Herbie Hancock - Monster (1980 Japanese CBS/Sony Vinyl LP)

Vinyl: EX
Sleeve: VG+
Obi: None

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Herbie Hancock - Monster | Vinyl LP - 1980 Japanese CBS/Sony (25AP 1854, CBS/Sony Inc.)

Herbie Hancock had been making funk records since Head Hunters in 1973, but by 1980 the technology had overtaken the genre. Monster was recorded across three studios in Los Angeles and San Francisco with an arsenal of synthesizers, drum machines and early computer instruments that reads like a museum inventory. The modified Apple II Plus microcomputer that Hancock used was among the first applications of personal computing to commercial music production. The Roland CR-78 drum machine appears throughout. The Clavitar, a keyboard worn like a guitar, let Hancock move around the studio floor while playing.

"Saturday Night" opens the album with Carlos Santana's guitar over Washington's bass and Mouzon's drums, Hancock layering keyboards across the stereo field. It was Santana and Hancock's first studio collaboration; they went on to record The Swing of Delight together the same year. "Stars in Your Eyes" was co-written with Ray Parker Jr. and released as an extended 12-inch single that crossed from the dance charts to pop radio. Gavin Christopher and Greg Walker handle lead vocals across the album's six tracks.

"Go for It" is the hardest-driving piece, Mouzon playing both drums and synth. "Don't Hold It In" runs eight minutes with a descending bass figure that Washington holds throughout. "Making Love," co-written by Mouzon and Hancock's wife Jean, is the album's most restrained moment. "It All Comes Round" closes the record with the full synthesizer palette deployed over a four-on-the-floor groove that belongs firmly in 1980.

This is the 1980 Japanese CBS/Sony pressing (25AP 1854), manufactured by CBS/Sony Inc.