Tuesday, December 4, 2007

No. 264: Child Is Father to the Man


Band: Blood, Sweat & Tears
Album: Child Is Father to the Man
Why Rolling Stone gets it right: Al Kooper is one of the best popular musicians that most people haven't heard of. This album successfully fuses several different genres of music into a nice little psychedelic record.
Why Rolling Stone gets it wrong: If nothing, it sounds supremely dated. I'm not in love with the songs, which are largely pop rock melodies arranged into more far-reaching tracks.
Best song: "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "I Can't Quit Her" really showcase Kooper's voice and keyboard chops.
Worst song: "House in the Country" stinks.
Is it awesome?: It's technically brilliant -- all the band members can really play -- but I can't seem to get into it.

Instead of doing 12 song haikus, "Child Is Father to the Man" gets one. Sorry, Al Kooper, you're no Bob Dylan.

Blues, classical, rock
Psychedelia, also
Stick to one style, please

1 comment:

kellydwyer said...

I was obsessed with this album the first week of freshman year of college. The RnB workups you mentioned are fabulous, but the rest of it was so ... weird, that I kept listening.

Jazz guys (I think both Brecker Brothers are in the band at that point) slumming as hipsters, not a great idea.

I also remember the album cover freaking me out when I was 5 years old.