The shifts in Weather Report's personnel come fast and furious now, with Narada Michael Walden and Chester Thompson as the drummers, Alex Acuna and Don Alias at the percussion table, and Alphonso Johnson giving way to the mighty, martyred Jaco Pastorius. It is interesting to hear Pastorius expanding the bass role only incrementally over what the more funk-oriented Johnson was doing at this early point -- that is, until "Barbary Coast," where suddenly Jaco leaps athletically forward into the spotlight. Joe Zawinul or just Zawinul, as he preferred to be billed -- contributed all of side one's compositions, mostly Third World-flavored workouts except for "Cannon Ball," a touching tribute to his ex-boss Cannonball Adderley (who had died the year before). Shorter, Pastorius, and Johnson split the remainder of the tracks, with Shorter now set in a long-limbed compositional mode for electric bands that would serve him into the 1990s. While it goes without saying that most Weather Report albums are transition albums, this diverse record is even more transient than most, paving the way for WR's most popular period while retaining the old sense of adventure.
by Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist:
1
Black Market 6:31
Written-By – J. Zawinul
2
Cannon Ball 4:36
Written-By – J. Zawinul
3
Gibraltar 7:47
Written-By – J. Zawinul
4
Elegant People 5:03
Written-By – W. Shorter
5
Three Clowns 3:22
Written-By – W. Shorter
6
Barbary Coast 3:07
Written-By – J. Pastorius
7
Herandnu 6:35
Written-By – A. Johnson
Credits:
Congas, Percussion – Arejandro Neciosup Acuna, Don Alias
Drums – Narada Michael Walden
Drums [Ludwig] – Chester Thompson
Electric Bass [Fender, Charles La Boe], Instruments [Qertu] – Alphonso Johnson
Electric Bass [Fender] – Jaco Pastorius
Saxophone [Selmer Tenor, Soprano], Lyricon [By Computone] – Wayne Shorter
Synthesizer [2 Arp 2600, Oberheim Polyphonic], Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes], Grand Piano [Yamaha] – Joe Zawinul
Conceived as the third part of an MOR trilogy that included Peter Gabriel's second album and Daryl Hall's Sacred Songs, Exposure is concerned with a marketplace that Fripp saw as hostile to experimentation and hungry for product. Strangely, then, Exposure is one of his most varied and successful rock albums, offering a broad selection of styles. "Water Music I and II" is pure Frippertronics; "Disengage" and "I May Not Have Had Enough of Me But I've Had Enough of You" are angular, jagged rock like he would make with the reformed King Crimson; "North Star" is a soulful ballad led by Daryl Hall on vocals, and a less bombastic version of "Here Comes the Flood" with Peter Gabriel singing makes a melancholic ending. Peter Hammill, Terre Roche, and Narada Michael Walden also add vocals to a pleasant experiment in pop, Fripp style. Ted Mills
