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Number of Time Traders (September 2001) Reviews: 2
Reviewer: Steve Thibodeau, October 26, 2001 I pretty much agree with the review by John Fitzgerald (I guess the CD was only released in Massachusetts). By now, I've gotten used to being somewhat disappointed by recent Peter Green releases, but it certainly hasn't stopped me from buying them! I'll just have to get my guitar fix by listening to the old Mayall and FMac stuff...
Yes, his voice has changed over the past several years - it's lost a lot of the rough edges that it had when he first resurfaced. At times he reminds me of a cross between Eric Clapton and John Martyn (as they both sound today).
For the most part, the material is decent, too. Some of the highlights for me include "Real World", "Running After You" (complete with Black Magic Woman-style tempo/groove change), "...Temptation" (shades of "Little Games"?), "Feeling Good", "Time Keeps Slipping Away", and "Wild Dogs".
The inclusion of "Uganda Woman" was the first thing that caught my attention when I got the CD, so I dug out the original Nigel Watson/Peter Green single and listened to both the old and new. A few minutes of listening made me recall how disappointed I was with the single when it first came out - I can't say that the new one does much for me, either.
All in all, it's a good CD and a worthwhile purchase - and it's a welcome change from trying to figure out if there's even one track on some new Peter Green (Snowy White?) reissue that I don't already have on another CD.
Reviewer: John Fitzgerald, Human resources staff database assistant October 09, 2001 The Splinter Group return somewhat to the more pop based blues stylings of "Destiny
road" here but this outing is somewhat less colorful. However, it includes enough plus
points for recommendation. Although Peter still has a ways to go before his voice is
completely "restored", the most obvious change here is that it does seem like his vocal
chords have stepped in the right direction this time out as he's more on the mark with such
funk driven tunes as "(Down the road of) Temptation" which sounds halfway to Stevie
Wonder's "Higher ground" and the toe tapping opener "Until the well runs dry". Another
good point is that the times that Green is not in the foreground, it is not as intrusive as has
been the case on previous platters. Nigel's reworking of his rare single only track (with
Peter) from 1972 "Uganda woman" along with the Mississippi drenched "Shadow on my
door" and the New Orleans styled "Downsize blues (Repossess my body)" are surprising
highlights as one would expect Peter to be doing the "musically out of step" stuff but here
Peter has turned in some real, almost straightforward catchy gems like "Real world" &
"Time keeps slipping away". Having said that, he does slow the tempo a bit for "Feeling
good". The "Underway" remake is effective but ultimately, not as atmospheric as the Mac
original. There is a lack of Peter in the fore in regards to lead guitar work but the snippets
that do show up really hit the spot. It shouldn't shock one that this album sounds slightly
reminiscent of John Mayall's latest outing "Along for the ride" (as they share the same
label now) with less emphasis on lead guitar and more on harmonicas, horns and "Loser
two times" style female backing coral vocal arrangements. Had this been more stripped
down, this could've really opened up more musical doors for Peter in his return to the
music world but as he seems adamant on not giving the hard-core Green fans what he
knows they really want him to do musically speaking, we shouldn't be fazed by this now
and expect the unexpected. This being the case, overall, this is not as adventurous as
"Destiny road" but has got some great moments that are real growers given half a chance.
Album cover, Tracklisting, and information provided by Mario Pirrone and Pete Grant. Transcribed to HTML by Marty Adelson.
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