKIT) that has dated surprisingly little over the years (even though the sound of hip-hop has changed dramatically since then), and provided an early indication of the potential mass popularity of hip-hop that became commonplace in the ensuing decade. One potential disappointment amid the innovative textures has to do with what a potential purchaser expects when purchasing a "Herbie Hancock" album. For those who picture Hancock behind an acoustic or electric keyboard playing extended, provocative solos--be forewarned. On the entirety of FUTURE SHOCK Herbie has ONE bona-fide piano solo (on AUTODRIVE). A key difference between Hancock's musical approach and that of his one-time employer Mr. Davis: Miles used any styles necessary as a inspirational means to keep his improvisations--and that of his sidepersons--from settling into a predictable state (rarely if ever did the solos take a back seat to their surroundings). On the other hand, with Herbie's post-1977 "pop" albums, the solo-oriented keyboard talents that comes to mind when most of us think the name Herbie Hancock rarely surfaced. Whether this fact is good, bad or indifferent is for each listener to sort through their preferences and biases to decide. I miss Herbie's improvisation skills, but find--on its own terms--FUTURE SHOCK to be a laudable project nonetheless.

this disc reflects the many different styles of music that the Genius mind of Herbie Hancock would venture into.some things have worked others have not.he got a good mix on this set.especially with ROCKIT.this is his answer to HIP-Hop and also to Mile's On The Corner album.give Herbie credit he had better Luck staying Contempary than COrea,Cobham&even Miles.the 80's weren't to kind to real JAzz Musicians.with all the Synths&Drum Machines it hurt the Music alot&watered it down.but Herbie has been bad for a LOng,Long,time.i like his risk taking.for better or worse.

If you enjoyed Rockit enough to want to listen to it for almost forty minutes, then Future Shock is not a bad choice. Though there are minor variations from track to track--the disc's forgettable and even irritating eponymous black sheep notwithstanding--it is largely a self-referential work, drawing on the same monotonous one-hit per four beats snare in nearly every track, each of which is an indecisive cobbling together of sounds and samples. It does have its moments, but they are not sustained, at times approximating the enigmatic approachability of the Art of Noise or the mechanical yet interesting sound of Kraftwerk, but not quite succeeding in duplicating their art. The Rockit Mega Mix does save the disc from being mediocre mush. Although it never does seem to find a focus, it is an endearing quality in this track only, lending it energy and a futuristic feel which is still preserved almost two decades later, and giving a sense of what rap was before it was hijacked by the foul-mouthed vapidity that rules it today. Although I do not regret this purchase, I am not particularly enthusiastic about it either. If you like this experimental sound, try also the Art of Noise's early works, 808 State's Utd. State 90, and anything by Kraftwerk. If you're more into jazz, this is not a good choice.

Ever wanted to hear Herbie's take on hip-hop? Yeah, neither did I. Despite that, I love the infamous "Rockit!", with scratching, vocoder, and Herbie's awesome synthesizer part. Even if the drum machine beats and random blasts of '80s guitar are stupid. It's dated, but good. The title track, on the other hand, is both dated and bad: a Curtis Mayfield cover done up in '80s funk style that goes on for eight minutes for some reason. The lowest point, though, either is "Earthbeat" - more or less a "Rockit!" rip-off (with all the vocoder and scratching, that is) that manages to be even more dated - or "Autodrive", more or less the same thing as "Earthbeat" (noticing a pattern?). Okay, so "Autodrive" has a cool piano part. Other than "Rockit!", the only successful track is the relentless "T.F.S.", with an endlessly repeating, funky clavinet part. And "Rough" is just an unimaginative, monotonous dance song (crooned by the same Curtis Mayfield imitator who sings the title track), other than the guitar solo, which bounces from speaker to speaker. That's kinda good. The guitar solo, I mean. Not the song. So if you've got a recording of "Rockit!", you more or less don't need this. I like a lot of Herbie Hancock, but this is the worst by him I've heard so far.

THIS IS FUNKY STUFF!!A little Material,a little Kraftwerk
and ALOT of Grandmixer DST's scraching up against Herbie's
synthesizers and catchy tunes."Rockit",of course,is "Rockit"
but the pulsing electro-funk of "TFS" and the more traditional
funk grooves of "Autodrive" and the groovalastic Curtis Mayfield cover tital track,beautifully sung by Dwight Jackson Jr. and the more exotic world-fusion influenced "Earthbeat".No dull
moments or downtempo songs on "Future Shock".Herbie's best in
the 1980's-BAR NONE!!!!!