Album #5: four (1994)
Blues Traveler
Genre: Jam Rock
Dedicated to MB Member:
1. "Run-Around"
2. "Stand"
3. "Look Around"
4. "Fallible"
5. "The Mountains Win Again"
6. "Freedom"
7. "Crash Burn"
8. "Price to Pay"
9. "Hook"
10. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"
11. "Just Wait"
12. "Brother John"
The second Blues Traveler album I ever heard and the one that made me go to a concert that turned into six straight concerts and made me a fan for life. This is not a great album in the traditional sense. There are several very good songs, like "Run Around", the opening track and one of two major hit singles from the album. The other massiv single "Hook" is very good, as is "Just Wait", "The Mountains Win Again", "Look Around" and a few others. It's always enjoyable and Popper is an undeniable talent, presence and star. If you enjoy the harmonica, this is about as good as it gets. Even the average to bad songs contain great moments like the psychedelic escalating bridge and skat-a-tat-tat outro in "Stand". These particular portions of the song raise it from average to memorable.
The beautiful, touching and moving element of this album, with songs like "Look Around" and "Just Wait" is chilling. These songs demonstrate the often overlooked or under rated force of Poppers powerful vocal prowess. More then anything this is what has made this album last for me. A lot of the music I listened to at this has fallen from my radar, but not Blues Traveler, I still make a point to buy all their new albums and see them whenever they come to town. It's also worth mentioning that "The Mountains Win again" is that song from all those Busch Beer commercials. Don't hold that against it though.
What is clear from this album is that these people are having fun playing this music. It's a talented band and Popper as mentioned above is a phenom. This guy just drives the music with each lyric and breath into that harp. This is why Bob Dylan fans piss me off, this guy is 100 times the singer and harpist that Dylan was and gets half the due for both because of Dylan's song writing and cultural significance. But I digress, I love this album and am glad to add it to my list and introduce it to you.