Track Listing

1. You Can All Join In
2. Pearly Queen
3. Don't Be Sad
4. Who Knows What Tomorrow May Bring
5. Feelin' Alright?
6. Vagabond Virgin
7. (Roamin' Thro' The Gloamin' With) 40.000 Headman
8. Cryin' To Be Heard
9. No Time To Live
10. Means To An End
11. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush
12. Am I What I Was Or Am I What I Am
13. Withering Tree
14. Medicated Goo
15. Shanghai Noodle Factory

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10242 in Music
• Released on: 1999-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .22 pounds
• Running time: 58 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Thirty years of rock radio have cast Traffic largely in the context of its later years as songwriter, singer, and keyboard player Steve Winwood's platform for jazz-inflected progressive rock, but their second, self-titled 1968 album reflects the equal weight of guitarist Dave Mason's voice, guitar, and songs. Together with drummer and third vocalist Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood's evocative sax and flute, this is Traffic at its most earthy, most concise, and arguably most coherent--even when the bulk of the songs are set as fevered dreams, surreal ballads, or outright nightmares. Winwood showcases like "Pearly Queen" and "Forty Thousand Headmen" are matched by Mason's classic "Feelin' Alright" and Beatle-browed "You Can All Join In", while the playing and arrangements are spirited and tight. --Sam Sutherland

CD Description
On their second album, the cottage dwellers from Berkshire refined their hippie pop into a looser and vastly more mature work: evocative tales of nonsense in the beautiful "40,000Headmen", joyful malarkey with Mason's "You Can All Join In", and one of his finest songs, "Feelin Alright", which was a signpost to his imminent departure. Throughout the record Jim Capaldi's understated yet steady drums demonstrate just what a great rock drummer should do, and Chris Wood's sound is everywhere, with trills on flute and blasts on saxophone.TRAFFIC is a record that will always be meant for glorious sunny days.

Customer Reviews

5 star album, 2 star sound muffled with overuse of No Noise
This is an example of how NOT to remaster a classic album. While it was remastered from the original mastertapes using 24 bit sampling, Sonic Solutions No Noise was applied liberally making this album sound like you're listening to it with towels thrown over your speakers. Traffic's second terrific album featured the original four piece line up in top form with Dave Mason contributing what would later be a huge hit for Joe Cocker "Feelin' Alright".

Pick up the American import instead. Bill Levenson and his able crew used the original mastertapes and elected NOT to overuse Sonic Solutions No Noise (which is probably the worst thing that has happened to music. It's great for cleaning up scratchy 78RPM records but not a modern recording). The American edition features the mono single mix of the singles for the album as well as the stereo single mix for "Withering Tree". The rest of the bonus tracks here (with the exception of "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush" and "Am I What I Was or Am I What I Am" which can be found on the U.S. "Heaven Is In Your Mind" & "Mr Fantasy" again both preferred to the UK versions)can be found on the album "Last Exit" which gathered the band's singles and combined them with a couple of covers recorded live in concert.

There are some terrific bonus tracks included all from singles or the soundtrack from "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" (a film I've never seen). All certainly add value to the package but the sound is so mushy and soft buried as it is within the No Noise (which sucks the life out of recordings by eliminating tape hiss but, in the process, eliminating the sound of the room, the dynamics, etc.

Post-psychedelic artistic gem
After the 'acid' whimsey of Traffic's debut album, Mr Fantasy, Traffic, the second offering, begins to offer insight into the dysfunctional artistic powerhouse that was Traffic. The young Winwood, playing guitar, piano and Hammond, plus providing the principal vocals, rails and rallies against the entire dark ages of music. Mason, Wood, Windwood, plus Capaldi define the role of the late 60s 'musician as artistic 'avatar'. Listen to Cryin' to be Heard and No Time to Live, plus 40,000 Headmen. Musical peaks, generated by sublime egos that can only degenerate into fracture and bitterness. Buy it.

Their best
I'm reviewing the album rather than the sound, something which I can't say spoiled this reissue for me anyway. With four great musicians and two great songwriters at the height of their power, Traffic could hardly go wrong. Dave Mason continued to provide the more commercial material, such as the maypole folk of 'You Can All Join In' while Steve Winwood, in tandem with Jim Capaldi, was reputedly the more progressive partner. In truth, all of the songs are quite accessible. Winwood's songs tend to have more character, especially the quizzical 'Who Knows What Tomorrow Will Bring?' and the impassioned 'Cryin' To Be Heard'. Chris Wood's playing on 'No Time To Live' also makes for a wonderfully spooky recording. The album would be worth buying without the bonus material, though this is quite generous. The soundtrack hit, 'Mulberry Bush' is one of those instant songs that drives you round the bend when you've heard it a few times, but you can always skip that.