School Days
Released
Clarke’s fourth solo album was his commercial breakthrough. The screamingly intense funk-rock title track, led by his popping, bouncing bass line (obviously) but equally driven by high-energy synths, became the song everyone was waiting to hear at his concerts. The album goes a lot of places in only six tracks, though, featuring guest appearances by fellow fusion heavyweights George Duke, Billy Cobham, and John McLaughlin, and orchestral strings and brass on the closing “Hot Fun” and “Life Is Just a Game.”