fartzarellah's Full Review: John Barleycorn Must Die [Remaster] by Traffic
I bought this CD for two reasons. One, because I remember being mystified by the title track as a tyke and two, because I was talking to a friend who said that this is one of his favorite albums. He is a very cool dude, you would like him. He's all into Tom Waites and Elvis Costello and The Cars.
Wait, three reasons.
The last reason is that I am a FREAKING LOSER! Just kidding (although that may be the case). The last reason is that I never buy newly released CDs because I like to wait until I know for sure that I am spending my money wisely. I realize that is a bit wimpy on my part, so I try to make up for it by picking up old "classics" that I never got into before. Just to prove how risky I am, ya know? Alright, enough about me. Let's talk about the music.
But before I do, let's talk about boring information I gleaned from the CD insert. Traffic was Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood. Yes, that's the Back in the Highlife Again, MOR Steve Winwood that is just so darn exciting you could fart. I would like to tell you that he was so much better then and then bemoan "what the hell happened to him?" but I would be lying. I actually think BITHL was a decent song about overcoming obstacles and finally having the good sense to become a yuppie. John Barleycorn was released in 1970, when Winwood was still a hippie and thought he was oh so very cool. From what I have heard of Traffic, they had one outstanding song and several "hmmm" ones on each disc (I have heard this one and Mr. Fantasy. The song I love from Mr. Fantasy is No Face, No Name, No Number.) So, without further ado, the tracks.
Glad is a nearly seven minute jazz workout with everybody getting a solo and whatnot. It has a nice groove, makes good background music, reminds me of going to see this local funk/blues band called Secret Soul while having a White Russian or two and watching all the hippy girls dance. The problem is, this type of music doesn't work as well without the aforementioned visual and mental props. The solos ain't that great and the music is just sort of there.
Freedom Rider How hippyish can a song title get? Steve Winwood seems to have been obsessed with writing strange chord progressions, several of which come out forced (especially the switch to the chorus and the switch back from the chorus to the instrumental introduction). The only reason I would listen to this is because I am too lazy to get up and hit the skip button.
Empty Pages Has a standard, Carpentersish verse (with that damn double plagal cadence like in "Werewolves in London") but a powerful, heavenly chorus that uses a pedal note in the bass with a smooth flowing, dangerous chord progression over top. It is a least half a song.
I Just Want You To Know Thank God for bonus tracks! Yeah right. One minute and thirty seconds of the same damn thing over and over, waste of time.
Stranger To Himself Cool piano and acoustic guitar intro that comes back as an interlude. The rest is pretty dull except for this (dat. da dat.) unison rhythm thing.
John Barleycorn A traditional arranged extremely well by Winwood and Capaldi. Excellent chicken picking acoustic guitar part. The flute is out of tune and Winwood's singing is a little flat, but anyway...The modal minor key, old English folk song atmosphere and harmony vocals reminds me of Simon And Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair". It is in the form of a ballad (repeats the same verse and chorus), with each successive repeat becoming more intense. It is about something or other ;)
Every Mother's Son It has a prozac feeling to it. Fans of Coldplay would like it a bunch. The feeling is like coming to the end of something big and thinking "yeah man, it all turned out alright, even though there were some tough times along the way". It's good, Winwood's best singing of the album. Now that I think of it, this song is sort of a cooler version of BITHL.
Sitting Here Thinkin' Of My Love Better than the other bonus track, but still not very good. "Sitting here thinking 'bout my love" and "I've never felt as low as this before" to more prozacky music.
Tha's about it. Oh, the term "prozac music" probably needs some explanation. Some people I know who have taken prozac told me that they were happier at first but felt sort of like robots after a while. It was like their emotions were set on a track and wouldn't change. They couldn't feel angry when they needed to. Comfortably numb, which made them very uncomfortable. What kind of music creates the same feeling? Very little tension, no threats to the stability of the major key, and several droning buzzing sounds. It also helps to have lyrics that are objectively detatched from the situation they describe.
I wish I hadn't bought this CD. Download the one good song from a legal website somewhere, alright?
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