Traffic - Feelin Alright The Very Best of Traffic (15 tracks) +Album Reviews

A Budget-Priced Bonanza for the Casual Fan

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 04/14/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My first exposure to Traffic was in college when I heard John Barleycorn Must Die. I especially enjoyed the title track and became an instant life-long fan. I bought every album through 1974's When the Eagle Flies and even picked up their first two albums from 1968--Mr. Fantasy and Traffic. When it came time to update my Traffic collection on CD I opted for the 2-CD Smiling Phases (now sadly out of print) that came out in 1991. Now almost a decade later Island updates(?) that anthology with the single disc Feelin' Alright: The Very Best of Traffic. This new release is a case of good news, bad news depending on what kind of fan you are.If you're a casual fan, this collection gives you the band's UK singles: "Paper Sun" (#5)and "Hole in My Shoe" (#2), but omits "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" (#8). [The closest thing Traffic had to a single in the US was when "Empty Pages," from John Barlecorn Must Die, reached #74 in 1970.] You also get key album tracks like the slightly trippy "Dear Mr. Fantasy," the jazzy "Forty Thousand Headmen" and Dave Mason's more pop-oriented fare like "You Can All Join In" and "Feelin' Alright." You also get four of Barlecorn's six tracks--including the folky title track and the funky instrumental "Glad." Traffic's post-Barleycorn output is skimpy, only two songs--both from Low Spark of High Heeled Boys. You get the nearly 12-minute title track, plus "Rock and Roll Stew." [I would have preferred Jim Capaldi's "Light Up or Leave Me Alone."] All told, this is a lot of music (77 minutes) for the price.Sadly, for the more serious fan this disc only scratches the surface. (Which is the only reason I couldn't bring myself to give this five stars.) There's only one track from Last Exit, and 1973's Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory and 1974's When the Eagle Flies are not represented at all! So it becomes a matter of economics. Do you settle for a single-disc collection? Or do you pass and go after key albums like Mr. Fantasy, Traffic, John Barleycorn Must Die? [Note: This collection contains four songs each from those three albums--that's 12 songs from three albums and another three songs from the remaining four albums.]The music is all first-rate, but for my money this new release went the wrong direction. It should have added a disc to Smiling Phases, not deleted one. RECOMMENDED (For casual fans and/or those on a tight budget.)"

Compilation stew

Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 03/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The definitive Traffic anthology was released about a decade ago. The 2 disc set Smiling Phases focused on both the key album tracks from the band's albums as well as a number of harder to find items (like the b side Giving To You which has quite a few differences from the album version). This single disc anthology only touches the surface and doesn't include any rarities or previously unissued tracks (these are available on the individual CDs). Overlooking the shortcomings, Feelin' Alright (like its UK counterpart Heaven Is In Your Mind -- not to be confused with the US album of the same name which is really the reconfigured Mr. Fantasy in stereo)is a pretty good look at a band that accomplished quite a bit in a very short time.The original foursome consisted of Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, (the late) Chris Wood and Dave Mason. Mason was an infrequent member of the band. He left shortly after completion of the band's first album. Wisely the compilers of this disc chose material from the second Traffic album. Mason returned to the fold with some of his strongest material. The only quibble is the exclusion of the live version of Sad and Deep As You from Welcome To The Canteen and Just For You (from Last Exit which was originally issued as a solo single. Mason was fronting Traffic though).The Winwood-Capaldi (and Wood) songs selected are among their strongest. You can't please everyone but including the searing dirge Whithering Tree (which features one of Winwood's finest vocals), Coloured Rain and Smiling Phases and Every Mother's Son would have made the collection just about complete. The latter song from John Barleycorn Must Die has a performance by Winwood that, again, ranks among his finest. When Winwood connects with Capaldi's impressionistic/surreal lyrics the song manages to come alive. Although Far From Home (the 1994 reunion effort featuring Winwood and Capaldi) isn't Traffic's strongest effort, there are a number of fine songs that would have made this collection more complete.The booklet is informative (and from what I remember missing the occasionally hilarious typos that are evident in the booklet for the Mr. Fantasy US and UK editions). Supervising producer Bill Levenson has once again delivered one of the finest sounding reissues. Despite the fact that this single disc effort is missing key tracks, the sound quality is a huge step up from Smiling Phases. Now that Levenson has overseen the reissues of Mr Fantasy, Heaven Is In Your Mind, Traffic and Last Exit, perhaps he will work his magic on Low Spark and the underrated live album Welcome To The Canteen."

Less is NOT better!

Wayne Klein | 02/22/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"If this is the reason SMILING PHASES, Traffic's previous 2-disc retrospective, was taken off the market, that was a bad, bad, BAD move! Using this as a barometer, you'd never know that Traffic's 1974 album, WHEN THE EAGLE FLIES, even existed, and that had some primo music that should've made it here! If Island had to do another best-of, why couldn't it have been of Traffic material that DIDN'T make it onto SMILING PHASES? This CD is a functional intro to Traffic at best, but that's about it."

You'll be Feelin' Alright with this latest Traffic release

Brian O'Marra | Little Rock, AR USA | 02/17/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If one were to take Smiling Phases and boil this down to one CD, you would have this one. Considering the quantity of Traffic gems to choose from and the limits of one disc, this fits the bill about as perfectly as can be done.There are a number of superb songs here: Paper Sun, Dear Mr. Fantasy, Heaven Is In Your Mind, and the four gems from the John Barleycorn album. It stops at Low Spark, which is wise, since this was Traffic's last masterpiece.It does miss alot of gems as well: Coloured Rain, Smiling Phases, Medicated Goo, No Face, No Name, No Number. However these were the a or b-sides of singles that are on this CD.An avid Traffic fan may want to have Smiling Phases (the 2 CD anthology) but this CD contains the superb remastering that was introduced on Steve Winwood's box set (the song John Barleycorn is completely devoid of any hiss).For that, and the excellent booklet, it deserves a five star rating."

Feelin' Alright? Actually, I am feeling good myself

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 03/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Of the bands Steve Winwood's associated with, there's Traffic, formed after his departure from the Spencer Davis Group, in which he temporarily departed during his sojourns with Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Airforce. He reformed the group, which stayed together till 1975. This is also the group associated with Dave Mason, who left and rejoined several times before embarking on a mostly unsuccessful solo career and a brief stint with Fleetwood Mac in the 90's. Traffic itself contributed to the British psychedelic scene, replete with organs, flute, saxophones, sitars, and harpsichords, as well as other instruments, showing how they embraced Indian sounds, the neo-Bachian music by Procol Harum, and the like, and they're all here on this greatest hits compilation.Some live performance clips of Traffic made their way to MTV's closet classics. Three of those were from John Barleycorn Must Die, the album where Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood reformed after Winwood's temporary split. "Freedom Rider" featuring a moody sax and fluttering flute along with Winwood's usual psychedelic organ, showed that a two year absence hadn't done the group any harm. The near-seven minute instrumental jam "Glad" was my favourite, demonstrating Chris Wood melding saxophones, flute, and percussion together, with Winwood's piano, wavering from left-hand keys to right, with the slow walking rhythm of the piano towards the end. The sobering guitar and flute title track to John Barleycorn was a tale of the struggle against alcohol as personified by the title, with the growing of barley as an analogy to John growing up. Beer, ale, whisky... we get that from barley, yeah?From their debut Mr. Fantasy, the dreamy title track with heavy guitars merged with psychedelic organs, a plea to the title character to cheer them up with a tune, is one of their signature tunes and the way Winwood wanted the band to go. The first two singles from that album are the UK Top 5 "Paper Sun," a bright psychedelic piece that mirrors the sound Floyd had with their debut, Piper At The Gates Of Dawn. A sitar introduces and later continues on their UK #2 hit, "Hole In My Shoe" lyrically "I walked through a field that just wasn't real with 100 tin soldiers" and musically like "Strawberry Fields." Oh, and Neil of the Young Ones covered this on his Heavy Concept Album.Dave Mason's contributions from the second album include "You Can All Join In" with its skippy rhythm and bluesy guitar. He also did what I consider to be another signature tune, the well-paced rockin' jam "Feelin' Alright." Winwood steps towards blues in the upbeat "Pearly Queen," also from the same album.By the time "Rock and Roll Stew" and the Low Spark of The High Heeled Boys came out, Traffic had added Rick Grech (ex-Blind Faith) on bass and Jim Gordon (ex-Derek and the Dominos") and they were more accessible on FM radio. The near 12-minute title track was an intricate composition hinting more towards jazz/rock as evidenced by the extended piano and sax bits.Nothing from their last three albums, Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory, On The Road, and Where The Eagle Flies are here, but what is here is the best during their formative years, mostly with the original four members."

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