Traffic On The Road (FULL ALBUM) (vinyl)

Traffic - On The Road
Island Records ‎– SMAS-9336
Released October 1973

Side One
1. Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys 0:09
2. Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory 14:52

Side Two
3. (Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired 21:40
4. Light Up Or Leave Me Alone 32:07


The single-album US version of what was released as a double album in the UK.

Later, a 2-LP version was also released in the US.

Some peculiarities --
1. If it sounds like "Low Spark" picks up in the middle . . . it does. The version on this album was chopped from 17:47 to something under 15 minutes.

2. There are some skips and damage at the beginning of Side 1. With a used record, you can't always count on the quality.

3. You'll note that someone wrote his or her name on the back cover and on the record itself. Also, the owner (presumably) cut out one of the traffic signs on the fancy sleeve and patched the sleeve. I never did things like that to my records, but what
makes some records valuable is that, like baseball cards and comic books of yore, not everyone treated the object with the same level of deference.

As to the music itself. Recorded live in Germany. The band acquits themselves well here, as they pretty much always did. Over forty minutes and only four songs could come off as
indulgent but it never feels that way -- the songs seem to be he right length.

Probably "Light Up Or Leave Me Alone" is the most satisfying of the four tracks, but really this is a good listen all the way through. I never like it when live albums don't reflect a lot of enthusiastic crowd reaction, but the relative lack thereof on this album doesn't detract.

The visuals are pictures of . . . roads. (I never claimed to be hugely creative.) The titles are made to feel as generic as possible . . . this album gives me the feeling of having been put out in a hurry.

Made with:
Sansui P-D10 turntable
BBE preamp
Audactiy
Paint.net
Corel VideoSTudio X9 Ultimate

Thanks for listening and subscribing. Feedback always welcome but condescending audiophilic dissertations about what a bad job I did recording will be summarily deleted.

Enjoy!