Herbie Hancock - Feets Don't Fail Me Now (1979/2013) [HDTracks]

Keyboardist Herbie Hancock dives into the disco fad that became ever popular by the end of the 1970s. This album differentiates itself from the rest of Hancock's more jazz based albums, incorporating disco beats and his famous Sennheiser vocoder.

Herbie Hancock's electric records up until this point were marked by intelligence and adventure, even at their most earthy. But no, this one doesn't have an ounce of either. Herbie falls hook, line and sinker for the disco fad and submerges his personality underneath the plastic vocals and four-on-the-floor disco beat. Hancock's own gauzy vocals through a Sennheiser vocoder are embarrassing, and even his synthesizer work sounds coarse and gimmicky. This time, even the purists were right; this is of no interest to jazz listeners and it isn't even good disco. --Richard S. Ginell