As the group was still looking for a drummer following the departure of Alex Acuña, outside drummers Tony Williams and Steve Gadd appear along with Peter Erskine, who would become Acuña's replacement. Singers Deniece Williams and Maurice White also appear on the track "And Then." The Pastorius-penned "Punk Jazz" was later the title of a posthumous compilation of Jaco Pastorius's music.[2][3]
The record became a center of controversy when DownBeat magazine gave it a one-star review. Zawinul went on to deliver a furious response to this review during a later interview.[4]
According to Wayne Shorter, Joe Zawinul came up with the name "Mr. Gone" as a reference to Shorter who was absent while the band was working on that album. Shorter stated in an interview on the Questlove Supreme podcast, "I stayed another month in Brazil while they were making a record. They were making some music and they named it after me. Joe Zawinul said, 'Let's call this one, Mr. Gone.'[5]
Frederick I Douglass of The Baltimore Sun proclaimed he tuned in and became "immersed in the electronic space sounds of Weather Report".[11]
Don Heckman of High Fidelity wrote "Still, despite Zawinul's electro-musical genius, despite the astonishing bass playing of Pastorius, despite the consistently rewarding improvisations of Shorter, and despite Pastorius' and Manolo Badrena's attempts to break out into exuberant vocalisms, this is a hard record to like without reservation".[12] With that said the album was still named the Best Contemporary Jazz Album in High Fidelity's 1978 Critics Choice Poll.[12]
Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave a B grade, proclaiming "Like Black Market and Heavy Weather, this is short on rhythmic inspiration (four different drummers, no percussionists) and long on electric ivory. When I'm in the mood I can still get off on its rich colors and compositional flow."[7] Music critic Jon Pareles later placed Mr. Gone in his ballot for The Village Voice's 1978 Pazz and Jop poll.[13]
