Customer Reviews

Heavy Traffic

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are reading this review you are either a longtime fan of Status Quo or someone who's heard of the band, but doesn't own any of there music. There is no such thing as casual Status Quo fans; either you are a faithful member in the "Quo" Army or someone who has never heard their music before.
For longtime Quo fans this release ranks right up there with the albums from the "Hello", "Quo", "Blue For You" era. I would be writing forever to do this album justice. It flat out rocks bringing back memories of hearing "Backwater" for the first time, cranked on my Cerwin-Vega speakers back in High School.
I would rank this even higher if I could.
To people unfamiliar with this British band, Quo has been around for almost 30 years; and there is no sign over them slowing down now! This is straight ahead rock n'n roll the way it was meant to be played. The best way to descibe music on this album is to list you 2 of Quo's obvious influences: Chuck Berry & Creedance Clearwater. Imagine such CCR classics as "Up Around The Bend" & "Sweet Hitchhiker" done with Telecasters, Marshall Stacks, and Chuck Berry riffs galore on 10 and you've got this album.
As with any great album the key is repeasted listening and I've almost wore this one out. No matter what kind of mood I'm in, I can blast out Status Quo for a great pick me up.
These guys love what they play and play what they love. Very rare in the corporate run music business of today.

I used to be a fanatic of this band during the mid seventies through to mid eighties when Alan Lancaster was still with the band and saw them play over 50 times. I was disappointed beyond belief when they went country pop and almost left them for dead. They didn't have that edge anymore and I never thought they would ever get it back. Well, the wait has been over 20 years but they have finally done it. I now can't stop living and breathing the band again, after all this time. And all it took was Heavy Traffic. By far their finest offering since Never Too Late in 1981, and many would say their best since Blue for You in 1977.

Play their first track, Blues and Rythym and you will sit up and take notice. Play it a few times and you will be hooked. The whole CD is like that. It grips you and you can't let go. Damn, its so good to hear this kind of music again from Quo. The Quo Army are revelling in this CD, and with just reason. Lets hope the boys keep the ball rolling and don't let up again. If they keep with what they do best their next original studio album could even herald their finest work since Hello! Wishful thinking perhaps but the enthusiasm I get after hearing Heavy Traffic is nothing like I have had for rock music in over 20 years.

Do yourself a favour and get this CD. It will provide you with so many good times.

Fantastic job boys. You have one extremely happy resurrected Quo fanatic here!!

'blues and rythym, something for my soul. my decision, give me rock and give me roll'

It's quite obvious that some have just not given this new release more than one listen to...or just doesn't get it?

I have to reiterate that this is a release from a group that is by far second to none it terms of delivering straight ahead rock and roll.

To call this release "another pop-boogie album" is like saying that Michael Jackson is a heavy metal superstar!!!??

Of course they (Status Quo)don't have Lancaster and Couglan in the line-up...what group these days does have the original line-up and is expected to sound the same??? C'mon gimme a break here.

I will say this though, to rate this album as Quo going in a "light rock & roll direction and delivering said album with an edge is ridiculous.

From the opening riffs of Blues & Rhythm right through to Rhythm of Life, you can't deny these guys are nothing but pure and simple rock! The addition of John Edwards on Bass and Matt Letley on drums is a welcome addition and adds an extra spark to the group. Let's face it here...Rossi and Parfitt are in their 50's. Cut them some slack would ya?.. I saw em in concert and I wish I could do that!!!!!

I understand that their are a lot of early Quo fans out there that long for the days when Lancaster & co. played with them. However, you have to admit, that in this day and age, these guys are able to deliver in the same vein as they did years ago.

I love the earlier stuff too and I have to say one thing...after seeing these guys in concert on March 5th at the Hard Rock cafe in Toronto, they haven't lost a step!!!! The inclusion of the new material from Heavy Traffic fits in like a glove with stuff they did 25 years ago!

I'm 43, and Quo had me feeling like a 20 year old for the first time in many years...and they delivered big time. Not just for the concert but for the album Heavy Traffic. Like I said before, to me... it is like going back 25 years and getting to hear some really good kick-a** music.

Example...at the Hard Rock Cafe...they kicked off with Caroline...4500 Times, Gerdundula...then went into All Stand Up,
Solid Gold, Heavy Traffic, and Creepin' Up On You...then went on to play Down Down, Whatever You Want, and a ton of others....

Trust me...I was there...the music hasn't changed....the intensity is still there...and so is the magic!!!...

To anyone that loves this album....embrace Status Quo...they are the best!!!!

To sum up....I can understand and appreciate the fact that a lot of die-hard Quo fans miss the original line-up...but do me a favour...do not forsake the current line-up for they do one hell of a job in preserving classic rock and roll!!!...and most of all...the music that they play.

Pop Boogie????...thats kinda like ABBA isn't it?...hahahaha

Listen to Solid Gold....you tell me if that's Pop Music???

Thanks
Kim

Great anticipation for Status Quo's first original CD since 'Under The Influence" in '99.They vowed this album would be more traditional Quo-up tempo rockers like they did mostly in the 70's,when they had FOUR albums enter the UK charts at #1.Highlights on the CD are the first single,"Jam Side Down",a catchy 12 bar song with a great melody.It 's a perfect rock single complete with a great riff,sing-along chorus,and a foot-tapping beat."The Oriental"is perhaps the most unique song on the album.Some say it's offensive(the lyrics referring to oriental ladies),but I say,...I consider it a compliment to Asian women.Nobody made a big deal about Queen's "Fat Bottom Girls".I'm sure some overweight women felt insulted about that song.GREAT guitar riff throughout the song and I find myself moving my head back and forth to the beat.Great song-so different in it's makeup and beat.Also "Solid Gold" has a great chorus sing-along as well as "All Stand Up",a real rocker.A typical Quo kick ... song is Rick Parfitt's "Creeping Up On You",which is what Rock & Roll should be-12 Bar,3 chord boogie that should have you bopping your head and stomping your feet.If not,go see a neurologist."Do It Again" is a simple,feel good song about enjoying the finer things in life....A few songs are mediocre,but all in all,a great effort by England's most successful rock group of all time on the UK charts!!

This album is pure joy. The band have teamed up with long time writing collaberator Bob Young for the first time in years (and I mean years). The influence certainly shows. The songs are rawer, more energetic, more experimental (whilst retaining the Quo sound) than ever before. This is a return to Quo's bluesier, dirtier sound of the mid 70's. Stand out tracks? Well pretty much every one of them. All Stand Up (Never Say Never) sticks in your brain and doesn't let go. Rhythm of Life and Green would not look wierd on a REM or Radiohead album as they are experimental and Rhythm is very moody.

This is the best Quo album since Hello! (1973) or Quo(1974)
All credit goes to Quo, Bob, and Mike Paxman.

And Better and Better, to paraphase Rick Parfitt and Andrew Bown's famous "again and again and again" line.

"Heavy Traffic" is the latest solid hard Rockin' and Rolling album from this veteran British band who first came to note with the psychedelic gem "Pictures of Matchstick Men" waaaaay back at the end of 1967, beginning of 1968. From the mid-1970s on, Quo has established a solid reputation as a demin-clad, no frills 3-4 chord rock and roll band that has rocked its way to being the number 3 hard rock band in Britain behind the Beatles and the Stones, illustrious company to be sure, but outside of "...Matchstick Men" and a couple of tours behind Peter Frampton and Slade, the Francis Rossi-Rick Parfitt powered band unfortunately have never been able to crack the USA market.

"Heavy Traffic" is an album that should close that deal for them, if there are enough of us "baby boomers" out there who love a great original rock and roll band, something that has been sadly lacking in the states in recent years.

All of the songs, from the opening Rossi-Bown (he was the keyboards man for Peter Frampton prior to joining Quo in 1976) "Blues and Rhythm" through the heavy-hitters "Heavy Traffic" and "Solid Gold" through the pop sensible "Jam Side Down" have solid, guitar-keyboards fuelled straight ahead rock and roll imprinted on them but are also extremely listenable as Francis Rossi is not only one of the very best guitarists in rock and roll, but one of the finer and more distinctive vocalists too. Rick Parfitt is certainly no chopped liver either. Real Rock Radio would jump on the central London driving lament title track, or even the bouncy pop of "Jam Side Down" too. Then there's "All Stand Up" (Never Say Never) the Rock Anthem of the 21st Century, and let's not forget "Green, Green" a catchy Bown-penned composition sung by Parfitt (hey guys, let Andrew sing lead on occasion), the funny and funky "Digging Burt Bacharach" or "Creeping Up On You". If you want good, meat and potatoes rock, and haven't yet picked up a Quo album (even their cover albums "Don't Stop" and "Famous in the Last Century" are outstanding), "Heavy Traffic is the place to begin!

I first met Quo as a fledgling rock journalist during their first tour of the states in the early seventies, and have been an admirer ever since. Quo has become virtually the only rock and roll band I can listen to, ever since the sad demise of their contemporary, Humble Pie's Stevie Marriott in 1991. Since most of their albums are only available in the UK and in Europe, it has been one import after another. Here is hoping that not only will Quo come back to the states soon (their recent club concerts were all sell-outs!), but that Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Andrew Bown, John Rhino Edwards and Matt Letley will keep rocking again and again and again and again!

That might sound like I'm extending myself but I can't put into words what this album is other than it's the best!

I love all sorts of music and have always been a Quo fan, however, after hearing this album, I can honestly say that anyone that has never heard of Quo and yet listens to this one for the first time will be hooked! It's as simple as that.

Imagine yourself going back in time 25 years or so...listening to a release like this... that's pretty much what it's like.

No gimmicks, no studio tricks, no rap, hip-hop or dance influence here. If you like your music raw, catchy, foot-stompin, air-guitar playing and fast paced, this is one you'll love! Throw a sweatband on yer head while you listen to this one...you'll need it!

This is a straight ahead no-nonsense album from vets of 36 years that sound like they just started out and wanna be heard....and let me tell you...they will be heard!

A case in point is when I told my wife that I was going to see these guys in concert on March 5th, she thought I was crazy....until she heard the album... her exact words were, "boy, they sure have some great catchy music huh"?...and she likes Celine Dion!!! doh!![.]

You can take any song from this album and make a hit out of it...even the final track which is the only "slower" song is great, simply because of what Rossi and Parfit do for it.

Trust me...in a day and age when we are forced to listen to the stuff we have to on AM and FM radio, this is like a trip down memory lane.

My favourite songs from the album are...

Blues & Rhythm
All Stand Up
The Oriental
Creepin Up On You
Solid Gold
Green
Jam Side Down
Do It Again
Another Day
I Don't Remember Anymore
Rhythm of Life

there are 13 songs on the album and I really like the two I didn't mention.

Anybody looking to party and just feel darn good about what they listen to...GET THIS ONE!!![.]

Thank you Status Quo!![.]

Kim

Together for over 30 years ~ Status Quo sends rocking vibes through "Heavy Traffic", latest release from Hip-O Records. An even bakers dozen of tracks thirteen to exact. Opening track is a killer "BLUES & RHYTHM", unparalleled beat will grab you immediately which launched the band's super stardom all over the world more than three decades. And if you thought you'd never say never well listen to "ALL STAND UP (NEVER SAY NEVER)", cause we ain't giving it up, we're living it up.

Now the lineup is Francis Rossi (vocal/guitar), Rick Parfitt (vocals/guitar), Andy Bown (keyboards/guitars/harmonica/backup vocals), John "Rhino" Edwards (bass/guitar/backup vocal) and Matthew Letley (drums/percussion) set you on your ear with tunes like "I DON'T REMEMBER ANYMORE", old time Rock N' Roll, everybody do the Twist! We all know Austin Powers digs Burt Bacharach, but listen to "DIGGIN' BURT BACHARACH", some great guitar fingering takes this song to another level. If it's jammin' you long for "JAM SIDE DOWN", get your fingers crossed, cause we need America to get us through, great lyrics. Let's take up the blues genre with "GREEN", is a shear delight, non-stop Cajun' counter beat, gotta love it.

Total Time:52:32 on 13 Tracks ~ Hip-O/Universal 440-064-435-2 ~ (2/25/2003)

Having been a Quo fan since 1973 I have never understood why they have not taken off in the US.Well if you Americans like Rock and Roll then you must listen to this album cos this is R&R at its very best.From the first track Rhythem and Blues the toe tapping head banging music never stops.If you can keep still to All Stand Up,The Oriental,Creepin Up on You and Do it Again, to name but 4 then all I can say is that you must be dead or at least deaf.Buy it you wont regret it.

I can say that this is almost as good as their peak period from 70-85. This one just rocks and it does it in a fun manner with strong songs. If you enjoy status quo and good time rock and roll then you will enjoy this one.

Their isn't a bad song on here and it makes up for the 'famous in the last century' debacle. It is their strongest cd since 1982, that was 20 years earlier than this release, not that their wasn't some great songs in that twenty year period , most of their cds , were filled with lots of pop stuff , which is decent but not great quo.

although 1986's 'in the army now' is more slick rock and it's better. And 'rock til you drop' in 91 was more back to form and damn good too. But this one was a relief to quo fans and brought the band many new fans for it's slammin three chord boogie fun.