TRAFFIC

Traffic is the second full-length studio album by UK progressive rock act Traffic. After leaving the band for a while Traffic sees the return of Dave Mason to the lineup. It wouldn´t last long though but long enough to record Traffic.

Traffic is quite the departure from the eclectic and adventurous Mr. Fantasy (1967) album which featured great emphasis on unusual rock instrumentation and an obvious will to experiment within the commercial pop/ rock frame. The music on Traffic is much more in the sixties blues/ rock/ soul vein and while this isn´t necessarily a bad thing I think it´s a hard pill to swallow after the excellence of the great debut. The music sometimes remind me of the bluesy/ soul songs by Procol Harum. When that is said the music is very well written and executed. I can´t deny that it´s a quality release. The production is also very professional and well sounding too. There are few excursions into folky and psychadelic territory but they are few. An example of the folky elements can be found in the song Vagabond Virgin.

I´ll be honest and say that Traffic wasn´t exactly what I expected and I´m slightly disappointed by the lack of adventurous material on the album. A 3 star rating is still deserved for a quality release. I´d recommend checking out Mr. Fantasy before this one though.