CHILD IS FATHER TO THE MAN

Blood Sweat & Tears has been in my life since I was a teenager and I don't remember when the first time I heard I Love You More Than You Ever Know for the first time - I think it was sometime around 1971 from the cassette that my big brother played at my hometown, Madiun. I was than aware that the song became a major radio hit and regularly played also by local bands. But to me BS&T was more than just that song as I liked the band's brass rock style as clearly described here at this site : "Blood, Sweat & Tears was/is a Jazz-Rock band formed in New York in 1967, and one of the early examples of the genre that would be known as "Brass Rock" and sharing their hierarchy of the genre with CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY (later CHICAGO), both being prime examples along with their UK competitor IF."

Yes, I fully agree that BS&T is in comparison with Chicago Transit Transit Authority even though there is a fundamental difference: CTA uses much more electric guitar solo than BS&T and I really admired CTA first album that really rocks! BS&T uses much more brass section and more jazzy and sometime bluesy like I Love You'll More Than You Ever Know or Somethin' Going On (track 9 of this debut album).

This album is to me an excellent one even though I prefer CTA because of they are rockier than BS&T debut album. But ... I really love the bluesy jazz style that this debut album presents. From the opening Overture it's quite clear that the band tried to record their album ini a relaxed way and I can get the sense from the Overture. The opening track I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know is my all time favorite as the song is very strong in melody and especially I love the groove it produces - it really creates vintage nuances which I call it in Bahasa Indonesia as "nuansamatik" (the term that I created and use it regularly to describe the situation where certain music matches the criteria being called as having a vintage nuances. The song not only good in its blues style but I also love the vocal, brass section and guitar solo. It's really killing! Thanks to Al Kooper on this!

The other tracks are excellent as well. The fourth track My Days Are Numbered is a very good example how strong and solid their composition is. It flows nicely with jazz nuances and great brass section. My true favorite is Somethin' Going On (track 9) which has blues style and powerful guitar solo....and not only that, it's really rockin' and nuansamatik as I can recall many segments with vintage music that represents the era of classic rock. The Modern Adventures of Plato, Diogenes and Freud reminds me to the work of The Beatles - something like Eleanor Rigby but this one is much more PROGier.

I think this album deserves a solid four-star rating as it has powerful songs and most songs are composed beautifully (under the corridor of prog music) with excellent harmonies and dynamic changes from one segment to another in typical song and from one song to another. The brass section is really great. Most songs are basically not really melodic - but it's OK because we are in PROG music perspective. Take an example of last track So Much Love/Underture where it lacks melody but it's a well-composed song. This CD has bonus songs which I like it very much - especially the hit I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know (track 13) performed live. It's really great! Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW