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Steve Winwood - Junction Seven Audio CD

A fair review of the Steve Winwood "Junction Seven" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Steve Winwood reviews here, or go back to the Steve Winwood tabs.

Steve Winwood Band: Steve Winwood
Title: Junction Seven
Rating:
Release Date: 1997-06-03
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Spy in the House of Love 2: Angel of Mercy 3: Just Wanna Have Some Fun 4: Let Your Love Come Down 5: Real Love 6: Fill Me Up 7: Gotta Get Back to My Baby 8: Someone Like You 9: Family Affair 10: Plenty Lovin' 11: Lord of the Street

Not Winwood's best, but not as bad as some make it out to be
But it's not terrible either, and it's definitely better than most of today's pop music. This certainly isn't Steve Winwood's best album, not by a long way.

It does have some genuinely nice songs on it. "Angel Of Mercy" and "Real Love" are nice ballads. I like them both, even though I usually don't care for such songs. "Lord Of The Street" is a pretty good song and it's the one song on here that comes closest to being like Winwood's earlier work back in the mid to late Eighties. And "Plenty Lovin' ". . . wow. Des'ree's vocals really make this song stand out! It's got kind of a smooth jazz sound and it's one of my favorites here. Other songs on the album are merely okay. "Let Your Love Come Down" would be better if it didn't have the distorted backing vocals. This was tried on a much earlier Winwood tune, "Big Girls Walk Away", from his "Talking Back To The Night" album of the early Eighties. On that song, it sort of worked; on this one, not so much.

Upon my first listen to this album, I was disappointed. I could've given up right then, but I listened some more and it eventually grew on me. If you listen with an open mind, you'll recognize it for what it is: an okay pop album by Steve Winwood, rather than a spectacular one. It was something different for him. Sometimes a musician tries something different and the result is a disastrous, unlistenable album. Fortunately, this one turned out better than that.


A Soulful Winwood
When I got the CD I bought it for Plenty Lovin and at first wasn't really impressed with the other tracks. When Steve Winwood remarked he was returning to his R&B roots on Junction Seven he came close on many of the tracks. The more you listen to the CD however you begin to realize that there are some great songs that many people have wrote off as some of Winwood's less impressive work. Spy in the House is a fabulous dance song, Angel of Mercy will take you to church and back, Let Your Love Come Down is pure funk fantasy, Real Love is melodic and haunting and Winwood then turns the heat up with a sassy Latin percussion and full horn section on Fill me up. The CD is almost ten years old and it's one of my favorites that seems as fresh today as it was when it first came out. Steve has won a new cadre of fans in Steppers and skaters as both Plenty Lovin and one of his earlier songs Can I Touch You There are now standards at stepper's sets and in the roller rinks. Give this CD a listen. You too will find it draws you in, catches hold of your soul and won't let you go.


You Will Have Some Fun



When I mean extremly danceable I mean If you listen to the entire album and not feel like you want to dance then there is something wrong with you . I had purchased this used at a record store nearby I had expected something horrible out of this CD from the reviews I had read but I was incorrect this CD is packed with surprises

Winwood collaborates with 3 people in this
Songwriter Narada Michael Walden + Steve's long time friend Jim Capaldi + Steve's Wife Euginia Winwood

This has a mixture of extremely danceable songs + Winwood's nice calming blue eyed soul pop we all know.


I do recommend you buy this album if you are new to Steve Winwood or if you are a long time listener
.


SADLY OVERLOOKED
I didn't dig this recording for some time after I got it, I must admit. It is ashame when someone of Winwood's talent goes out on a creative limb and get eviscerated for it. But about two or three years after I picked this CD up, I actually listened to it and found such fully realized funk and soul brought together by some very talented people!! All I can say is give it another non-judgemental listen. I actually think that this recording is less 'pop' sounding that his more successful solo releases such as Roll With It & Back In The High Life.

My faves are SPY IN THE HOUSE. . . , JUST WANNA HAVE SOME FUN, LET YOUR LOVE COME DOWN (What a soulman!! And the backing vocals work for me!!), FILL ME UP, GOTTA GET BACK TO MY BABY, FAMILY AFFAIR (nice version)& PLENTY LOVE feat. Desiree (I believe this was the only single/minor hit from this CD). Why do artists have to constantly repeat themselves to be honored by fans of no imagination? And when they DO repeat themselves, these same fans tend to complain "been there, done that". I don't get it.

Give this one another try!!!.


Excellent Winwood that just fell through the cracks

Some of Winwood's stuff falls between the rock&roll, r&b, and jazz format lines and never gets picked up. While I am a big Winwood fan, I'm not above pointing out his less than stellar work, such as Refugees of the Heart, but this is definately not one of them. This album has a lot of those type of songs, so it never took off and was even considered a "failure" by some chart-orientated critics. But there are a lot of excellent songs and no duds. You really need to listen to the album as a whole as it is not a "singles" album. After a couple listens, you'll love it. In fact, I was just downloading songs from all my Winwood CDs for my . mp3 collection and I actually took more songs off this album than any other, it's that consistent and album-like.

If you want a Winwood fan album comparison, it's better than Roll With It, Refugees, and his debut but not as good as Arc, Back in the High Life, or Talking Back.


You can see a complete list of all Steve Winwood discography, or go back to the Steve Winwood tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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