Smiling Phases (CD) by Traffic

CD. During their tumultuous existence between 1967 and 1974, Traffic had two distinct phases separated by a year (January 1969 to February 1970) during which the band was temporarily dissolved. In its first phase, Traffic was heavily influenced by the pop psychedelia of its time, but were also developing a distinctive blues-rock jam style. When Steve Winwood reconvened the group in 1970 without Dave Mason, he was ready to take the spotlight more forcefully, and Traffic evolved into a band that played long, largely instrumental songs. In constructing a two-CD retrospective of Traffic, compiler Kevin Patrick has taken the obvious step of devoting disc one to the early phase of Traffic and disc two to the later one. He faces different challenges in selecting tracks for each disc. The first CD is necessarily diverse; the early singles must be included, and so must some of Dave Mason's material, though his songs tend to sound more like solo tracks. The challenge for disc two is simply that the songs from 1970-1974 tend to be so long, and it's difficult to decide which ones to include. Patrick has met both of these challenges admirably. Though both discs are a bit short by CD standards, running a little over an hour each, there are few significant tracks that are missing. On disc two, Patrick has striven to be fair to the later Traffic albums, even though they are not as good as their predecessors from this phase, but he strikes a reasonable balance. Until 1991, Traffic had had no more than a few single-disc compilations, the most readily available being The Best of Traffic, which contained nothing from the group's later period. So, Smiling Phases was a welcome addition to the catalog, with solid selection and sequencing. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi

Traffic - Smiling Phases-Best Of 1967-74 (CD NEW) Label: Ume Imports Format: CD Release Date: 18 Apr 2006 No. of Discs: 2 UPC: 731451055324 Album Tracks DISC 1: 1. Paper Sun 2. Hole In My Shoe 3. Smiling Phases 4. Heaven Is In Your Mind 5. Coloured Rain 6. No Face, No Name, No Number 7. Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush 8. Dear Mr. Fantasy 9. You Can All Join In 10. Feelin' Alright 11. Pearly Queen 12. (Roamin' Thru The Gloamin' With) 40,000 Headmen 13. Vagabond Virgin 14. Shanghai Noodle Factory 15. Withering Tree 16. Medicated Goo DISC 2: 1. Glad 2. Freedom Rider 3. Empty Pages 4. John Barleycorn 5. Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys 6. Light Up Or Leave Me Alone 7. Rock And Roll Stew 8. Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory 9. Walking In The Wind 10. When The Eagle Flies