Traffic
George Starostin is a great reviewer and a great expert of
classic rock (and he's always expanding his tastes) but for Chrissake don't
even read his review of this album: saying you dislike most of the instrumental
breaks of this album means you don't understand this album at all. Well, I'm
the first person to admit that what this album badly needs is "a Wayne Shorter"
and "a Bill Bruford": the brasses plays surely interesting melodies, all well
written and in the right places, but there's no way you can think to them as
flawless performed. Sure, there aren't any technical mistakes, but you clearly
hear that there's no virtuoso playing them. And the same applies for drums:
Capaldi is professional enough, but to back the great musical intuition of Steve
Windwood, it would be better another drummer. And sincerly I don't see the reason
to call this album a 'Traffic' album: all of the songs, except the title track,
are composed by Steve, who plays most of the intruments (guitars, keys, some
brasses and flute...btw, about the flute, check out his distinctive style on
"Freedom Rider": sort of jazzy sound, but played with an instrument which is
not typical of jazz)...it's out of my comprehension why he chose to join his
old pals instead of recruiting some (better) studio musicians.
Back to the album now. Even if the band is not a superband, the composition
and the songs make up for that. Steve Windwood is the real ecletic, no way you
can deny this; sure, there's people claiming this album is, stylistically speaking,
very uniform and few diverse, but why should we listen to them? There're a lot
of idiots out in this world always ready to spit on good music and expecially
there are bigger idiots that them out there, for instance the ones (or better
the ONE) with a finger always on the trigger, ready to start a war just to makes
you forgot millions of other problems (for which they are for the most responsible!).
This second kind of idiots are really dangerous and we should pay attention
to them, the first ones are just obnoxious and we can ignore them: what do they
want? What's a diverse album for them? A compilation with M. Gaye, Hendrix,
Yes and Bach? This album is surely diverse: the first two song estabilish on
of the first serious and professional step of rock toward jazz. "Empty Page"
is the hit single of easy listening jazz pop, the song that Steely Dan could
have written, while the title track is rearranged a la Steely Span and one of
the most interesting example of english folk. But enough with comparisons, it's
not the right method to analize this album that is not really groundbreaking,
but surely a timeless classic and a unique album. First of all for Steve's voice:
his warm voice is able to stand near the ones of great soul singers (check out
his passional screams at the end of the verses in "Freedom Rider"); second Steve's
ability as arranger and composer. It's clear he's not a keyboards virtuoso,
no matter what the hard-core fans will say; his talent lies mainly on the ability
to know what notes should be played in that particular moment and in which kind
of mood he has to play. So you don't hear him playing furios and fast on the
piano or showing some intricate, complex and self indulgent organ/brasses interplay:
he's mainly a great arranger with a great music sensibility who always put himself
in the role of Music's servant but a professional and exquisite servant! And
his keyboards style kicks ass!!! Check out the impressive solo on eletric piano
which arises from the ashes of the previous organ part in "Empty Pages": relaxed,
crystalline but extremely expressive. That's for sure: this isn't background
music as someone said: this is music to listen to! If you don't do so you'll
lost all the nuances and the peculiarities that make this album a good one.
Someone cries because this album is not 'well structured' and it's repetitive:
these silly clichès are used in order to substitute an accurate listening. It's
completely out of my comprehension how a fusion jam could be 'structured' and
not repetitive, since it's absurd pretending a structure from a jam based on
improvisation that comes through slight changes from the main scales. There
are a lot of jazz features in this album and if you don't know them, don't say
they are bad or boring, expecially because this is extremely false: just take
as example Glad, with the ringing piano, the sax theme that runs all over the
songs, the smooth and relax end, with a little vein of tragic given by the slow
and crystalline piano solo backed by a delicate organ, with little nuances of
fire given by a wise use of little sax 'licks'. Truly a great jam, and its coda
full of despair introduces us to the great song "Freedom Rider", with an impressive
intro based on a solid sax/piano interplay; too bad that live "Glad" sounds...not
bad, but too much worse than studio version, it would be better if it was played
by a big band with a more diverse strumentation. For what concern "Freedom Rider",
apart for the vocal hooks, you should appreciate the flute: oh man, that instruments
makes the whole songs, giving an extra dimension to a solo very simple for what
regard his structure, but played with great intensity. Too bad the drums are
produced extremely bad: it's quite rare to find drums recorded with precision
and accuracy in the end of '60, at least for band that haven't a lot of money:
just to think to the fact that Keith Moon's drums were recorded in a decent
way only from "Who's Next" in 1971. "Stranger To Himself" features Windwood
on guitars: he prove to be a good guitarist but, as usual, his ability is represented
not but the merely technical skills but by the wise interlacement of acoustic
and eletric guitar: each one of these guitar follows the other one in a sort
of amazing appearing/disappearing game; the melody is quite good but suffers
for little dissonances with the rhythmic part. The title track is a good folk,
of Scottish origins, rearranged by Windwood who underlines with the crystalline
arpeggio of acoustic guitar, the folk elements that make this song so tasteful;
still I don't like it very much: it lacks the brilliance and the erupting power
of the other songs on here and the vocal parts are not that convincing because
Steve's voice is buried in the choruses; a remarkable ballad, with a tasteful
medieval mood. If you are looking for solid vocal hooks, skip to the closing
"Every Mothers Son", which features also a good eletric guitar part.
In conclusion: a great album, full of musical ideas and exquisited and chiselled
instrumental parts (expecially for what concern keys and brasses/piano/guitar
interplay); low points are the lyrics and the drums production.We shouldn't
count the fact this album wasn't recorded by a superband because all of the
musicianship is professional enough.I suggest you to buy the newest version
(Island 2000) of this album because of the better quality sound; the bonus tracks
are good and give an impression of how the band sounds live, but confirm my
tought that Wood isn't that great sax player.Plus I don't give a damn about
"Backstage and Inroduction", gimme another song played live, like "Dear Mr.
Fantasy" or "Medicted Goo"!
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