ON THE ROAD

"On The Road" is the second live album by "Traffic", recorded in Germany, and released in 1973 following their studio album "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory", it features American session musicians of "The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section" keyboardist Barry Beckett, bassist David Hood, and drummer Roger Hawkins. Side one, taken up by the first track "Glad /Freedom rider", the first two pieces of "John Barleycorn Must Die" joined in one 21 minutes long epic, and honestly, the vocals there start weak. Side two holds picks from the previous release "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory", the instrumental "Tragic Magic" and "(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired", with the title track "Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory" on side three, it's a stretched version humdrum, with no attempt of improvement to the already-drab studio version of tracks, (Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory it's a good mediocre album for me, not bad). After there are picks from "The low Sparks of High Heeled Boys", with "Light up or Leave Me Alone" on side three, and the eponymous track "The Low Sparks Of High Heeled Boys" occupying the fourth side, I think this is where energy kicks in, particularly in vocals. "On The Road" holds a nice choice of songs, and good instrumentation, from my favorite albums, with good quality, clear sound, good performance, and production, I like Barry Beckett's work on piano and organ, especially on "Glad /Freedom Rider" and "The Low Sparks of High Heeled Boys", and also Chris wood's work on saxophone and flute, I also like the simplistic, colorful sleeve. As a live album, it's fine