Search - Blood Sweat & Tears :: Nuclear Blues

BS&T Revival Hits The Mark !!

C. Law | Las Vegas, NV USA | 10/02/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I found this in the LP cut-out bin four years after its release and had never even known about the album !! WEA must have kept this secret WELL!! After I got it home and played it, it quickly became one of my very favorites. You probably need a Hindu ascetic to help you keep track of all the different incarnations of this band...it wasn't Lew Soloff, Chuck Winfield, Bobby Colomby and company, nor was it the BIG group which recorded "New Blood." In fact, it was David Clayton Thomas and just THREE horns, plus rhythm section...The writing was GREAT. (Some listener reviewers here don't think the album is "innovative" enough...truthfully, it's one of the most creative and covers as broad a musical spectrum as ANY of the group's albums). The playing is flawless and David is on a "ROLL!" ( Listen to "I'll Drown In My Own Tears" and find me a BETTER blues singer !! I dare you !!). Maybe having a totally instrumental suite ("Red Wine") and the technically-challenging first track, "Agitato," were just too much for some BS&T "purists." I loved them. Then, change up the time on Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression," add "Fantasy Stage" and the title track, and you have a typical BS&T album: inventive, a little radical and totally MUSICAL !! Certainly one of the two best the band did after D.C.T. took his first hiatus from the group, whether you are a casual BS&T fan, or the WORST GROUPIE, this is DEFINITELY one for your collection!!!"

GROWS ON YOU

Thomas D. Christianson | Ashland, WI United States | 01/10/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm editing my original review right now. It seems I was too
quick to make my mind up on this one. The first time I listened
to it I did not like it at all. After 5 or 6 listens it started
sounding much better, now I've been listening to it at least
every other day and I like it alot. I guess I was expecting
something that sounded closer to their earlier releases, and
was initially disappointed that it did not quite fit the bill.
This one seems to grows on you{or at least it did on me}. This
one is much more jazzy than the others,so the comparison is to
them is an unfair one. The brass is good,different, but good.
Thomas' voice seems strained at times, but for the most part
it's not bad. This bands first 4 releases are still my favorites,
but ths one is good too. Like I said, it grows on you. I would
recommend this c.d., I would just recommend their earlier ones
a bit higher.
Thanks,
Tom"

Two prime elements of BS&T together at last

R. L. MILLER | FT LAUDERDALE FL USA | 01/10/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First, there was the rich blues voice of David Clayton Thomas as heard on the second, third and fourth efforts on the 1970s. This was during their big R&B pop period of the hits like "You've Made Me So Very Happy", Spinning Wheel", "And When I Die", "Lucretia MacEvil" and the underexposed Billie Holiday classic "God Bless the Child". Many other singers' careers took off bigtime due to their vocal similarity to Thomas, including Lighthouse's Skip Prokop, but especially Robin Trower's James De War and Chicago's Terry Kath. Then came the albums "New Blood", "No Sweat" and "Brand New Day", where the sound was jazzier, more in line with the "jazz-rock" niche they'd always occupied once Al Kooper had moved on after their debut "Child Is Father To the Man". "New Blood" even had a great cover of Herbie Hancock's "Maiden Voyage" provided by new key man Larry Willis. But by then they'd lost David and thereby lost their powerful access to the mass market. The next I heard of them was 1991's "Live and Improvised", but I thought back then that it was the product of some sort of nostalgia tour. I mean, they had David back and all. This album stands as proof that I was wrong. To have the solid jazz feel of the "davidless" trilogy with him back at the mike is like having your cake and being able to eat it too. The epic "Spanish Wine" is a what-if: what if Miles had done the Gil Evans period stuff without the orchestra burying the core ensemble we'd come to love from Miles? My copies of those releases are the least-played of my Miles collection. And the Hendrix classic "Manic Depression" comes across as a great jazz waltz while still faithful to Jimi's original arrangement. Pulling that off is an accomplishment in itself. When I first heard Jimi's own version, I thought it just one more example of his creativity--not many rock songs were done in 3. But I'd never considered it a jazz waltz. Well, that sells me on the other BS&T release of this period: "Mirror Image". That one goes on an order in the very near future."