Status Quo - Heavy Traffic 3CD Deluxe (Album Review)
I’ll always have a soft spot for Status Quo. Admittedly this is based on a hazy memory of a March 1981 show on the ‘Never Too Late tour. In those days, the Quo were a British institution as the classic line-up of Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster and Coghlan were revered by fans and could be relied upon for no-nonsense hard rock of the highest order. It wasn’t overly complicated, but they had the songs; it was loud, it was sweaty, and that was good enough for me. Unfortunately, my love of all things Quo was brief as post ’82 Quo were a mere shadow of their former selves and had a string of pretty terrible records to prove it.
This string of less than satisfactory albums reached its nadir with ‘Famous In The Last Century’. This was one covers album too many for the majority of fans (or possibly not). The band readily admitted a rethink was required, and with songwriter Bob Young returning to the fold to help with the tunes, Quo were ready to give it another go. Listening to ‘Heavy Traffic’ twenty years on, the album certainly has its moments and marks the beginning of Quo’s resurgence as a recording band. The band had never lost its ability to sell concert tickets in the UK, Europe or even further afield, but you had the feeling the crowds were coming to hear the old tunes. Perhaps surprisingly, Rossi, Parfitt and co didn’t want to just play the hits and be branded a heritage act. It would have been the easy option as they already had forty years on the clock (Francis Rossi and original bassist Alan Lancaster formed their first band in 1962).
The album opens with ‘Blues & Rhythm’ an infectious, feel-good, typically Quo tune that gets things off to a positive start. Unfortunately, three songs in and ‘The Oriental’ almost derails the entire record. A frankly embarrassing stomp that is supposedly amusing but, shall we say, seems misguided at best (and I’m being very polite here). After this massive misstep, things get back on track with ‘Creepin’ Up On You' (the only Rick Parfitt songwriting credit on the album) and the full-blown, heads down, pure Quoness of ‘Solid Gold’. At fourteen tracks, 'Heavy Traffic' is probably a couple of songs too long, but left turns like the acoustic-based ‘Green’, penned by Andy Bown, and the brooding closer ‘Rhythm of Life’ keep things interesting. For Quo fans struggling to survive on a diet of live albums, compilations and terrible covers for a decade, ‘Heavy Traffic’ must have been the best thing since denim was invented.
Disc two is an odds and sods mix of B-sides, demos and the beginning of a live show from the Heavy Traffic tour at the Heitere Festival, 10th August 2003, that concludes on disc three of this set. Highlights include the oddly enjoyable ‘The Madness’, which seems to be two songs in one; equal parts straight-ahead boogie meets catchy pop with loads of ooh, ooh vocals on the chorus. Another B-side, ‘You Let Me Down’, all clanky piano and swirling organ, is a little bit odd and with an instrumental coda randomly tacked on the end, rather too long. Of the three demo tracks, I might even prefer the stripped-back ‘Solid Gold’ sans harmonica to the album version, while the acoustic-driven ‘Let’s Start Again’ is a fun oddity. ‘All Stand Up’ completes the demo trilogy but doesn’t offer anything new and is over a minute shorter than the finished track.. The live show takes a song or two to settle down soundwise (those splashy cymbals on ‘Caroline’ will loosen your fillings) as the vocals are lost initially, but these are minor quibbles and things soon settle down. Obviously happy with ‘Heavy Traffic’ Quo plough through four songs from the album in a row mid-set with ‘Solid Gold’ and ‘Creepin’ Up On You’ especially, sounding right at home alongside the old favourites.
I've a feeling this deluxe set, which clocks in just shy of three hours, will find a place in the collections of many a Quo fan.
Status Quo - Heavy Traffic Deluxe Edition is released on September 30th 2022 via UMC.
Sons Of Liberty are a bunch of old-school rockers who, somewhat surprisingly, hail from Bristol in the UK but are steeped in the harder-edged Southern rock rooted in the Southern states of the USA that came to prominence in the late 70s. The quintet made their recording debut in 2018 with a brace of EPs, ‘...Shinola’ followed by ‘Aged in Oak’. 'The Detail Is In The Devil' is their third full-length release and first with new singer Russ Grimmett.