Reviews (page 8 of 8)
Some decent Piano.
I initially quite enjoyed this, but wasn't blown away really. I've been listening to a lot of Prog this year, but haven't come across Traffic. I do know of Steve Winwood though. I might give this a second listen, since I just had it on in the background on the first spin. It is quite short! OK, so I listened to this a second time while doing the dishes and paid more attention to the vocals this time. I'm now questioning why this album is included in the book. The singing isn't great at all and the lyrics leave a lot to be desired. This pales in comparison to Genesis, Pink Floyd, Yes and Jethro Tull albums from the era, so I wouldn't even argue that it was super influential or anything. Maybe people just love having an origin story for Steve Winwood? I'll give it 2 stars because the musicianship is good throughout, but I doubt I'll listen to this again.
This is pretty much an instrumental album. This album is solid - all the songs are fine. I dont think any of them stand out to me where I'd want to listen to them again. Fine record but nothing special 4/10
If you like early 70s guitar, then this is something to checkout. I was excited to hear some wary Steve Winwood, but nothing exciting from this album. I’ll give it a 2 because they had the tools to make something great, this just was not it.
I didn't really know what to make of this album. It was interesting I guess, but I didn't feel like much of it caught me with great hooks or spoke to me lyrically. It wasn't overindulgent prog rock, but it also didn't feel entirely purposeful in a kind of jam band way. Overall I probably won't revisit and can say to myself "ok that's what this band was about."
The piano in this is a nice touch but overall I was really bored listening to it. It all feels very much of its time and lacks the transcendence of some of the other works here.
Disappointing.
2 but a very HIGH 2. Just not quite as good as other 3s. Enjoyed the sound but didn’t find myself saving any songs
It was pretty good, kind of forgettable for me. I think I listened to this twice yesterday and don't remember much of it. Reminded me of Jethro Tull's Aqualung: rock with a flute.
Not really my thing 2/5
This was the hardest rock band that the renaissance fair would allow to play for authenticity reasons.
The band is appropriately named because they make me want to go out and run around in traffic.
This was a potentially great album, ruined by a number of ill-fitting solos. Freedom Rider could have been awesome, but then someone decided that it needed a multi-flute solo? The flute as an instrument really doesn't fill enough sonic space and convey enough power to take center stage in an up tempo song with only drums and bass guitar as backing. Someone must have noticed that too and decided to solve it by adding a second flute. The otherwise great song just falls away into a hole at this point. The flute solo actually works in the title track. That one gets a pass. It fits the tempo and the mood. Stranger to Himself has the guitar solo panned to the left, and it feels like the piano accompaniment is at the same or even higher level than the solo. So rather than adding some melodic interest, the section just feels repetitive, because those repeating piano chords are so prominent. The organ solo in Every Mother's Son is so sparse when it starts out, holding the notes on for too long. This has the affect of highlighting the repetitiveness of the backing. Then it does a few fast runs that don't really *say* anything because they're too fast. The solo is either too slow or too fast and never stops to speak to you. It should really be trying to draw attention to itself but completely fails at that task and makes the song lose energy as your attention is drawn to the backing. There were some really good ideas for songs on this album, but they just didn't turn them into songs that maintain a consistent energy or focus. I wouldn't listen to any of this again.
I can't quite put my finger on it, but so much of this album just sounds slightly off. Glad sounds like a jam that was never fully developed to a satisfactory level. The chord progression, vocals and flute all sound completely at odds on Freedom Rider. Empty Pages is easily the best song on the album for mine. Why is the piano so loud on Stranger to Himself?! The title track is pretty good, the vocals fit the music and the flute actually works well. Every Mother's Son is ok, but a bit too slow and plodding.
Album bangs.
didn't grab me but i wasn't really paying attention, also i'm generally opposed to rock flute
This album sounds like the music equivalent of avocado colored appliances, especially the opening track. Freedom Rider was not bad as well as a couple other songs here and there. Sometimes it sounded like Jethro Tull, which was okay. Overall I can't say that I liked it. It did have some fleeting moments but it was overall just not very impressive and yet another album that makes me scratch its head at its inclusion. Not completely awful and I could see how others might like it, but I won't be coming back to this.
Unsure if it's just a bombardment of 70s music that's wearing on me or not, but nothing on this album really stood out.
okay
Don’t remember it to be honest, which is probably indicative of how good it was. Rating: 4/10
Can’t do the flutes. Not my vibe but very retro.
From the first song, I already feel it's a jam band. I don't know how I feel about jam bands. It has the structure I think of jazz, giving each instrument its time to shine. I'm not into the long-form solos. My training to pop music wants me to have songs be short. Except for "Bohemian Rhapsody".
not a big fan, just not my style
John Barleycorn is blijkbaar een oud liedje en de verpersoonlijking van bier en whiskey, dus dat-ie dood moet betekent vast dat de heren van Traffic daar nogal verslingerd aan waren. Het heeft hun muziek dan ook geen goed gedaan.
Wel ok, maar ging een beetje aan me voorbij
Ik weet niet wie die John Barleycorn is, en waarom ie dood moet. Maar als dit zijn muziekale testament is dan is het misschien allemaal maar beter zo.
Jazzy folk fusion?
Pretentious-ass is correct that barleycorn is alcohol-related, but it's also a unit of measurement (1/3 of an inch). The relation to barley and hence alcohol is what leads us to the traditional British character and folk song and also to the Jack London autobiography, both named "John Barleycorn." But if London came to embody the alcoholic first referenced in the song 400 years earlier, why does Traffic insist he must die? I still don't know why "John Barleycorn Must Die," but I do now understand why the label for Delirium Tremens features a pink elephant, as London's novel included the first use of pink elephants as a stereotypical hallucination for the very drunk. Is it a teetotaler thing!? Even if you don't like his drinking and associate it with all the ills of society, killing him hardly seems like an appropriate solution. We've discussed prohibition of substances here before. It doesn't work, people. As for the music, the aforementioned "Barleycorn" was a very weird folk detour on a... what genre was the rest of that? The front half was very horn and woodwind heavy (it's been a pretty horny series of albums lately), and man those woodwind solos are something... I thought we had listened to Traffic before, but we hadn't. Then I thought again, and was sure we'd had some progressive jazz smooth rock type thing. Ah, but that was Chicago, about which I'd said similar things about the jazzy instruments and vague genre. And originally they were the Chicago Transit Authority, which probably does something to regulate Traffic. So let's call this gridrock. Get it?
What did John Barleycorn ever do to anyone?! Together with Jethro Tull and King Crimson, I think it is really the genre of Prog Rock that must die.
2.5
Fairly generic 70's music - I'm becoming bored of these types of albums.
Somehow I'd never heard this album, despite having been a fan of Steve Winwood for most of my life. The opening instrumental really grabbed me, but the rest left me cold.
I wanted to like this so much more...it sounds great but it just doesn't have anything that brings me back to listen to again.
this does not fuck as hard as the album cover would lead one to believe
Dislike
Dull jazz-rock. Seriously, why choose this insipid Traffic album to listen to before I die? The first album (Mr Fantasy) may have all the trappings of the psychedelic era, but is so much more varied, interesting and fun to listen to. That album (along with singles like Paper Sun and Hole In My Shoe) is recommended listening! This one is just meandering and a bit tedious. Two stars because there were a few moments of inspired instrumental interplay. Otherwise, it's a bit crap really.
Odd and old
Odd and tedious
Prog folk not my scene.
This all pretty much faded into the background and just sat there doing its thing without me. I kept trying to pay attention but ended up drifting away and ignoring it every time. It's entirely inoffensive, like a pleasant wallpaper.
Ekkert spes. Steve Winwood eina góða við plötuna.
The panpipe player must die.
Left me as cold as poor dead John Barleycorn.
I wish he had
This didn't really do anything for me.
Folkprog, not particularly interesting, but a good example of where this scene was in 1970
Musically ok, vocals were terrible.
Прикольно, я даже на John Barleycorn подумала «вау», но потом передумала и лепю 2 звязды
* fine.. unmemorable
Pretty standard fare which is quite dated nowadays
No tengo mucho que decir la verdad. No me molesta en absoluto pero no llamó mi atención. Dos temas (Empty Pages (bastante buen tema) / Stranger To Myself) me agradaron, el resto ni fu ni fa. No hubo fu, pero por otro lado, tampoco fa. Musicalmente es agradable, los puntos más jazz-rock (?) están bien, buenos órganos especialmente en esos dos temas que mencioné anteriormente. No hay nada que hatear, pero sin llegar a ser interesante, y prefiero escuchar las versiones de este sonido que si que me interesan. Mediocre. DEP John Barleycone no se merecía un destino tan cruel y además murió debiéndome 55 pavos la sucia rata.
Never heard of them, but not too bad
It's interesting but I'm not sure I would revisit this. Would work great as a soundtrack to an RPG though
Worth a listen, but wouldn't say it blew me a way. Very 70s, very English, very jam bandy.
The strongest cut is the title track; The rest is certainly British folk. Far from Fairport in my mind.
Beige, inoffensive 60/70s rock. An easy listen, but didn't really inspire
good band, but just another one of the bunch.
No idea what this is going to be but I'm not feeling positive vibes. Ah that's why! It's more psychedelic folk rock type stuff. Mercifully it's only half an hour long. 2/5.
lite smågött
Better! But still not there yet. Enjoyed the instrumentals and was cool to find out Steve Winwood is a part of this but I don't think I'll come back to this one.
Not my thing really
“Feckless improvised rock, or is it folksong-based jazz?’”
This started okay but quickly devolved into an album I never need to hear again.
Interesting... I am not familiar with Traffic's oeuvre, and have been recently considering spending some time with their back catalog, based on the occasional track that pops up in my listening (eg, covers by Tigers at the Edge of Time). OK, I have listened to some of their previous records, and then this one all the way through... and I'm not thrilled. It meanders, more folk-jazz and less rockin' r'n'b than previous records. Unfocused, not well structured, a bit too laid back for my taste. The guitar leads are (at times,) pretty awful. Interestingly, the live tracks on disc 2 of the deluxe version are far superior. A bit rougher, better playing, and more focused even when stretching out.
Nothing special, a pretty boring album
Langweilig
This was a struggle. Great musicianship, that’s clear. It’s just not my genre.
jazz meio blues pop? o cara canta bem freedom rider tem uma flauta dissonante interessante john barleycorn é a melhor
Nice, positive, upbeat album. Nothing outstanding but would make for a good album on a day at the beach or a backyard BBQ. Favorite Tracks: "John Barleycorn"
Rockigt, jazzigt och funkigt på samma gång. Inledningslåten, Glad, är lite Frank Zappa - Peaches in Regalia, jazzig. Steve Winwood mycket bra sångare! John Barleycorn (Must Die), en tolkning av en traditionell folksång, bryter av mot den annars jazziga och funkiga stilen, ett välkommet avbrott, med fin gitarr och flöjt. Annars är det bra, utan att för den sakens skull någonsin bli utmanande eller allt för underhållande. 2.5/5! Bästa låt: John Barleycorn (Must Die)
it was ok
generic prog rock
Not bad, but didn't really care for it at all.
Decent music. Alot of covers but good overall
The title track is wonderful, one of my favourite tunes for many years. The rest of the album is unremarkable and surprisingly different to the title track. Stevie Winwood is one of the great unsung heroes of rock music, but this is disappointing.
English Folk Rock album that was surprisingly more popular in America than England. The smooth, relaxing music and vocals can easily accompany most situations - whether they be work or play.
C'est pas nul mais clairement c'est pas mon type de musique, jamais je réécouterai ça, c'est un yaourt nature. 6/10. Les bonus track me font même dire 5/10, ça fait penser à l'album de CTA : ça va nulle part, c'est des boucles infinies de guitares,syntés. Seule la batterie me plait.
Hard to define the genre, kinda jazz inspired rock, almost sounded a bit samba to begin with. No issues with it, enjoyed it to start with, not that bothered about it as a whole album though. 2/5
i don't think this album knows what it is so i don't know how i'm supposed to know what it is.
old white guy music
Ehh
Four white boys from Birmingham not playing heavy metal, who'da thunk it. I listened to this several hours ago and can't actually remember anything about it. It was definitely no Sabbath though.
Not amazing, freedom rider was my favourite. This just makes me realise that sometimes experimental folk music from the 70’s doesn’t stand the test of time.
meh
yea as far as jam band records go this was better than most. "Sittin´ here thinkin´ of my love is a giant pile of dogshit track. i might dock this album a star just for this bonus track. yea the end of this album went from okay to just languid. there is too much actual skill in here to say it is 1 star but hot damn
Good classic rock, but I'll probably not listen to this more than once a year.
A easy listening mix of jazz rock and prog rock. Bass, vox and drums are the strongest, especially on 'Freedom Rider'. Other tracks and instruments aren't great and sound dated. 4/10, not much happening here
Do not remember much :/
Whatever. It’s music. Not mine.
false
Enjoyable enough at times, John Barleycorn was the best track! But nothing super sticking with me.
2nd track was quite fun. Found the rest quite boring though, folk is really not my cup of tea
ok folk album. not sure why this is on the list.
meh.. ok sound I guess
Meh, not my cup o' nuts. Started off promisingly, but lost my interest quickly.
Nothing memorable or special.
70's jazzy flute, sax.
This album features five sub-prog rock originals (plus a cover of the title track) in which singer Steve Winwood tries his best to combine rock and soul, doing neither very well. The construction of these songs (none of which should have been more than three minutes long) is also loose and aimless, and seems mostly designed to give the Traffic jammers yards of time to noodle away on a flute, or whatever.
Dreary and without soul
Fuck off. This is a $1 record for a reason.
Boring. Unmemorable
Blah
This album falls into psychedelic rock category I think? Unfortunately, I do not like that genre.
DNF - BORING!!!! If your mum sells Avon then your dad loves Traffic. I’d rather go play in the road.
Orgelsolo, Flötensolo Orgelsolo, Flötensolo. Musikalisch begabt wie Helge Schneider, nur nicht so lustig.
Not for me. 1/5
More Traffic?! As if the first didn't bore me enough, here we have another one, and even less interesting at that. Truly a feat.
After listening to this album in the morning, this evening I saw Martha Carthy and friends play the songs of Martin Carthy. One of the songs they played was Iohn Barleycorn Must Die. The generator knows you know. One of the blind spots in this book is the abscence of English and Celtic folk song. There’s a host of acoustic singer songwriters a few folk rock LPs that draw on these traditions and Bert Jansch’s instrumental lp but no MacColl, Copper Family, Carthy, Shirley Collins. So despite the disappointment of their self-titled blues rock yomp the title and cover made me hope for more. Also Paper Sun and Hole in my Shoe were good songs - there must be a good Traffic album right? Well it’s not this one. It’s a series of jazz fusion jams similar to Soft Machine only without the focus or a singer of the quality of Wyatt or Ayers.. Gig was good though.
I have given away/sold so many copies of this record…I now remember why. This album must die.
Just terrible 0/5
The jazz/pop/rock genre of the 70s is one of my least favorites
Meh
This sucked and was corny and boring. Barely made it through most songs. Nice voice I guess. You can tell it was mostly old white dudes that picked these albums.
This is music played by musicians in 1970. Songs.
I definitely could have died a perfectly content man having never listened to this album. 1 star.
Hard to get though. Don't see the appeal. Guess you had to be there.
Aimless, bland noodling.
It's hard to give an album an in depth review and analysis when the album itself is boring as fuck. "Must listen" my ass.
Wasn’t feeling it. Didn’t have the same late 60s sound like Zeppelin and didn’t stick
Pas connu
I feel about Steve Winwood the way the Korean family felt about Frank Costanza: "This guy... This is not my kind of guy." I saw him and Clapton at the United Center once, just the two of them jamming in acoustic guitars, and frankly, it was boring. Listening to this album, I felt like Elaine telling Jerry about all the things she had asked with him, with the appropriate modifications: "Skip, skip, skip, skip, skip." Sorry, Steve, no soup for you. Next!
I might be biased because my previous album was from Yes, but this is a really boring album. Sure it has great musicians, technical proficiency, but it just seems like a handjob that starts off good but goes on way too long and doesn’t finish strong.
Yeahhh not my thing. Feels very jam band and can’t really find anything unique.
Why bother writing good tunes when you have your pal freaking out on the flute. Some cool organ work and the opening track wasn’t bad, and then they started singing songs. The title track is quite good though, burns poem turned folk song. Irritating flute remains present however.
1. glad - 1.5 2. rider - 1.5 3. pagez - 1 4. ztranger - 1.5 5. john - 1 6. zon - 1.5
Jazz-Rock mostly giving of a dull vibe while the vocals are annoyingly stretched.
It was slow to start, but became enjoyable.
A little too psych for me.
It's pretty unremarkable tbh
Dull set of 70s rock songs. Folkish. Instrumental jams. Jazz touches here and there. Flutes and sax. But overall very boring. Only liked the track Every Mother's Son, a cool road trip song.
Not really anything.
Sounds like so much else from the late 60s and early 70s. Showcases the neutered energy that would make Steve Winwood the darling of easy listening and soft rock radio stations played in waiting rooms for the next forty years.
Steve Winwood and the gog damn flute. I threw up in my mouth a little bit and have a craving to go punch Rick in the face. 1 I really wish there was a Zero option.
1 Solid musicianship, but my God is this boring. Who’s responsible for this?? … Of course it’s Steve Winwood. I know I’ve voiced this opinion here before (and it’s probably a pretentious opinion at that), but no matter how technically proficient your music might be, if it has no sort of personality to it, it’s not going to pull me in. Give me something to grab onto, relate to, and just really feel in my soul - what am I supposed to feel with this? “Wow, nice arpeggio”? “Whoa, that V7b9#9#11b13 chord”? Even Winwood’s singing here sound like Stock Soft Rock Vocals #57. I know there’s a place in music for this, and I know it has its fans, but it’s just not for me. Give me something that feels more like it's driven by emotion than it does science.
Starting off with a 7 minute flute-and-organ heavy classic rock song made me crabby.
Etwas zu lebendig und 70er Jahre
This sounds like a compilation of 70s TV themes you've never heard because the shows didn't make it past the pilot.
Really surprised an album like this would make the list. There are others I didn't like, but that was more genre preference. This is the type of music that would be up my alley, but it was just boring. 1.5/5
Austin Powers soundtrack without the catchy bits
Wow, a double album. This is going to take a while. I see I've got 2 kinda psychedelic albums in a row. UGH, this is the jam band stuff I am not a fan of.
1.5
Checked to see how close I was to the end and I was on song 2 Is this album really important? Really?
A little bit of jazz, a little bit of rock, a whole lotta bit corny… what could possibly go wrong? 1.5/2 Fav Songs: Glad, Freedom Rider, Every Mother’s Son Least: John Barleycorn (Must Die), Sittin’ Here Thinkin’ of My Love
Started off strong, groovy and interesting, ended up being a complete snoozefest.
Real bad and boring
did not enjoy. not for me.
Uh oh. I've never been a big fan. This should be interesting. Steve Winwood and Dave Mason right? so is "Glad" a 7 minute instrumental? I'll let you know, if I make it. The wah-wah sounding horn is kind of cool. Excellent keyboardin'. Not a terrible jam. It was all instrumental. Maybe that's a good thing, cuz Winwood and the flute aren't doing "Freedom Rider" any favors. Decent guitar work in "Stranger To Himself". This band bores me. It's ok for background music, and I'm sure it was cool if you were trippin at a festival in 1971, but...not my thing. The songwriting just isn't there. Over rated for sure. I'd rather hear fucking "Roll With It" or "Back In The High Life Again" Those cheesy 80s songs are less torturous than the title track and it's bloody flutes
Got asked why i was listening to the OST for Mario Kart while i had this on. It was about a minute into the first track and it was spot on. Tried to stay interested but it was naff.
did not like.
ishhhhh
This album was a total slog and I was tempted to skip multiple songs out of sheer boredom with them. John Barleycorn was the only highlight in the whole album and even that went on a little too long in my opinion.
Ponderous. As in, I ponder how this tire fire of an album of improv folk-jazz is on this list.
Beigest of the beige.
I simply did not feel it attempt to feel
Poe, en dan uit het niets ook ineens gaan zingen.
oof.. what is this shit? this can also lick my butthole.
John Barleycorn Must indeed Die. What even was this album? I for one would not want this to be played in Traffic or I'd be the one raging on the road! Did not like the weird mix of folk jazz and what I'd call jamming with mates in public. It's not great at all. The singing makes me almost want to spew up - it's got that sound of when you have an extremely sore stomach and you make that cry out/wail in pain sound. Best: Freedom Rider (juuuust) Worst: Empty Pages
What terribly terribly waffly wank
A load of crop
...
eh
Just bad.
Didn’t like this one
Could not keep up with the lyrics😆“Just want you to Know” that song was silly! Great guitar and music but goofy lyrics. Same with John Barlycorn Must Die…. Great cord weird words🥸
Not really my style.
Hated this one. Not a big fan of blues(?) not a fan
cool idea boring af execution
I’m gonna say 1 because this made me want to give dusty Springfield a better score. Great jamming, great vibes. Proto Prague/Jazz fusion but it leaves a lot to be desired. Traffic and Steve Winwood seem like a half thought, like they never think hard about their albums, just jam and throw on some lyrics. First two tracks are pretty good, great vibe, good walking songs, good musicianship, but ultimately repetitive. Tracks 3 and 4 seem stunted, weird tempo, bad vocals didn’t work for me. Track 5 goes somewhere interesting sounds almost medieval, tells a story, good flute. Track 6 is strong, cool organ sound—same as my favorite traffic song—really shines on the breakdown. Some moments where it shines, but as a complete album it kind of flops. Sorry Dusty Springfield.
Utter bobbins.