| Steve Winwood |  | Artist: Steve Winwood
Label: Universal Japan
Category: Music
Buy New: $50.98
New (9) Used (2) from $33.41
Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 642258
Format: Limited Edition, Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
EAN: 4988005532039
ASIN: B001EB5B1C
Release Date: October 22, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Hold On | | • | Time Is Running Out | | • | Midland Maniac | | • | Vacant Chair | | • | Luck's In | | • | Let Me Make Something in Your Life |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this 1977 album. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Universal. 2008.
Album Details
Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 Steve's first solo album May 28, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This was Steve's first after leaving Traffic, released in June 1977, and no one knew what to expect. However, when it was first released the thing that everybody noticed was that Jim Capaldi co wrote and played on the album along with Reebop and co produced by Chris Blackwell(all of Traffic fame). So it was more than a little surprising to find nothing sounding like Traffic. Hold On goes nowhere and Time Is Running Out is way to disco. However, what Steve Winwood album doesn't have something good to offer? On this one it's Midland Maniac and Let Me Make Something In Your Life but the rest doesn't really go anywhere.
 Bodene's reviews January 25, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This very early Steve Winwood project/ session record is a "Must have Classic". Several reasons: Stevie Winwood's approach to this album is Unique in character. It is Clearly Reflective of Stevie's Roots & Soul which are Purely "Rhythm & Blues" with Rock, Soul, Latin, Jazz & Mystic influences sprinkled in, so that Listening to This album in particular, & most of Winwood's musical Contributions are akin to being mesmerized into a Kaleidoscope of Sound that Speaks to your Soul. One cannot genuinely listen to this album, and not be Indelibly Etched for Life. It is the haunting melodies (which you hear long after the album), the Distinctive Winwood Voice that Echoes a Cry of Passion which lures you as flames of a crackling fire draws and keeps your attention, until the embers finally fade away, and you want More, so you listen to it again, and again. One Superb album of un-equalled talent.
 I Love This Record! October 2, 2006
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Maybe I'm nostalgic, but it's hard to have a poor album when your rhythm section includes Andy Newmark on drums and Willie Weeks on bass. These two session greats alone make this album worth listening to, not to mention innovative songs like "Luck's In" (check out the cool polyrhythmic groove and the jam). No, it's not Herbie Hancock's Headhunters, but for a "pop/soul" album it picks up a fair amount of steam. I've always liked Winwood's voice and keyboard playing. The hook to "Time is Running Out" is infectious. At least four of the six cuts on this record are way above average.
uninspired March 2, 2006
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
An off day in the studio for Steve Winwood is a once-in-a-lifetime triumph for many recording artists, but when piecing together his first 'solo' effort in 1977, Steve had a RUN of off days. Although Traffic had been disbanded, Steve was still composing with percussionist and singer Jim Capaldi, and Reebop Kwaku Baah was retained to play conga on two tracks. Yet the magic that had sustained his output since the mid-1960's had taken leave from Winwood, and the result is one of his weakest albums, certainly his weakest since forming Traffic with Dave Mason in 1966. Perhaps not ironically, the beach setting for the album's artwork hints at Winwood's reserved posture, as does the label he was recording for (Island Records), and even the title of one track, 'Vacant Chair', which paints an image representative of the substance lacking in these compositions.
If what you are seeking is some light jazz-rock, there is a wealth of it to be mined from this disc. At least three of the six tracks in the set are squarely in the center of this genre, sort of the Wonder White Bread of pop music in the mid-1970's. 'Hold On' is the opener, and perhaps the catchiest tune on the disc, which isn't saying much. Memorable melodies do not abound here. 'Time Is Running Out' gives 'Hold On' a run for its money, especially with a funk-groove coda reminicent of Marvin Gaye's 'Get It On', though much briefer. This coda possesses an appealing sound, even if the lyrical content is a bit cliche-ish ("...mother nature on the run, everybody's got a gun..."). 'Midland Maniac' is a mediocre piano ballad, although at times it does hint at the more lively sound Steve would employ on his follow-up album, the highly successful 'Arc Of a Diver'. 'Vacant Chair' is another piano-based pop tune, this one running seven minutes. It's saved by a unique and appealing chorus, chanted in a foreign tongue that may be African or Caribbean. The lyrics sound like "O-kun Nsu-kun No-ko". If that's a repeat of the verse just prior to or after it, it either means "My dearest friend till we meet again" or "The dead are weeping for the dead". Another jazz-rock piece, 'Luck's In' follows, a five minute excursion featuring complex tempo changes. The last tune, 'Let Me Make Something In Your Life', is an undistinguished love ballad. To make it even less distinguished, Winwood borrows directly from one of his last compositions with Traffic, '(Sometimes I Feel So) Uninspired' with "someone is laughing, while someone is crying". I guess Steve is trying to tell us something when he opens the song up with "Sometimes it's hard to express what you feel". I guess sometimes you just say what you've just said.
Steve Winwood's first solo LP is rather hard to come by, probably because few were produced or purchased, and now it's out of print, so you probably won't be getting it cheap. No matter what you pay, you won't be getting your money's worth. If you're a big Winwood fan (which I always thought of myself as, but not THIS big) I suppose it's a must for your collection. If you're not a big Winwood fan there are ten other Winwood discs you should give a listen to before this one. Certainly don't listen to this as your first exposure to Winwood's catalog, because you may not be inspired to buy another disc. Island Records did nothing to boost sales of this disc. There are no bonus tracks of studio out-takes or live versions, the cover has only a drawing of Steve, and the insert simply lists the performers and their instruments for each track. The songs are listed four, yes four times, but nowhere are running times offered. Skip this one and take a vacation from Steve's problem child.
 This first solo album and Arc of the Diver are his only good solo albums January 9, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I don't have much time, so I'll be back to add to this review, but just want to say that this one, plus ARC, are the only good solo albums that Mr.Winwood ever put out. This has some TRAFFIC like songs, so that's a plus, but I don't like his commercial, poppy sounding stuff from 1986 and later. About anything he did before 1981 is worth listening to. This isn't super great, but it's a very good effort for a first solo album, so I could definitely recommend this self titled album by Mr.Winwood.
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