The Best of Weather Report

The amazing thing about Weather Report isn't that they wanted the impossible—innumerable bands want that—but that they actually achieved it. The idea that very technically demanding music could also appeal to a popular audience seemed like utter folly. Yet here we are, decades after the fact, listening to the familiar string of hits contained on The Best of Weather Report. “Black Market,” “Birdland,” and “Mysterious Traveller” are songs that could never be played by mere mortals. Still, they were hummable. The tension between accessibility and inaccessibility was at the heart of Weather Report’s success, and it drove their greatest work, much of which is contained on this collection. The other crucial aspect of the band was that their music wasn't classifiable, which made them accessible to fans of many different genres. “Freezing Fire” could fit next to The Commodores; “A Remark You Made” could fit next to Cannonball Adderley; “Boogie Woogie Waltz” could fit next to Sly Stone; “Night Passage” could fit next to Joni Mitchell. Weather Report were everywhere at once, which is exactly where they always wanted to be.