SHOOT OUT AT THE FANTASY FACTORY

I have been listening to a lot of Traffic lately, so I may as while do some reviews of their work. (I have previously only reviewed Mr Fantasy.) Shoot Out at the Fantasy Factory would be a solid 3 star effort if it were not for the first and second songs. They bring it up to a 4. The title track is a fun, jazzy rock number which I think may have some story to tell about a "shootout" but I can't figure it out. No matter- it's still one of my favorite Traffic tracks. This leads into .....tada!....what I consider the all-time top effort by this band -"Roll Right Stones". I can listen to this track over and over and never tire of it. It is a masterpiece of jazzy/rock/soul/prog with wonderful playing, cool lyrics, mellow singing, and some groovy bridge work. Perfection in almost 12 minutes of music! The remaining 3 songs are good Traffic, but I find them a bit too mellow for my taste, especially "Uinspired" which I feel goes on too long. But, no matter, this is still a classic album from a classic band. 4 stars