REVIEWS:
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
HIGH POINTS: Heaven Is In Your Mind, House For Everyone, Dear Mr. Fantasy, Berkshire Poppies. LOW POINTS: Utterly Simple.
Vocalist Steve Winwood left the soul pop/rock group Spencer Davis Group in 1967 in order to help form one-third of the group that was to become known as Traffic. From the beginning the group, which consisted of other original members Dave Mason on guitar, mellotron, and sitar, Jim Capaldi on percussion, and Chris Wood on flute, saxophone, and organ, was an eclectic band that drew from a variety of influences. Commonly seen as close in style to another British band of the time called Family, whom is supposedly quite good but never gained much commercial recognition in the states, Traffic were part of that great second 'British Invasion' which brought us Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Procol Harum, and the like, all bands that were helping to broaden the sound of pop through their own creative and innovative ends. Traffic may have not had the same force as some of these bands, and one may see Steve Winwood as a sometimes annoying vocalist (a chunky soulish voice), but they did form their own little interesting niche in the Rock world at the time.
Particularly soulish and with jazzy roots, this first album from them shows them creating a sort of psychedelic jazzy pop that is stuck in the acid frame of mind. The man halfway responsible for this is bandmate Dave Mason, who at this point in the band's career was a fairly important song-writer. His pop tunes are often dreamy, experimental, and very British, with psychedelic lyrics that can border on cheesy, but which usually just go along neatly to the song. The earlier version of Mr Fantasy (which has two more tracks on it) contained only two Mason tracks, including the quirky pop song "Hole In My Shoe", which is a good representation of his early style, but this takes that one away and adds two more.
The classic gem of his found on here is, without a doubt, "House For Everyone", a compact and tight two minute experimental pop song that starts off with an organ interrupted by these weird little toy 'winder' clicking noises before going full-fledge into a tune that has lyrics like "the bed is made of candy-floss, the house is made of cheese, it's lit by lots of glowworms, if I'm wrong correct me please". Everything about this song is great, from the haunting saxophone that plays along to the jazzy (and trippy) drumming which flows in-between those verses, to the ending, where the instrumentation slows down to a halt - I always thought it sounded like sustained car horn at the end. Child-like and trippy at the same time, this song is a pure delight. Mason's other two cuts can't really compare to this one, though "Hope I Never Find Me There" is another pleasant psychedelic ditty; the truly warped piano effects that occur towards the fade-out are completely worth it, giving the tune a strange power. On the other hand, his sitar-driven "Utterly Simple" is a tuneless mess that shows Dave going a bit overboard in trying to be hip. His lack of skills at the instrument, indeed, make this a low point on Mr. Fantasy.
Moving on, Steven Winwood in collaboration with Wood and Capaldi, make up a majority of the tracks, which are a bit less blatantly psychedelic, and a bit more on the Jazz-ish side. It must be stressed that side one is the stronger of the two, where such winners as the opener "Heaven Is In Your Mind" and entertaining "Berkshire Poppies" are located. The former tune is a creative tour-de-force, where a memorable melody is created by the general make-up of bass guitar, drums, piano, and occasional saxophone (this soulish, moderately bopping number also has vocals that jump neatly from one speaker to the next during the verses), while the latter is one of the great drunken novelty numbers. The various burps and noises, which are simply hysterical, give this sloppy, but energetic jazz-rock tune a very fun vibe. It's a hoot to listen to.
Meanwhile, "Dear Mr. Fantasy" (another major high-point) is a rocker that grinds away with superb lead guitar soloing from Dave Mason (well, he was at least a diverse dude), and an impeccable Winwood vocal performance. Certainly placed on the album as the centerpiece, it surrounds other album tracks like the pretty acoustic/mellotron-drenched ballad "No Face, No Name, and No Number", the folky-flutey Capaldi-written "Dealer" (this one is a bit generic, though at least enjoyable), the horn-led "Coloured Rain" (I enjoy this one a lot, though the acid organ-noodling instrumental sections are a tad nowhere), and the jazzy instrumental "Giving To You" (basically a minor shuffling jazzy jam, the crazy-ass vocals and yells that enter the tune are pretty nutsy). This is pop, rock, jazz, and psychedelia mixed together, and Traffic succeed at this better than could be thought of.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
HIGH POINTS: Vagabond Virgin, Cryin' To Be Heard, Pearly Queen, Forty Thousand Headmen. LOW POINTS: None.
Coming out at the end of the year, Traffic's second album shows the band leaving the psychedelia of Mr. Fantasy farther behind. In fact, the band goes for a more refined approach to songwriting here and comes out with a solid set of songs that ultimately sound much more mature and serious, if not actually better in quality, than the ones on the previous album. No hardcore novelty numbers like "Berkshire Poppies" or "Giving To You"-type jazz instrumentation to be found on here. Even Dave Mason, Traffic's experimental song-writer on the first album, decided to make a complete switch-around and write songs that appear much more normal to the ear. Just listen to the mild piano-rocker "Feelin' Alright" compared to "House For Everyone" for instance. Anyway, Dave Mason is at his peak on this album, taking nearly five songwriting credits (damn you Chris Wood for taking half-credit on "Vagabond Virgin" and only letting Mason have four-and-a-half credits instead!) out of the ten on here. And out of those five, at least two of them are pretty fantastic.
One of them, his melancholy epic "Cryin' To Be Heard", is structured to where after each distant harpsichord-laden verse comes this loud and bombastic organ-drenched chorus that sings "Somebody's crying to be heard/and there's also someone who hears every word!". While that chorus produces one hell of an effect on me, the ending crescendo is no less spectacular in overall power, and his achy broken-up vocals during the verses go along perfectly to the remote atmosphere. The vocal style that Mason uses for this song is actually effectively used on a couple of his other tunes on here too. Another winner from Mason is the five-minute folky "Vagabond Virgin", a song about a prostitute from the villages that carries a very peaceful vibe from the use of tapping drums, acoustic guitar strumming, light tinkling piano, and pretty flutes. I really love the vibe and easygoing flow of the track, and the melody is nice too - definitely a memorable tune.
Out of the other three Mason cuts, two are really good. "Feelin' Alright" is definitely fine and was a top 40 hit, but I may actually prefer Joe Cocker's version because it sounds particularly inspired. Maybe slightly bland and a tad boring on here, it still is catchy and memorable nonetheless. Then there is the bouncy "Don't be Sad", where the best part comes in the up-tempo Winwood-sung chorus, and the opener "You Can All Join In", an enjoyable acoustic foot-tappin' sing-a-long number that tires a bit after many listens, though the honking sax after each verse is a fun gimmick. Out of the Winwood/Capaldi compositions (Chris Wood wrote very little for this album), the bluesy soul (I say that because of Winwood's vocals of course) of "Pearly Queen" is the best. All I can say is that the stuck-in-a-vacuum production works, the guitar soloing is prime Wood, and the verses are just fun, punchy, 'n' catchy.
Another gem from them comes in the distant folk of "Forty Thousand Headmen", a track that used to pass me by years ago for some strange reason, but which finally won me over. Part of the appeal is that it sounds like Winwood is singing/speaking a tale through a cup (yeah, or something like that...whatever... it gives it a neat vibe anyway) while the flutes play behind him. As he quickens his vocal delivery the flutes start fluttering behind him, which is really cool I must say, and then finally the tune fades out in a mysterious way. The piano ballad 'epic' "No Time To Live" contains another minor-key melody (much of side two, where this is, is rather melancholic) and is screwed a little by an edit mistake on verse two, a minor quibble. This melody to this rather serious song is alright, but its' the overall atmosphere, which is dominated by a remote organ in the background and a few other sounds, that gives off a nice aura.
On a more light-hearted level comes the catchy little rocker "Means To An End" (the short closer which I like a bit because of the high electric guitar soloing before the fade-out - hot stuff.), and the catchy R 'n' B-flavoured organ cut "Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring", which is pretty good. So overall, Traffic is a solid set of memorable tunes from the original four-piece band. Shortly after this the band would break up for a little over a year, with Dave Mason leaving the band for good and starting up his solo career.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
HIGH POINTS: Shanghai Noodle Factory, Medicated Goo, Just For You. LOW POINTS: Feelin' Good, Blind Man.
Traffic split up at the end of 1968, leaving several leftover tracks in the vaults. This set, which was released in 1969 (making it look like the band never actually split up since they made an album the next year anyway), collects all these late-60's tracks together, plus two live cuts from Fillmore West. Now, the Fillmore West cuts aren't really all that special, as they are both marred by some instruments being too high in the mix (the keyboards) and some to low in the mix (the saxes), plus they just aren't that essential anyway. The ten minute "Feelin' Good" is the better of the two live tracks, but I just put it as a low point with the seven minute "Blind Man" because it's not something you exactly want to hear every time you play this.
The five studio cuts, however, more than make up for the faulty live set. A few of them are actually quite excellent. The first of these, the playful "Just For You", is a two minute Mason cut that would have fit in well on Mr. Fantasy, maybe replacing the horrible "Utterly Simple" that sits on side two. It's a very melodic ditty with a bit of an eastern tinge to it. Following it is the wonderful "Shanghai Noodle Factory", a midtempo number with a bit of a jazzy edge to it, nice flute work, and a middle jam made up of the usual Traffic instruments: acoustic guitar, organ, drums, and of course flute. It's well-structured and memorable so what else could you want? Finally, The third of these greats is the catchy and spirited rocker "Medicated Goo", which I think was a minor hit for the band (I know I've heard it on the radio several times before). I like the woopy guitar line that goes along to the counter-verse a lot, the sax break in the middle, and the that, and the this. Wow, just a really great song overall.
That's three-fifths of the studio cuts there. Out of the other two the more promising one is the melodic "Withering Tree", an engaging minor-key tune that has what sounds like an animal cry in the background (which gets louder at the fade-out) and a really striking bridge. Basically, a very good piano pop/rock song there. "Something's Got A Hold of My Toe" is the only studio cut that is a bit of a throwaway, even though then it's still a pretty fun and rocking instrumental at its' short two minute length. Well that's the album.... to be released in between Traffic and John Barleycorn like the band existed even when it didn't. While the live cuts are not fantastic I can't help to give this record the rating I give it because of the quality of the studio tracks.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
HIGH POINTS: Freedom Rider, Glad, John Barleycorn. LOW POINTS: None.
After the breakup of the original Traffic, Steve Winwood decided to join the short-lived supergroup Blind Faith in 1969. Well, the group only recorded one album in the several months that it lasted, so Stevie was out on his own again once it broke up. His ambitions to make a solo album that would be as much jazz as it was Rock music was in the making under the working title Mad Shadows, but his compositions didn't start coming to life until he enlisted the help of old Traffic bandmates Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood. So there you have it, Traffic was to be a band once again. It was good they were one again too, because, in the end, the set of songs are definitely helped out greatly by the other bandmates, especially Chris Wood. You can hear Wood's tasteful improvised sax playing to great effect on the rousing instrumental "Glad", the spirited album-opener, for instance. That particular track is well over six minutes, but the others are pretty lengthy too.
This is because the band has moved away from their early jazz-tinged pop sound into something that approaches true Jazz-Rock. You can tell this from the improvised playing that can be heard in the instrumental sections on almost all of the six tracks, and also because of the general repetitiveness of the main melody over the course of each tune. This is most apparent in the previously mentioned "Glad", a track which may initially bore some folks because it is highly repetitive and doesn't appear to do much, but one which I love. I wouldn't call it boring in the least (well, depending on the mood you are in) because the rolling piano chords that kick the song into the main melody is pretty great, giving the tune a lot of edge. And the jam that the band breaks off into in the middle leaves room for Chris Wood to breathe some earthy and deep-throated lines into his electric sax along to slight variations of the melody. The band sounds hip, fluid, and pleasant on this track; it gives off good vibes.
When it finally fades out, the haunting "Freedom Rider" charges in immediately with its' pretty piano line and breathy, tuneful sax opening. This one is very distinctive, with the best melody on all of John Barleycorn, but the real showcase this time is on the extraordinary flute-work. While the bass pumps along, the flutes beautifully flourish and spiral into the wind, proving that Chris Wood could sure hold his own against the flute skills of Ian Anderson at the time. The flute is also a major force on the inspired title track, a traditional folk song dug up from the early 1900's that Traffic do real well on. Why else would I put it as a high-point on here? The strongest number out of the three remaining tracks is probably "Stranger To Himself", even though it has a melody that's a bit awkward-sounding to the ear. Even so, the melody is 'good', and the lead electric guitar-work (the only prime guitar on here) is exciting in its' brash delivery.
If that doesn't suit you, listen to the moderately rocking "Empty Pages", a tune that has a soulful Winwood vocal and gives a chance for the organ and electric piano to solo. It's among one of the two tracks under five minutes long. Finally, there is "Every Mother's Son", a gospelish number that is the weakest mainly because it's not very memorable at all (even as a closer), but also because it sounds a bit sludgy compared to the other material. Still, it is a fine song on a set that I feel to be one of the strongest and most inspired Traffic efforts.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
HIGH POINTS: The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys. LOW POINTS: None.
John Barleycorn's success assured the band that it would be a good idea to try to stay together and trudge on. They added three new members to the lineup and in the end came up with the interesting title The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys for the album, which I don't really know the meaning of, but it's also the name of the twelve minute title track. The length of the title track gives you an indication of what this stuff is actually like: long-winded, somewhat atmospheric, and generally slow-moving. The previous albums' mixture of Jazz and Rock (as well as folk) was tastefully done and balanced out by some fine melodies on tunes that had moderately-paced tempos. Just about all of the songs were thoroughly enjoyable on that one.
On here though, the band often places too much emphasis on long-winded and diluted jamming, which extends some of the tracks beyond their appropriate length. If anything, these long song lengths and slower tempo's suggest that Traffic were a bit 'prog-inspired', though definitely in a less virtuosic and moody kind of way, sort of like Pink Floyd (in relation to the other prog giants of the day, that is). Whatever it was, the lack of 'spark' and creativity in these Traffic jams, sometimes translates the listening experience into mild boredom.
The one major exception to this, quite ironically, is that the really long title track is pretty much a killer tune. And this is mainly because the album's single greatest hook is captured here. For about four minutes Winwood belts out lyrics over a moody piano melody before the tempo quickens and the saxes pump along for the grand and memorable chorus, which ends with the title being sung in all its' magnificent glory. That classic part of the tune is then repeated once more. It's the jam that follows which makes some people change their positive stance on this tune, because quite frankly, not much else goes on besides a little bit of piano soloing and a slow, creepy, and distant organ playing in the background. However, I think this instrumental part (or jam, or whatever) works surprisingly well. I think the combination of the haunting piano line that repeats over and over and faint sustained-notes of the organ succeed in creating a mood that puts a hypnotizing effect on the listener. Agreeably, some of it loses a bit ground, but man, you gotta love that bleak organ chord that fades out the tune in a fantastic spine-chilling manner.
Unfortunately, the two other lengthy cuts, the seven minute plus "Many A Mile To Freedom" and "Rainmaker" suffer from what I was talking about is a flaw on this album: needless and extra-long instrumental jamming parts that make the proceedings boring. The former actually has a charming little melody with organ, 12 string guitar, and flute accompaniment, but some of the enjoyment is simply taken away by the extra long fadeout (it should have been cut by two minutes at the very least). The latter tune, meanwhile, is a folky piece with more flute, that is marred by some non-distinct, slow jamming (with flute solo), another long fadeout (that ends the album on a sour note), and a melody, that while enjoyable all the way through, sounds a bit generic, like it's a rip-off of some other Traffic or folk song or something.
Fortunately, the three shorter tracks (about four minutes or so each) that fill up the albums' seams are better, in turn helping out the general flow of Low Spark. Two of them, "Rock & Roll Stew" and "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone" (IMHO the better of the two), are actually mild funk-tinged rockers (adding a bit of diversity), and the third one, the warm "Hidden Treasure", is just a solid good song. Despite the boredom factor being noticeable over the length of the album, at least the melodies are still very good (at least a few of em' are memorable), and the quiet mood of the folkier songs is quite nice. Just don't let the Rainmaker catch you falling asleep.
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(reviewed by Casey Brennan)
HIGH POINTS: None. LOW POINTS: Roll Right Stones, Tragic Magic.
Mild boredom, surely enough, turns into deep boredom. The six man lineup on this set should have ensured a full and lively sound with some welcome new influences, but instead none of the members bring along anything exciting or relatively tasteful to the table; even original members Steve Winwood, Chris Wood, and Jim Capaldi don't have any inspiration behind their playing. If the melodies were as decent as they were on The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys this wouldn't be so much a problem. However, the melodies are pretty non-existent here, and the songs are generally more long-winded (sort of 'Progressive'), slower moving, and groove-based than they were on the past two albums. That, my friends, are all the ingredients you need in order to make a boring record.
The best out of these five tunes (yep that's all you'll find here) is the title track, and even then it's not really that good of a song. It does get by though, if only because it is the heaviest number on here, gaining an added edge against the other tunes with its' simplistic gruff riff and cool muffled Winwood vocals. The African percussion, played by member Reebop Kwaku Baah, is pretty well-suited to this mildly aggressive track, and one of the only welcome additions to the Traffic sound on this album. His subtle percussion on the second best song, "Evening Blue" is pretty nice too. But still, it wouldn't be much more than a just OK song on any other Traffic album (except for maybe When The Eagle Flies) since it is a bit overlong and has no great, striking hook.
It is not bad compared to the extremely mediocre eleven-minute bore-fest that follows it though. "Roll Right Bones" sounds like a gospelish number at heart with its' vocal delivery and piano/organ-based melody but it's wrongly extended into a track of mammoth proportions, in turn trying to sound like a progressive number. The result is terribly boring, with a clumsy moderate tempo that never changes, a severe lack of musical diversity (just your basic instrumentation of piano, bass, and drums basically), or any musical changes to speak of. It just stays as a gospel, pop/rock number through-out the ordeal. This means that the melody, which is pretty weak and unmemorable anyway, repeats over and over, with a short instrumental passage and an extended instrumental coda at the end (where a long guitar solo plays out... or is there a sax in there too? who cares) to make the song as torturously long as it is. The song would have been of at least average quality if it was only four minutes long.
Anyway, it is followed by the yearning ballad "Evening Blue", which sounds the closest to the Traffic of old to me, thus becoming a bit more appreciative to my ears. Of course, most of the instrumentation is still pretty boring and lackadaisical. Yeah, so is Chris Wood's instrumental "Tragic Magic", a deadly slow and un-inspired jam that contains not one single creative musical idea, though at least the last minute or so is catchy with its' honking saxes. Anyhow, it's a pretty lifeless and bleak improvisation. The final track, "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired" is at least a bit more 'inspired' than the majority of the material, since it has a sincerity behind it and a fine guitar solo. But there isn't a memorable hook or much melody to it (plus it goes without saying that it's too long at seven and-a-half minutes), so it doesn't fall out of the trap of what makes the rest of Shoot Out such an unassuming and boring affair. If Traffic were ever a boring band, you would have to look no further than at this point in their careers.
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(reviewed by Kevin Baker)
I was originally going to do reviews of two full Traffic albums, but today it struck me---why? I don't have the same kind of disdain for Traffic that George Starostin does (check out his site to see just how awful he finds Traffic to be), but I'd be lying if I said I thought your music collection needed more than a Traffic compilation. As it is, I do think everyone needs a compilation of Traffic; they did a lot of good music. Their flaw is in spreading it out too much.
Well, the four tracks that represent their first album are, while not as solid as those from the next album or John Barleycorn, they're not awful either. The opener, Paper Sun, is not a half-bad raga rock song. It was their debut single and first hit. Really quite a typical "Non-genius" hit from the Summer of Love. The next song continues the raga rock strand, but we get our first taste of woodwinds. However, the psychedelic lyrics on this one are unbelievably stupid. The third song drops the whole raga rock strand (thank you Jesus), and instead introduces us to Traffic, the real Traffic. The sound mixes jazz, blues, and pop to create a fairly unique sound. The next song, Dear Mr. Fantasy, is essentially the same. These are the 4 weakest songs on here. All of them sound either derivative or unsure.
But, we get the four songs off of their sophomore, self-titled set, and they are much better. Well, three of them are. I really dislike You Can All Join In. They sound like they're trying to write a kiddie anthem, and I absolutrly loathe it. Fortunately, they save face by sticking one of my favorites right after it. That would be Feelin' Alright, which was probably their biggest hit. Basically, it's a piano and acoustic guitar driven song with some pretty good words and some cool sax workouts. The next song, Pearly Queen, is an electric blues-based rocker and it absolutely cooks. Then we get a very folky piece with lots of melancholy flute called 40,000 Headsmen. It has some "exotic" percussion as well. It sounds more like John Barleycorn than early Traffic.
Next, we have a live track called Shanghai Noodle Factory, and it is quite good. Kind of anti-establishment, I think. But now we hit the best stuff. The John Barleycorn Must Die set. We start that off with the instrumental Glad. This one has a lot of piano and organ, and plenty of sax as well. This one is very jazzy and exciting. Gospel jazz almost. The next one, Freedom Rider, is another sax and woodwind dominated track (it has organ and piano as well), and one of the best on this cd really. Empty Pages is heavier on the organ than the rest. But I like John Barleycorn Must Die better. Folk with woodwinds and cool lyrics and good vocal delivery....simply magical. The best song Traffic ever did.
The cd finishes on the two tracks from The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys. Rock and Roll Stew is alright, but yuck...I hate the title track. I can never sit all the way through it. You see, Traffic was very uneven. Lots of good stuff, but also plenty of dreck. You'll be fine if you stick with this compilation.
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