Traffic - Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory

Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this classic album from the British Rock band led by Steve Winwood, originally released in 1973. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008. Album Description

Flawed, yet memorable

" Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory" was recorded on the first few days of 1973, in Jamiaca in order to, as the linear notes claimed " nurture the creative elements of the band". This recording also brought two new musicians from The United States, Roger Hawkins and David Hood to Traffic. With these new additions, you would expect a fuller sound from Traffic, that would enrich their often creative approach to rock. Instead, the sound of this recording often seems uncomplete and a bit unneccessarey. The melodies, however, offer a lot of potential and things to work with. The title track titled "Shoot out at the fantasy factory" is a mid tempo rocker that offers a freash start quite different from the other tracks, that are often moody and mellow. The lyrics are almost inaudible in this song, which is quite odd and it is a bit, as is often in Traffic songs, a bit repetitive. The second track titled " Roll Right Stones" allows Steve Winwood to rise to his full potential, because of its gospel/blues feel. Though many believe it is too long, I think it is arranged in a very creative way, with a multileveled melody that has many twists and turns. One suggestion for this tune that would make it better is perhaps a larger contribution from Chris Wood on woodwinds and more improvisation. The third track on this recording is " Evening Blue", a crisp balled that may sound stale at first but becomes better ( as many of the tracks do) as you listen closer. Winwood's gentle vioce and Wood's mysteriouse flute add some flavor to this piece. The fourth piece on this recording is " Tragic Magic", one of the few compositions by Chris Wood. I noticed that Chris Wood is often in the background with his woodwinds. This was his chance to shine and come to the spotlight. The melody was catchy but a bit repetitive and some improvisitation would greaten the effect of its blues/jazz feel. The last tune on this recording is " Sometimes I Feel so Uninspired". The melody is wonderful in this piece, and it presents a crisp guitar solo that comes as a welcoming sight to the ears. The piece is powerful, a bit too much on the preachy side ( for me personally)but simultanously inspiring. For one of the fist times in this album Traffic is truely being itself. Sometimes, it seems to me Traffic trys to hard to incorparate jazz, blues and other sounds to their music. I am personally a big fan of jazz and blues, but it often sounds unnatural for Traffic. An example is their song from the previouse album, : Low Sparks of High Heeled Boys. Although it was considered a classic hit, I think it is one of Traffic's weaker tunes. It also seems sometimes that Steve Winwood ( who composed most of the tunes) and Jim Capaldi ( who wrote the often preachy and sentimental lyrics) are just running out of ideas. However, with the help of Chris Woold's soft woodwinds, Rebop Kwaku Baah's inspiring percussions, Steve Winwood's vioce and guitar ( when he is being himself) and the rest of the band's contributions ( which are hard to hear at times), this album manages to create a certain atmosphere. Though it can not be called fantastical, the melodies manage to soemhow create an atmosphere. Though this is not a must have album in any way, it has the ability to create, with its moody and often mellow tunes, a certain rhyme that one begans to appreaciate increasingly. It does not live up to its fantastic name or cover but there is something their that is hard to capture. Perhaps that is what keeps us listining. July 12, 2008

I love this album

Why isn't THIS album more popular? I'll tell you why- by this point in the bands career, Steve Winwood was starting to run low on musical ideas for the band, and was on the verge of making a big commercial impact on the music scene going solo. However, whatever was about to happen, doesn't affect what really DID happen, that being Winwood and the rest of the band members continuing to deliver with the creative goods for another Traffic album.

The title song rocks hard with some funkiness thrown in, "Roll Right Stones" has some spiritual vocals from Winwood and magnificent rocking segments that elevate the song to new heights (and no, the song is NOT overlong- I wish Winwood's vocals would keep going for another few minutes because they're THAT good, and on a personal note, they move me quite a bit) and "Tragic Magic" is just a really jazzy piece of melodic brilliance. "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired" probably shows the frustration of Winwood at the time, but doesn't interfere with the great music. Another great song.

A classic album that's JUST as good as all the previous Traffic albums.
April 12, 2008

Fantasy Factory

I think this album has one good song, the title song; Fantasy Factory. I enjoyed it in the 70's, often when I was smoking weed.

But now the weed is gone and we have Ipod's instead. So now it's like buying one joint (never did myself), we can also just buy one song and download it.

There you have....rock on.... January 22, 2008

Evening blue

This 1973 album by Traffic is an exceptionally solid release that finds the core of Steve Winwood, Jim Capaldi and Chris Wood continuing their involvement with accomplished studio musicians. The overall feel of the album is a bit more solid than the fantastic Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971) and has less in the way of short, psychedelic tracks. Overall, while Shootout at the Fantasy Factory did not get the favorable critical reception that Low Spark of High Heeled Boys did, I especially like the somber mood of the album and it may very well be one of my favorite albums from the group.

The lineup on this album includes Steve Winwood (vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, organ); Jim Capaldi (percussion and backing vocals); Chris Wood (flutes and saxophones); Rebop Kwaku Baah (percussion); and session aces David Hood (bass guitar); and Roger Hawkins (drum kit). Additional musicians include Barry Beckett (keyboards on Tragic Magic) and Jimmy Johnson (clarinet on Tragic Magic). I think that overall, this was a great lineup and the group playing on this album is very tight and at times, fairly powerful (as on the title track). Everything is just very carefully performed and I especially like the use of acoustic instruments on the album, particularly the piano. The use of various bits of percussion add an earthy texture to the music, which is another thing I like about this album.

The five tracks range in length from 5:19 to the newly restored Roll Right Stones (13:40). The music on this album consists of a smooth mixture of rock, jazz, folk, with a tiny smidge of progressive rock that is seamlessly blended together. There is great consistency with respect to the texture of each piece (slow to mid-paced tempi), and all of the tracks work well together. The instrumental passages are especially fine and I think that Roll Right Stones presents a great jam session in spite of its structured nature and the use of pre-composed solos. There is somewhat of a gloomy feel to the album, and minor keys are used a lot.

This remastered CD is fantastic and features a restored full-length version of Roll Right Stones (apparently, 2 minutes were lopped off of this track on previous versions of the recording) along with the original (surreal) cover art and informative liner notes. I have to say that I like this CD version better than my old LP, which had the corners of the record jacket cut off just to emphasize the cube pattern on the cover! Furthermore, the sound quality is wonderful and features crisp highs, full midrange and deep bass - there is also excellent separation of individual instruments.

All in all, this is an exceptional album by Traffic and is highly recommended along with Low Spark of High Heeled Boys and When the Eagle Flies (1974). December 27, 2007

Traffic Jams

Who likes Traffic Jams? I do, but with a footnote. Here's another later Traffic release that again has its moments but is not unified in its presentation, nor is it wise in its use of extended track time.

The longer instrumental songs hold up as years pass, but there is often a self-indulgent lack of optimum arrangement/editing that limits listening value, despite the positive reviews of the 'restored' original tracks.

"Roll Right Stones" is a case in point: a well-written song, with interesting parts, that nevertheless overstays its welcome, especially in the endless vocal repetitions of the title words, as if that was a memorable 'hook.' I can't help conjuring up images of 'Stonehenge' from the 'This Is Spinal Tap' movie as I listen to it. I chopped the song to under 10 minutes with some computer editing, and now I love hearing it.

Here again, though, the players do shine. Steve Winwood is simply a gifted, multi-talented musician; Jim Capaldi wrote some meaningful, poetic lyrics; and Chris Wood, though on the road to his premature death by this time, still blows some beautiful flute & creative sax effects.

Take your favorites from this recording & mix 'em with other fave's from other Traffic albums of the era & you've got some great music that opened some doors that not enough musicians have gone through since.

Try a few Traffic CD's & broaden your musical horizons! December 22, 2007

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