Artist: Blood, Sweat, & Tears
Album: Blood, Sweat, & Tears
Year: 1969
Damn, two straight eponymous albums by bands with an Oxford comma and an ampersand? Say it ain't so.
Gotta say I am not at all familiar with BST like I was with CSN. Not sure what to expect here, but we'll see how it goes. This one is apparently the album that bested The Beatles' Abbey Road for the Album of the Year Grammy (for whatever that's worth), so it's gotta be pretty good, right?
Right! This is a great pop album that sounds remarkably fresh and modern. It combines jazz horns, rock vocals, and Brill Building pop sensibility into a really nice tight package. I actually knew a few of these songs before listening to the album without knowing they were BS&T. "Spinning Wheel," "And When I Die," and "You've Made Me So Very Happy" are all great tunes. I always thought "Spinning Wheel" was the Doobie Brothers or something, and always thought "You've Made Me So Very Happy" was either Neil Diamond or Chicago or something. But now I know better. Interesting. One of the best things about this album is the voice of lead singer David Clayton-Thomas. He's got a booming, clear voice that really rocks, but has a lounge lizard sort of quality that is appropriately schmaltzy.
I totally loved this album. The combination of jazz and rock is utterly infectious. It's a little pretentious in spots: the takes on Erik Satie's "Gymnopedies" are a little tedious/unnecessary (although quite pretty), and the 12-minute, sprawling "Blues, Pt. 2" goes on a little long and randomly turns into Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" about halfway through for no good reason. But these things can't take away from this album being an absolute masterpiece.
Rating: Indispensable
No comments:
Post a Comment