John Barleycorn Must Die

Ultimately boring.

Much like the other Traffic album I've rated on here, it was kind of bland, a bit too MOR for me, and Steve Winwood seemed to really love the spotlight. Some of the long jams felt like 70s background music, a bit cheesy even. At first, it just seemed like a meh, transitional album, missing the catchy tunes of their earlier stuff.

But, once I gave it a chance, the vibes were, dare I say, was surprisingly cool. They mixed Jazz, Folk, and Rock in a unique way, especially with the flute and organ. Some songs got a little repetitive, but "John Barleycorn" was amazing, a beautiful take on folklore. It's not going to blow anyone's mind, but it's a chill, solid listen if you just let the band's jamming wash over you.

John Barleycorn Must Die makes me realise how limitless the possibilities of songwriting and album building are. Or at least, how many needless rules songwriters usually box themselves in with. Traffic are happy to ignore genre boundaries which makes them unpredictable. I never imagined hearing jazz flute, over the top of traditional English folk music, all held together with a time signature defying proggy sensibility. If you only heard brief snippets of this LP you could easily convince yourself that these sounds came from wildly different releases. Despite how wide ranging it is, it holds together as a cohesive whole, peaking with the title track. From my perspective this is a must listen for anyone interested in songwriting.

Not for me at all.

Where the fuck did that last song come from? Damn. 3.5

Alright, this is pretty decent, nice keyboard work and instrumentation, however it's not super great either, probably very strong 3 stars for this, lacking a bit for me. But today is busy, and maybe I'll find some time to re-listen later on this eve. Def at least 3.5/5.0 on RYM

I actually liked it less the more the album went on. I'm in a bad mood, so it's getting 2 stars.

A little dad rock-y, but the instrumentals were amazing on this one. Still by the end, it's a strong 3 and not a 4

Trotz handwerklichem Können wirkt das Album wie ein endloser Jam: langatmig, zäh, ohne klare Höhepunkte. „Glad“ groovt noch, doch der Rest bleibt ein monotoner Chum-Chum-Trip ohne Richtung.

This was better than I thought it would be. The first song was what I think when I hear Traffic, but the next few songs were suprising. I didn't realize these were british progressive guys and not a part of the yacht rock soft jazz. I don't think its really something I would listen to, but I won't shudder every time I hear this bands name anymore.

love

I liked this but it did just breeze by and has left no lasting impression

I like pretty much everything about this album, but I'm having trouble articulating why. I'll just rate this ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and go make sure I have it in my personal collection

This album and probably Traffic as a band, will probably never cross my mind again - at least until this list offers up another one of their records. Mostly inoffensive 70's jazz/folk rock that I couldn't really pick out of a lineup of other 70's bands of this ilk. And there seems to be a lot of them. Freedom Rider caught my ear with it's notable sax motifs and flute interludes. I'm giving this a 2 star rating - although I (once again) appreciate the ability of these musicians, I can't dole out stars just because they learnt to play their instruments. Traffic is a dumb band name.

I don't know what that album was about, but I did like the way it sounded.

This is pretty good you know. Apart from the odd track that goes a bit prog, this has a real cool vibe. I'm liking the instruments and his singing in general. And it's nice and short.

3.5 rounded down.

The Good: An entire album dedicated about beer!
The Bad: The artists believe beer must die…
The Ugly: Traffic…

I really wanted to like this album. Not because I like beer, which I do, but because I appreciate Mr Windwood’s efforts.

Anyway, early ‘70s fusion jazz, so it seems, is not my thing… unless it is done by Jethro Tull… which Traffic isn’t.

Having said that, I will still give the album 3* as it is worthy of a spin, just not on repeat spin….
3*

Pretty much the most standard issue boomer dad rock imaginable. Jazzy blues jams with a ton of organ and piano in the lead paired with lightly fuzzy guitars, swanky horns and, urgh, flute. Loose playful feel and organic arrangements and some funky bass parts give it a warm relaxed vibe. Winwood's vocals have a hoarse timbre and an ambitious range but can be kind of grating - I guess that's why I like some of these (and other Traffic songs) best as covers.

I imagine this is what Phish sounds like to people who don’t like Phish.

I'd say the first side hit me right away while the second side was a grower - I wasn't as thrilled with it on first listen, but got into it more on subsequent listens (it's a short album and lends itself easily to repeat listens). In particular, the opening track is a great jam - I only knew Steve Winwood from his 80s hits and I had no idea he was such an outstanding musician. The jam at the end of Every Mother's Son also sounded great. Probably the only negative was that John Barleycorn got a little boring on a close listen, but made for good background vibes. Overall, I don't hear a lot of groundbreaking music here, but it was a good listen and I would revisit. Favorite tracks: Glad, Empty Pages, Every Mother's Son.