POLL: The best Herbie Hancock album (closes May 11th).

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Herbie Hancock's probably my favourite artist of all time, so I had to do this poll. As with most jazzmen, his discography is huge, so I've excluded compilations, all the records about which neither Allmusic nor Discogs has any other info besides the name, plus all the LPs that aren't billed solely to him (such as the duo/trio/quartet records with Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, etc). The only exception is V.S.O.P.: since some of their records are credited to him and some to V.S.O.P., I've decided to included them all (note that the 2004 reissue of Live Under the Sky includes both of the previous records under that name).

Poll Results

Option	Votes
Head Hunters	6
Sextant	4
Mwandishi	3
Perfect Machine	2
Thrust	2
Maiden Voyage	2
Future Shock	1
Crossings	1
Man-Child	1
Lite Me Up	0
Hot and Heavy	0
Sound-System	0
Magic Windows	0
Monster	0
Round Midnight (soundtrack)	0
Herbie Hancock Trio (1981)	0
Dis Is da Drum	0
Jammin' with Herbie	0
Possibilities	0
V.S.O.P.: Live Under the Sky (the 2004 reissue)	0
Day Dreams	0
V.S.O.P.: Live Under the Sky, No. 2	0
Future 2 Future	0
Night Walker	0
Gershwin's World	0
New Standard	0
I don't like Herbie, the guy's a sellout!	0
Mr. Hands	0
Monster	0
Dedication	0
The Spook Who Sat by the Door (soundtrack)	0
Fat Albert Rotunda	0
The Prisoner	0
Speak Like a Child	0
Blow-Up (soundtrack)	0
Inventions & Dimensions	0
My Point of View	0
Death Wish (soundtrack)	0
Flood	0
Secrets	0
Feets Don't Fail Me Now	0
V.S.O.P.: Live Under the Sky	0
The Piano	0
Directstep	0
Sunlight	0
The Herbie Hancock Trio	0
V.S.O.P., Vol. 1	0
V.S.O.P.: The Quintet	0
Takin' Off	0

― Tuomas, Monday, 7 May 2007 16:33 (eighteen years ago)

Whoops, Monster is there two times! If that's your favourite, just vote for the first listing of it, though I can't imagine it getting too many votes.

― Tuomas, Monday, 7 May 2007 16:36 (eighteen years ago)

This is FAR too tough. My instinct is to go for Sextant though. But really I could vote for about 10 of them.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Monday, 7 May 2007 16:38 (eighteen years ago)

Sextant is probably my favourite album of all time by any artist, but I really feel like I should vote for Perfect Machine... It's an incredible piece of experimental electro (the title track sounds like something Rephlex could've released ten years later) that has unduly been left in the shadow of his bigger successes.

― Tuomas, Monday, 7 May 2007 16:44 (eighteen years ago)

Ha ha, Herbie's got a lot of albums! I probably haven't heard more than half of these and I love the dude. When push comes to shove, I had to vote for Headhunters, though. It might make more sense to divide them up into acoustic / electric. I'd vote for Maiden Voyage as the best acoustic. That is some sweet jazz.

― tylerw, Monday, 7 May 2007 16:50 (eighteen years ago)

I don't have perfect machine. I should maybe check that out then.
I saw Herbie play Edinburgh a few years back with his acoustic band.

― Brigadier Lethbridge-Pfunkboy, Monday, 7 May 2007 16:51 (eighteen years ago)

Yeah, some of these albums are pretty obscure (I've never heard of a movie called The Spook Who Sat by the Door), but if Allmusic or Discogs had a track listing and/or a cover photo, I decided to include them.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 08:08 (eighteen years ago)

I thought about the acoustic/electric divide, but it isn't as easy as with Miles, because he kept doing both at the same time, even on the same record. Maybe there could've been a separate poll for the Blue Note albums though.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 08:12 (eighteen years ago)

A vote for "Perfect Machine" here. His electro years were really great.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:23 (eighteen years ago)

Dunno if I'd say it was that much in the shadow. Surely it isn't part of the "canon" like "Head Hunters", but it contained a huge hit single in "Rockit!".

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:24 (eighteen years ago)

When push comes to shove, I had to vote for Headhunters, though. It might make more sense to divide them up into acoustic / electric. I'd vote for Maiden Voyage as the best acoustic.

Same here.

xpost, Rockit was on the radio today!

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:29 (eighteen years ago)

Hmmm.. Whoops, I meant to vote for "Future Shock", not "Perfect Machine". Well, nevertheless, "Perfect Machine" is underrated too so that's OK.

― Geir Hongro, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 09:31 (eighteen years ago)

Sextant. Oh yeah.

― Joe, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 11:25 (eighteen years ago)

Uh-oh, you forgot Empyrean Isles!

Whatever. I'm not gonna bother to vote, seeing that I've only got, like, 11% of the man's output. (But if I did cast a vote, damned if it wouldn't have gone to Sextant yet again.)

― Myonga Vön Bontee, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:44 (eighteen years ago)

Empyrean Isles is great. Thrust is great.

Headhunters might be the big-selling hit, but aside from the corny and overplayed Chameleon there is some crazy shit on there. Bill Summers' and Harvey Mason's finest hour?

― Jordan, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:47 (eighteen years ago)

This may come up on every Herbie Hancock thread, I don't know, but I like this Fender Rhodes demo that he did in the early 70s.
http://www.fenderrhodes.com/history/audio.php
I kind of just like hearing him talk. Sounds like a nice guy, doesn't he?

― tylerw, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 21:50 (eighteen years ago)

Thrust for me.

― chaki, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 22:01 (eighteen years ago)

maiden voyage

― m coleman, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 22:10 (eighteen years ago)

Headhunters for me. Could've been Thrust, though. It's too bad Empyrean Isles isn't on there... that one's killer too. And Sextant... And Fat Albert... And... and... and...

― novaheat, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 22:13 (eighteen years ago)

Thrust or Mwandishi? So hard to choose...

― Bill in Chicago, Tuesday, 8 May 2007 22:22 (eighteen years ago)

six months pass...

Oh this got less votes that I thought. Herbie deserves better.

― Herman G. Neuname, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:05 (eighteen years ago)

Plus I accidentally left Empyrean Isles off the list. If you wanna do another one, maybe with fewer albums, be my guest.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:07 (eighteen years ago)

Damn I didn't see this. "Future Shock" would have deserved one more vote. I love the winner too though.

― Geir Hongro, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:08 (eighteen years ago)

I've done one poll already today, so It would be better if you went for it Tuomas, so people don't complain I did 2. (finish it the same time as miles though please)

― Herman G. Neuname, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:10 (eighteen years ago)

Nah, I'd feel silly doing the same poll twice. It's up to you if you wanna do a new one.

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:12 (eighteen years ago)

Ok I'll do it and just hope I dont miss anything out. I'll use wikipedia as my get out clause..

― Herman G. Neuname, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:15 (eighteen years ago)

I could login under my pfunkboy account to avoid the 2 polls in one day thing but i'd be fooling no one.
I'll do a 60s/70s/80s Herbie Hancock poll.

― Herman G. Neuname, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:17 (eighteen years ago)

The list I did here is pretty comprehensive, I checked both Allmusic and Discogs for it. Maybe you can just drop off the more obscure albums?

(x-post)

― Tuomas, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:17 (eighteen years ago)

too late! Best Herbie Hancock (As Leader) Album Poll of 1960s/70s/80s era.
I just took from Wikipedia.

― Herman G. Neuname, Wednesday, 5 December 2007 22:21 (eighteen years ago)

thrust is so much better than headhunters

― chaki, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:02 (eighteen years ago)

i wonder which has inspired worse music (bad versions of Chameleon vs. jam bands where the bassist plays too many notes and the drummer never hits a 2 or 4)

― Jordan, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:05 (eighteen years ago)

MIKE CLARK AND PAUL JACKSON NEVER PLAYED TOO MANY NOTES.

― chaki, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:08 (eighteen years ago)

i'm not saying that

― Jordan, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:09 (eighteen years ago)

i just mean that style can be a bad influence (like my brief thrust phase in college where every backbeat was displaced and every fill was over the barline lol)

― Jordan, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:11 (eighteen years ago)

btw, one of my favorite live shows ever was mike clark's touring band from around 2001. the lineup was:

mike clark
paul jackson
larry goldings
bill summers
fred wesley
skerik

i know, right?

― Jordan, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:12 (eighteen years ago)

daaaaamn!

― chaki, Tuesday, 11 December 2007 19:15 (eighteen years ago)

three years pass...

not many voters in this was there?

― Armand Schaubroeck Ratfucker, Tuesday, 23 August 2011 17:13 (fourteen years ago)

three years pass...

Am I just missing Empyrean Isles here? Because that's the best one.

― Jimmywine Dyspeptic, Thursday, 5 February 2015 00:34 (eleven years ago)

This one needed more voters.

― stop torturing me ethel (broom air), Thursday, 5 February 2015 01:54 (eleven years ago)

nah maiden voyage > empyrian isles

― brimstead, Thursday, 5 February 2015 01:57 (eleven years ago)

Yeah, I accidentally omitted Empyrean Isles from this poll, but Kerr did anoher poll later on that included only the 60s/70s/80s albums:

Best Herbie Hancock (As Leader) Album Poll of 1960s/70s/80s era.

― Tuomas, Thursday, 5 February 2015 10:46 (eleven years ago)

I feel like Hancock and Sun Ra are the two big jazz boys I know the least about. Would love to find out more, but their discogs feel significantly more sprawling and less easily defined when compared to, say, Miles.

― rem remrum (dog latin), Thursday, 5 February 2015 10:56 (eleven years ago)

split the difference and listen to some julian priester

― rushomancy, Thursday, 5 February 2015 12:56 (eleven years ago)

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