THE BRECKER BROTHERS — Heavy Metal Be-Bop (review)

THE BRECKER BROTHERS — Heavy Metal Be-Bop album cover Live album · 1978 · Funk Jazz Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
js
This isn’t the most subtle album out there, but if you are looking for a very aggressive set of rockin funk jazz played by superb instrumental technicians, this might be the one. Funk with hard rock aggression and jazz virtuosity had really become the flavor of choice for many technique laden artists in the mid 70s including Stanley Clarke, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, Billy Cobham, Funkadelic, Mother’s Finest and many more. There is no doubt that this style would come naturally to the Breckers as they had been guest performers on many of the albums by the previously mentioned artists.

The playing on here is superb, Randy and Micheal both play with fierce aggression and high speed dexterity. As the album title suggests, they are attempting to merge the power of metal with the demanding technique of bop. Both Breckers also utilze the technology of the day to great effect as they supplement their horns with echoplexes, wah-wah pedals and chorus units. Another plus is the technical and high speed drumming technique of Terry Bozzio.

There are a couple of tunes on here that take a shot at something a little more subtle, ‘Funky Sea, Funky Dew’ starts off as a ballad before heading straight to a heavy funk jam, and ‘Squids’ has some nice Latin touches in the verse before it too succumbs to the adrenaline fueled energy.
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