JOHN BARLEYCORN MUST DIE

After a short period of disbandment, Traffic came back with the monster release "Jonh Barleycorn Must Die" inspired by the ancient Irish folk tale/folk song. In my opinion, this album is Traffics' masterpiece even topping the prior "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys." This is an all-time prog, folk, and blues classic and deserves more attention from prog fans. It is often dismissed as a folk album but it is just as much prog as it is folk thanks to Steve Winwood's intoxicating keys.

The album opens with "Glad" one of the best tracks on the album right from the start. A lot of awesome organ and piano work from Winwood here, which is a common theme in the rest of the songs. The last two minutes of the song turn to a minor tone ending it off on the perfect note just to go into "Freedom Rider," my personal favorite song on the album. With a sax riff and thumping bass line, the song begins, with Winwood's impeccable voice joining it soon. The song features some incredible flute work from Chris Wood that goes well with the organ and piano that end the song in a grandiose fashion.

"Empty Pages" is a more classic Traffic tune that Winwood wrote. It is a very funky/bluesy song, even including a nice "Doors-esque" electric piano solo that sounds like it could be straight off of LA Woman. "Stranger to Himself" was originally intended for Winwood's solo project that became JBMD, and is a good song as well. Very strong folksy guitar tied together with Winwoods' powerful vocals and Jim Capaldi's unique percussive undertones. It ends with a nice electric guitar solo.

The title track "John Barleycorn (Must Die)" is one of the greatest folk performances of all time, and is a highlight on the album. The guitar work goes perfectly with Winwood's solemn vocals and Chris Woods' flute licks. Great song and would've been better as a closer, but they decided to make "Every Mother's Son" the closer. It was another song that was initially written for Steve Winwood's solo album. I like the idea of the song a lot and it even has a great organ solo in the middle, but I feel like it drags a bit and doesn't end the album with enough clarity (although it is by no means a bad song).

At the end of the day, this album is a folk-prog classic, up there with the likes of Jethro Tull and the other folk-prog greats. By far Traffic's best album and Steve Winwood's magnum opus. Highly recommended to all prog listeners, and is very accessible to even non-prog listeners.