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Vulcan | 
| Artist: Chris Wood
Label: Esoteric
Category: Music
List Price: £13.99
Buy New: £9.38
You Save: £4.61 (33%)
New (11) Used (2) from £7.99
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 11683
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
EAN: 5013929717923
ASIN: B001F9WIB4
Release Date: November 10, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 9 to 11 days
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| Tracks:
| • | Moonchild Vulcan | | • | See No Man Girl | | • | Letter One | | • | Indian Monsoon | | • | Barbed Wire | | • | Birth In A Day | | • | Sullen Moon | | • | Barbed Wire (1) | | • | Wood's Bolero (Moonchild Vulcan) - Wood, Chris & Traffic |
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| Customer Reviews:
 Historically significant November 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
First, let's get one thing straight: This is not really an unreleased solo album by former Traffic member Chris Wood. Rather, this is a collection of material that Wood (who died in 1983 at age 39) recorded in the process of *trying* to make a solo album. And while some of this material would certainly have appeared on such an album had it been made, said album never came close to being finished.
Wood managed to have too much, and yet not enough, material for his proposed album -- too much, because all his potential song ideas wouldn't have fit on one LP; not enough, because few of the songs could really be said to have been finished. He himself never seems to have been sure just what pieces he would have included.
This disc doesn't include all the material that Wood worked on for his proposed album. Tapes have been floating around for years that include at least a few other songs besides those heard here. Not having heard the missing tracks, I have to assume they were of poor recording and/or performance quality (probably mostly the latter) and thus deemed unfit for release. But the eight tracks remaining (not counting a bonus track of Traffic performing one of Wood's songs live in '74) still add up to a good 49 minutes, and with one minor exception ("Sullen Moon") all are presented here with quite good sound quality.
(BTW, the CD package doesn't tell you this, but the Traffic performance features a transitional 5-man lineup from whom no other recordings have been released -- namely, the WHEN THE EAGLE FLIES lineup plus the soon-to-be-dismissed "Reebop" Kwaku Baah. This version of the band can be seen in the photo on the back cover of the SMILING PHASES compilation.)
Unlike the other original Traffic members, saxophonist/flautist Wood was not a singer or songwriter. He doesn't even really seem to have been much of a composer, as his compositions here come off as rather insubstantial, giving the impression that the one song he placed on a Traffic album ("Tragic Magic") was something of a fluke. Some tracks here have him merely soloing over what seem to be someone else's chords, and on one (the overlong "See No Man Girl") he's basically just put himself in the middle of an organized jam/song by other musicians.
All that is not to say that this disc is a disappointment; far from it. Though not particularly structured, all the pieces here are enjoyable to any Traffic fan who likes that band's loose, jazzy side. (All the pieces here, BTW, are 100% jazz; this is no "rock" album at all.) And for any dedicated Traffic fan, especially those with a fondness for Wood's contributions, this is a must-have for its historical significance alone. I'm sure it won't be widely bought, and may be hard to find before long -- though, had Wood actually released a jazz album in the punk/disco era as originally planned, it probably would have been impossibly obscure by now anyway.
 Quiet man of Traffic November 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Long overdue release in every sense! Almost legendary unreleased album by sax/flute player from Traffic was in limited circulation among collectors, although never in this quality. Truly great instrumentals and jams reflected Chris Wood's role in the arrangements of Traffic songs. I only wonder how come the collector's version in circulation consisted of four more songs (Song For Pete, Tone Blind - Rhythm Deaf, Jam In Butter and Tragic Magic) plus two more versions of Letter One. Why these tracks were ommited? Nevertheless, don't miss the great legacy of the great musician.
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