Ignore Rick Calic the Critic
I agree with others who dimiss this critic's picking-apart of the boxed set. The quality of the DVD is great, and we've been dying for an official release. The cover design fits the band's aura well: a sparsely-clouded blue sky and a child behind a telescopic viewer that mimics a human smile. What's wrong with that? What don't you get? Also, if Shorter's horn was malfunctioning, it would have sounded bad and he would have used another one (They do bring several instruments on tour.). But it sounds great. I have seen Shorter in concert, and the way he inspects and scrutinizes his instrument is a mannerism of his and doesn't mean there's anything wrong. This is a typical over-analysis that a critic may often fall into. Remember - they knew what they were doing then, and they did well to finally release it now. If I had listened to the top review, I would not have been nicely enriched by finally seeing the top jazz fusion group in action.

Great selection of tunes by an incredible band
This is a wonderful retrospective of material spanning the illustrious career of Weather Report from start to finish. Three CDs: 1. Pre-Pastorius 2. The Jaco Years 3. Post-Pastorius. A nice way to divide the lifespan of the group...defined by the presence or lack of everyone's favorite WR bassist, the legend...the late Jaco Pastorius. Over all, they did a fine job at showing how founders Josef Zawinul (keyboards) and Wayne Shorter (sax) went from leaving the employ of Miles Davis to start their own primarily improvisational brand of music (where they were in complete control of the marvelous mayhem), to rising and riding the wave of their totally unexpected popularity, becoming a major icon in the world of '70s jazz fusion, and then persevering beyond the loss of Jaco after having to force him to leave because of his heroine addiction. During the Jaco Years CD, I was a bit disappointed at the under-acknowledement of the fine no-name Weather Report album they did in '82. But, the only REAL disappointment came when they decided to close the third disc with a rap song done to a WR tune!!! Rap?!?! With Weather Report?!?! WHAT WERE YOU PEOPLE THINKING??????!!!!!! Other than that, it was a great collection. The bonus DVD of a '78 concert they did in Germany during their Mr. Gone tour was a fabulous addition!!! A 4-man line-up with Josef, Wayne, Jaco and Peter Erskine on drums was a wonderful show! Wayne was great on sax, but for some reason was not digging that oboe-like instrument he was playing that night. You could see he was not enjoying that instrument, although he was exceptional on sax! It was a great show, and a good Box Set! There is also a nice long booklet with photos and extensive articles about the life of the band. What I read so far was great reading! Didn't have time to get through it all. Over all, it's a great tribute to the late Joe Zawinul, who we just lost this year 9/11/07 due to cancer. This set is worth owning......and listening to......and reading......and watching!!

I hope you read this, Richie!
WAY back in 1974, my best-friend-in-the-army, Richie, and I were listening to each other's albums. Knowing that I was not-so-surreptitiously making more money at night as a musician than I was by "playing Army," Richie told me, "Nah - I don't think you'd like it" when I asked him to play Weather Report's first album for me. I DID badger him into playing the etherial track, "Milky Way" for me, and - even though I was - and am - a "rabid Stones' fan" (like Ian Hunter said about himself & Jaco) - I was captivated. Being a bassist, I had already heard of Miroslav Vitous, and I STILL remember Tony, the drummer of my band, yammering about Alphonse Mouzon and Eric Gravatt - SERIOUS MUSICANS, those three, and I haven't even mentioned Joe Zawinul (the ONLY person I will EVER trust with a freaking synthesizer), or Wayne Shorter, Saxophonist Extraordinaire. And though my interest kind of...well, "slipped" until the year 1978 - UGH!, all my hippie friends were then bleating about that pithy Chuck Mangione..."thing" that was so prevalent then ("Feels So Good" or something), and I kept screaming at them, "NO! That is bubblegum at its most hideous! Have you heard 'Heavy Weather' by Weather Report? You NEED TO!" Well, histrionics aside, all of Weather Report's music is very well represented here on "Forecast: Tomorrow," and I'm grateful, because that certainly fills a hole in my CD collection. But I am really - REALLY - most grateful for the inclusion of the DVD with a 1978 performance by the Jaco Pastorius/Peter Erskine incarnation! I (now blushing FURIOUSLY!) purchased that Joni Mitchell/"Shadows And Light" thing a couple of years ago, only - ONLY - because Jaco was featured so prominently thereon. And athough I'm too cheap to relinquish any of my DVDs or CDs, "Shadows" will now be relegated to that vague, indefinite place where I store, say, the Stones' "Bigger Bang," that John Phillips' "Pay Pack And Follow," or, for THAT matter, anything by the Eagles or such. THANK YOU, Richie!

A Worthy Anthology
What a wonderful collection to have; a worthy anthology of the most important jazz fusion band from the 1970s and 1980s.

I have heard some of the original albums and was intent on collecting them at some stage, but this anthology captures the band perfectly on this 3 cd set, covering many of the popular fan tunes as well as many points of interest along the way. Utterly intriging and fascinating to hear, you can completely lose yourself in this music at times.

The live dvd is a great addition to the 3 cd set, and I'm lucky to have it in my collection. It could have been remastered a little with today's technology (aka Cat Stevens' Cat Stevens: Majikat Special Edition) as the picture is a little grainy at times, but the sound quality is still good.

This anthology is a worthy addition to your music collection, and saves you trying to hunt down the Weather Report albums. Unless you have a particular album in mind then you will not find yourself lacking with this purchase, as this collection is quite extensive and stands as testimony to a great collaboration of musicians.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

el mejor grupo de jazz-fussion SIN DUDAS
POR FIN EN MIS MANOS LA MEJOR SELECCION MUSICAL DE WEATHER REPORT. HE ESPERADO POR MUCHO TIEMPO VISUALIZAR CON CALIDAD UN CONCIERTO DE ESTE GRAN GRUPO ,CON UNA CALIDAD DE IMAGEN Y SONIDO SIN PRECEDENTES (SALVANDO NATURALMENTE LA DISTANCIA DE TIEMPO Y TECNOLOGIA CON LA QUE SE GRABO EN SU DIA...), EL DVD QUE CONTIENE ESTE SET ES QUIZA EL UNICO DOCUMENTO VISUAL , SONORO E HISTORICO DE TODO UN CONCIERTAZO DE WEATHER REPORT, EN SUS MAS DE DOS HORAS DE DURACION REAFIRMAN LA GENIALIDAD DE CADA UNO DE SUS INTEGRANTES, ES UN PLACER VERLOS EN EL ZENIT DE SU VIRTUOSISMO COMO MUSICOS, LOS DEMAS CD'S(3)DE AUDIO CABE RESALTAR EL EXELENTE TRABAJO DE REMASTERIZACION EN CADA UNO DE SUS TEMAS,LA SELECCION (QUIZA EL TRABAJO MAS COMPLICADO)ES DONDE QUIZA SE DEBERIA HABER INCLUIDO ALGUN OTRO TEMA...EXTRAÑO: "BARBARY COAST", "PUNK JAZZ" ENTRE OTROS, PERO CREO QUE POR EL TRABAJO AQUI REALIZADO SE MERECE LAS CINCO ESTRELLAS DE RIGOR. UN BRINDIS POR : ZAWINUL. W. SHORTER, PETER ERSKINE,JACO PASTORIUS( ALLA DONDE ESTE) Y ESE LARGO NUMERODE MUSICOS QUE CONTRIBUYERON A FORMAR " REPITO " LA MEJOR BANDA DE JAZZ FUSSION O SIMPLEMENTE DE JAZZ CONTEMPORANEO DE LAS HISTORIA "SIN DUDAS" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!