Electric Ambition: Steps Ahead at the Crossroads
Very electronic and full of spirit and power, though not quite the equal of what came before.
Steps Ahead's third Elektra album came at a moment when the group had to decide what kind of band they wanted to be. By 1984, fusion was no longer the cutting edge it had been five years prior, and the synthesizer had become the default language of jazz-inflected pop. Michael Brecker and his bandmates leaned into that sound here, building most of these tracks around synth textures and drum machines alongside acoustic bass and drums. The result is polished and energetic—tracks like the title cut have real momentum—but the heavy electronic production sometimes gets in the way of what makes Steps Ahead compelling: the interplay between live players.
AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow heard the trade-off clearly: plenty of spirit and power, but a step down from their 1982 album Steps Ahead. The horns and keyboards still lock together in capable fashion, and there's no lack of ideas, but the sheen of the production and the reliance on sequencers keeps things feeling a touch formulaic. It's solid session work, well-executed, just not as memorable as the earlier records.
This is worth hearing if you're tracking the band's evolution or curious about how serious jazz players navigated the mid-80s synth explosion. It's not the place to start, though—Steps Ahead (1982) remains the better entry point. Modern Times captures a real working group trying to stay relevant in a changing market, and there's honesty in that struggle, even if the results feel more like a document of the moment than a definitive statement.
Who's playing
Eddie Gomezbass
Chuck Loebguitar
Michael Breckersaxophone
Craig Peytonsynthesizer
Peter Erskinepercussion
Mike Mainieripercussion
Warren Bernhardtkeyboard
Where next?
More by Michael Brecker
All 29 albums →
