Blues Traveler: Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler, the self-titled debut album from Blues Traveler, was released during the heart of the digital recording era on A&M Records in 1990. The album features Blues Traveler’s version of familiar jam structures and blues riffs that have been instrumental in building the jazz, rock and country genres.

The band focuses much of their music around the harmonica playing and vocals of gregarious band leader John Popper. Blues Traveler is a very tight band and exceptional musicians. Known over the years for their live shows, the band demonstrates their improvisational talents on their studio albums with melodic runs that certainly developed in the moment.

Blues Traveler was a commercial success and received well deserved positive reviews from critics. Never released on vinyl in the U.S., Brookvale Records partnered with A&M and Universal Music to do just that in 2015. Not only did Brookvale release Blues Traveler on vinyl, but they also released the band's first four albums on vinyl.

Overall, the record sounds good on vinyl. However, it does come across as compressed at times but the sounds stage is fairly dynamic given it was likely mastered using digital sources. As such, it seems sharp at times and lacking the depth and detail one might find from an audiophile jazz or blues record.

TRACK LIST
1. But Anyway
2. Gina
3. Mulling it Over
4. 100 Years
5. Dropping Some NYC
6. Crystal Flame
7. Slow Change
8. Warmer Days
9. Gotta Get Mean
10. Alone
11. Sweet talking Hippie

This is a nice record overall and certainly no slouch when it comes to performance. However, for the money this rare find on vinyl commands it is not worth the investment. Hopefully A&M will reissue each of the band's records mastered for vinyl in the near future and give us all a chance at owning a reasonably priced and well pressed and mastered copy.

A high resolution digital download sounds just as good, if not better. 💵

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