Here's one to put the proof in the pudding. Those aware of this album are divided into two camps: those who think it's a rip-off of Future Shock and those who realize FS can't hold a candle to this rock-solid effort. On Future Shock, Hancock couldn't decide if he wanted to commit all the way, resulting in some tepid material. On Sound-System, caution is thrown to the wind, no holds are barred and Herbie goes for broke. (My sentence is full of clichés. The album is not.). Listen to the title track, which is pretty much a bunch of noise pounded into a melody - shards of sound that pierce the doldrums. This is an up-to-the-minute, high-tech sound for its day. Then you've got "Karabali" and "Junku," which mash-up indigenous music and the sounds of the street with reckless abandon - like putting Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in a blender with a group of griots. Sure, "Hardrock" is a photocopy of the great, seminal "Rockit," but that sound was so new, it was worth hearing again. "People Are Changing" shifts gears yet again, a towering soul number with vocals that address the struggle for racial equality. A jazz musician in his forties was making some of the freshest, most vital "pop" music of the day, pushing boundaries and toying with the very idea of genres. Far from being scattered, "Sound-System" is darn near cathartic in its energy and willingness to try new things. Herbie wasn't just thumbing his nose at jazz purists - he plainly didn't give a ----. What "Future Shock" hinted at, "Sound-System" hit out of the park.

Sound System had the misfortune of following the megahit Future Shock (Rockit). Consequently I think that it has taken some undeserved hits from fans and critics.
I give Herbie and Bill Laswell credit for throwing some new elements into the mix on this album. OK, Hardrock was supposed to be the next hit, but it is harder-edged and industrial than Rockit. I also really enjoy it. There are some more organic sounds in the mix from Wayne Shorter and Foday Musa Suso - love that kora playing on Junku!
This album is a bit uneven in places. Metal Beat is a bit spotty and People Are Changing doesn't quite work for me, although Herbie's piano stands out nonetheless. However Junku is darn near perfect, Hardrock really does rock and Karabali has a good world music mix with piano, sax and African percussion.
Sound System mixed elements of industrial and world music before those terms became household expressions. Also the African-style chanting on Karabali predates Paul Simon's Graceland. This isn't a classic in my book, but it holds up well. I picked it up as soon as it was reissued and still enjoy it.

Sound-System may not have a monster cut like Rockit, but it demonstrated that the second collaboration between Herbie Hancock and Bill Laswell still had the creative fire to produce unique musical pieces.

Hancock was awarded a second consective Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance for this 1984 Rockit band release.

Hardrock and Metal Beat continues Hancock's search in stretching the fusion dynamic & either cut could have easily been included in a Miles Davis studio session during the 1980s.

But its the next three selections - Karabali, Junku and People are Changing - that shows Hancock at his creative peak with the band. Wayne Shorter guests on the lyricon for Karabali, Junku was written for the 1984 Winter Games of Sarajevo and People are Changing most definitely was inspired by the great Curtis Mayfield. The title track brings the CD to a wonderfully-textured conclusion.

With Sound-System, Hancock proved that gadgets alone don't make the music; there remains the human element to bring life to the sounds.

On "Metal Beat","Karabali" and "Junku" it would seem
that "Sound System" is taking on a much stronger feel of
world-beat African percussion in with the actually far heavier
electro-funk.But the album opener "Hard Rock" is more or less
Rockit Mach II but without the latter's prominant turntable
scraching.But it is the eerie,melodic tital track with it's
industrial-strengh beats and handclaps plus the topical
"People Are Changing",sung by the excellent Bernard Fowler that
make "Sound-System" so special to listn to.Either slap it on a
huge boom box or on high quality headphones because,like it's
predecessor,"Sound-System" COOKS!!!!

The second of three collaborations with producer/bassist BillLaswell, SOUND SYSTEM at times finds new twists balancingstate-of-the-art studio production techniques with street-wise melodies and rhythms that began with 1983's FUTURE SHOCK. On several tracks such world-beat incorporations as the kora (an African stringed instrument) diversify the overall sound, which at other times seem entirely made up of "artificial" synthesized and sampled sounds (particularly on METAL BEAT). The opening track HARD ROCK is a blatant recycling of the FUTURE SHOCK hit ROCKIT, with some metallic guitar added into the mix in spots. Here and throughout most of the album, Hancock plays primarily background synth figures...he has an ear for textures and catchy riffs, but his improvisational talents are almost nowhere to be found. JUNKU is a more interesting successor to ROCKIT. However, one wonders if much of the music presented here has any significant value beyond being a demonstration disc for Laswell's craftsmanship in the studio. SOUND SYSTEM's highlights are the two tracks that stray furthest from the ROCKIT formula. KARABALI evokes memories of early-period Earth Wind & Fire. Note how multi-dimensional the Hancock/Laswell approach becomes when the "jazz" talents of Herbie and guest Wayne Shorter are given the freedom to create! Then there is the Curtis Mayfield-like PEOPLE ARE CHANGING, highlighted by Bernard Fowler's soulful vocals. On both tracks there is more to admire than the technology itself. Recommendation: purchase FUTURE SHOCK first. Then buy SOUND SYSTEM if you want a like-minded sequel with several effective twists, but also some more-is-less retreads.