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Steve Winwood to play the Scala

2008-04-28T01:02:00.000-07:00

Following three sold out nights with Eric Clapton at New York’s Madison Square Gardens, Steve Winwood has announced a special one off gig at The Scala in London on May 19th.

Steve Winwood a hugely accomplished musician and one of the most respected and innovative performers of his generation is back with an eagerly anticipated new album, 'NINE LIVES’,

Backed by his incredible band, 2008 is shaping up to be a busy year on the road for Steve who has also confirmed he will be joining Tom Petty for a three month run of shows in the US this summer.

Tickets go on sale now below:

Monday 19th May 2008
The Scala, London, UK
Ticket price: £25

Steve Winwood Nine Lives

2008-04-28T00:59:00.000-07:00

Nine Lives expands on all the many phases and turns of Steve Winwood's lustrous career, bristling with his pure joy of music-making. The new songs range from the inspiring "Fly" to the burning "Dirty City" (featuring a guest appearance by long-time friend Eric Clapton) to the simmering "Hungry Man", joining a canon that spans more than forty years to include some of the most beloved songs of modern pop and rock.

Steve Winwood - Chronicles

2008-04-28T00:55:00.000-07:00

"Chronicles" is not an album in the purest sense, but rather an anthology of songs from some Steve Winwood's better solo albums. While Winwood's name may not be well known to everyone, his music, without a doubt, is. After earning his stripes with such notable groups as The Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith (with Eric Clapton), and, most notably, Traffic, Winwood branched out into a solo career and found enormous success in that arena. "Chronicles" is the perfect sampler for people who may not be sure they know Steve Winwood or only know a couple of songs. It takes a cross-section of his best tracks from a number of his solo albums and puts them together in this fine listening experience.

Out of the 10 tracks, there are only two songs that don't really impress me: "Arc of a Diver" and "Spanish Dancer". Their musical stylings don't really support the soaring, fast-paced theme of this album. Beyond those, there are four minor hits with "Vacant Chair, "Help Me Angel", "My Love's Leaving", and "Talking back to the Night". All have their good musical moments and fit well in this album.

From there, you get the major hits from Steve Winwood. The most underrated one is "Wake Me Up on Judgment", which tells the story of man who has lived a hard life and tells his tale of just waiting until Judgment Day when he believes he will feel glory again. "Higher Love" is one of Winwood's bigger hits with self-explanatory meaning and the unmistakable beat of the drums at the song's start.

The true stellar tracks on this album are "While You See a Chance" and "Valerie". "While You See a Chance" begins almost like a church hymn and then transitions fast-paced parable about making the most of the opportunities that life gives you. "Valerie" is just an unbelievably amazing song. From the opening drum beats combined with the synthesizer tunes, this song simply soars and seems to completely surround and embrace the listener. Electric guitar and horns, in addition to the drums and synthesizer, are what power this heartfelt remembrance of a former love and plea for it to return. The saxophone interlude just prior the final verse is one of finest selections of music I have ever heard.

The lack of "The Finer Things" and "Back in the High Life" and the inclusion of the two underwhelming tracks I mentioned earlier are the only things costing this album a 5-star rating. But, beyond that, if this album doesn't make you a Steve Winwood fan, nothing will. Chances are, though, that if you do listen this and have never heard him before, you will fall in love with his music. If you're a long time fan, you greatly appreciate this anthology of his best solo efforts. It's truly amazing.

Dear Mr. Fantasy Featuring the Music of Jim Capaldi and Traffic

2008-04-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

If you enjoyed the group Traffic this is a must CD to purchase Jim Capaldi was a genius.

Even many Traffic fans probably aren't familiar with the extensive solo career of the band's cofounder Jim Capaldi. Therefore, this multi-artist, live tribute to the late singer/songwriter/drummer (also available on DVD), recorded in January 2007 in London, will be a revelation to many who only know his work in conjunction with Steve Winwood. About half of these 20 songs are selections from the late Capaldi's many solo releases, several of them relatively obscure. An all-star ensemble led by Winwood, Paul Weller, Joe Walsh, and Pete Townsend give the Traffic/Capaldi catalog a spin with impressive results. Although bandmate Dave Mason is conspicuous by his absence, the cast also features Bad Company's Simon Kirke, blues rocker Gary Moore, longtime Deep Purple keyboardist Jon Lord, and Capaldi's brother Phil, all interpreting tunes Capaldi wrote or co-wrote. Aside from the Traffic material, he was best known for ballads such as the lovely "Lost Inside Your Love" (gracefully performed here by singer Stevie Lange) and the Eagles hit "Love Will Keep Us Alive," which closes the program on a melancholy note. Yet it's his bluesy midtempo rockers like "Whale Meat Again" (urged on by Kirke), "Pearly Queen" (Weller), and "Gifts of Unknown Things" (Phil Capaldi sounding eerily like his brother) that resonate with the greatest intensity. Yusuf Islam (a.k.a. Cat Stevens) makes a rare appearance (gliding into his "Wild World" during "Man with No Country"), and Pete Townshend also turns in an impassioned performance on this obviously heartfelt tribute to a sadly overlooked talent.

Steve Winwood - Junction Seven

2008-04-28T00:52:00.000-07:00

I disagreee strongly with most of the reviews I have read on here about this CD and i really don't understand. I first heard Steve on record on AM radio back in the 60's doing the hit song "Gimme Some Lovin" with the Spencer Davis Group and to this day I am impressed with that performance. Steve has dabbled in various musical styles and groups during his colorful career, but i think he's at this best when he's singing and playing an R@B/blues type of combination music. In other words.....he's great when he gets funky........and he gets funky on this
release in spades. To me it's the best he's ever sounded and played. "Spy in the House of Love" is an instant classic featuring steve on some very tasteful blues guitar licks. And
if "Just Wanna have Some Fun" and if "Fill Me Up" don't get your toes to tapping then you better check to make sure you're still
alive. It's true that there are no 15 minute spaced out jams on
here for those who want to get stoned and slobber all over their
love beads.....but I like it like that. I play this often in my
regular room in Yahoo voice chat and everybody loves it.....so
it's not just me. The production is clear and perfect contray to
what i read on here. I saw him do "Spy in the House of Love" on the Letterman TV show and was so impressed that I immediately bought the CD and wasn't disappointed....to say the least! You won't be either!

Steve Winwood Refugees of the Heart

2008-04-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

Steve Winwood had a period of 3 years from 1986 to 1988 where he was on top of the world. He had three very commercially successful albums in "Back in the High Life", "Chronicles", and "Roll With It". As with most artists who cross-over into pop, its often very difficult to have 3 to 4 successful albums commercially. Thus when Refugees of the Heart (ROTH) came out, it hit the wall in terms of commercial sales.

When you listen to this album, there are three noticable differences with this album:

1. This is not the up-tempo Stevie Winwood we heard during the three year period I mentioned. It's a more mellow collection of songs. If you've heard "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" from "Roll With It" (and the beer commercials), that's the trend of the sound this album takes.
2. [...] there is an infusion of progressive rock and jazz on this album. Almost more of "Back to the Future" Traffic days.
3. Steve Winwood shows us a lot of his spirtual side. While I don't think this is a "Christian Rock" album, Winwood emphasises a lot of spirtuality that he had previously not seen. I'm surprised that more was not made to this. When Creed put out their albums, they made a big deal about it.

The result is a masterpiece. When ROTH came out, I thought for sure it was a Sure Winner for the Grammy. I was shocked to see it didn't even garner any attention. The disappointing commercial sales didn't surprise me. This was not a POP album and I didn't not expect it to be on the Top 40 stations all that much.

As for the Songs - I feel they are all incredible. A quick synopsis:
1.You'll Keep on Searching: Immediately on this opening track, I heard the differences above. The music reminds you of "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?" even though this is not a sequel.
2.Every Day (Oh Lord): This is the second song on the album and the first where we hear Winwood express references to his faith in the song. It is one of the faster tempo songs on the album and is very catchy.
3.One and Only Man: This was the only song from ROTH to make the Top 40. In this song, Steve explores a relationship - a lot of trademark Winwood vocals in here.
4.I Will Be Here: A very powerful ballad. This song grips at you emotionally as you play the track.
5.Another Deal Goes Down: This song is loaded with symbolism. Listen to it and check out the words. Spirtuality is a big theme in this song as he discusses the temptation of the Devil.
6.Running On: This song is another classic. More of a higher tempo than most ROTH songs. He makes the reference to Memphis, which is his new home.
7.Come Out and Dance: This might not be the most catchy song on the album, but there are some great lyrics to the song. I particularly like the lines "Now baby, don't read the papers, 'cause they always make you sad And honey, don't watch the TV 'cause the news is always bad" and "If we got everyone dancing, wouldn't be no time for war". Clearly Winwood tells us his feelings on this topic.
8.In the Light of Day: This is the signature song of the album. Nearly 9 minutes of great lyrics and great instrumentation. It is the deepest song of the album. Winwood has the strongest references to his spirtuality on the album. The song builds to a crescendo both lyrically and musically. It is my favorite Winwood song of all time.

This is an album I highly recommend if you are a Winwood fan looking to hear a new direction - or someone who hasn't heard Steve Winwood and is looking for something different.

Steve Winwood Talking Back to the Night

2008-04-28T00:50:00.000-07:00

Steve Winwood's third solo album, "Talking Back To The Night", was originally released in August of 1982, and it's quite similar to its predecessor "Arc of a Diver". Nicole Winwood did sing background vocals on a couple tracks, but otherwise, like "Arc...", there's no one else involved in making the album--Steve played, produced, and engineered the album entirely by himself.

"Talking Back To The Night" really does sound like a one-man-band album--it seems quite obvious that for most of the songs, if not all of them, Steve laid down drum machine parts first so he had a foundation to build the rest of the song upon. It's telling that in his liner notes he gives special thanks to Linn Electronics Inc, known for bringing drum machines into prominence in the early '80s. Now, I really don't have any problem with drum machines the way some people do--I think they can work to terrific effect when used properly and in the right context.

However, take for instance the album-opener "Valerie". It's a really beautfully melodic, wonderfully wistful song. But it could have been considerably more effective. The drum machine rhythm is bare bones and straight-down-the-middle, with no fills or 'cymbals' whatsoever; plus the starkness of the overall arrangement is a little thin, and in the end the song just has too much of an "unfinished demo" feel to it.

Steve goes really heavy on the synthesizers here, and it tends to be problematic. Yes, occasionally the album is terrific--"Help Me Angel" is an irresistibly catchy feel-good tune with a great crunchy synth sound that helps the song's fun riffs really take off; and the arresting, atmospheric title track is a haunting song about drug addiction--stylistically, it resembles "Night Train" from his previous album, but it's edgier & far superior. However, the synths are really dreary and headache inducing at times, as on the album-closing ballad "There's A River". "Valerie", "Help Me Angel", & the title track all appear in 'updated' versions on the "Chronicles" compilation CD from 1987, & that's rather interesting because they are easily the three best songs on this album.

That leads to what is really the album's main failing in the end: the songwriting. Every song here was written by Steve Winwood & Will Jennings--I assume Winwood wrote all the music, and that Jennings was primarily, if not entirely, responsible for the lyrics, and a couple songs are weighed down by really lame lyrics--the ballad "And I Go" is quite an embarassing song about making love; and "It Was Happiness" has really cheesy 'passage of time' romance lyrics. "Still in the Game" is a decent tune, but both it and "It Was Happiness" are exhaustingly long-winded, as if Steve was straining to build a song around Jennings' lyrics.

Steve Winwood Classic

2008-04-28T00:49:00.000-07:00

2002 compilation (Universal Masters Collection) featuring 14 digitally remastered tracks, 'Gimme Some Lovin'', 'Keep On Running', 'I'm A Man', 'Paper Sun', 'Dear Mr. Fantasy', 'Pearly Queen', 'Forty Thousand Headman', 'Had To Cry Today', 'Can't Find My Way Home', 'John Barleycorn (Must Die)', 'Empty Pages', 'The Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys', 'Medicated Goo' & 'Sea Of Joy'.

I can't believe no one else has written a review on this yet. I also can't believe that some people don't even realize that he was in these 3 different groups. Some people just know him for his solo work afterwards, which is sad because the stuff he did with the groups is just as good, if not better. Steve Winwood has a lot of other good songs besides "Higher Love," "Back In The High Life," "The Finer Things," "Roll With It," etc. Songs like "Gimme Some Lovin'," "Can't Find My Way Home," "Low Spark of High-Heeled Boys," and "Sea of Joy" are every bit as good as his solo hits.

This compilation is kind of set up the sameway as Eric Clapton's "The Cream of Clapton," except none of his solo songs are included on this. Like "The Cream of Clapton" has the best of Cream, Derek and the Dominos, and a Blind Faith song, "Classic Steve Winwood" has the best of The Spencer Davis Group, Traffic, and three other Blind Faith Songs. Although the two CD's are set up the same way, you can't really compare the music to each other because Steve Winwood does ethnic rock and Eric Clapton does blues rock.

Every single song on this collection is great and I highly recommend this one. The 20th Century Masters CD has the same songs on it, but it's missing three really good ones that are found on here. If you buy this CD along with "Back In The High Life," you'll have all the Steve Winwood you'll ever need.

Steve Winwood The Finer Things

2008-04-28T00:48:00.000-07:00

Steve Winwood's 3 CD The Finer Things kind of runs out of gas somewhere around the two-hour mark, but, hey, that's inevitable: The guy got way too popular for his own good. The best stuff here is the drug-addled early Traffic stuff, though one wishes they'd have found a spot for the live versions of "Dear Mr. Fantasy" and "Gimme Some Lovin'" from the poorly-recorded but quite inspired Welcome to the Canteen.

This 4CD, 63 song set provides extremely thorough coverage of Steve Winwood's career from the early 1960s up to his last Island Records album in 1986, including numerous tracks from his work in such memorable bands as the Spencer Davis Group, Traffic and Blind Faith, as well as his later solo recordings. Significant chunks are included from virtually all his Island albums, together with a small taster from his first two Virgin Records albums in 1988 and 1990.

Inevitably there are one or two other favourite tracks which one might feel merited inclusion, but this is undoubtedly a very effective career retrospective, with the principal emphasis being on the Traffic years. The collection does not purport to give thorough coverage of Winwood's solo work (although more than a quarter of the music is from his solo albums), and at present no comprehensive compilation from 1977 onwards is available, largely due to his change of record labels.

This is such a detailed account of Winwood's recordings that it is likely to be of interest only to dedicated fans, but for these it will be a real treat. As well as the superb music there is a beautifully illustrated book with a detailed account of Steve's career and full musician credits for each track. Highly recommended.

Steve Winwood Steve Winwood

2008-04-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

Japanese limited edition issue of the album classic in a deluxe, miniaturized LP sleeve replica of the original vinyl album artwork. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Unfairly overlooked by many of his fans, Steve Winwood's self-titled debut solo album from 1977 is a wonderful smooth-groover, filled with melodic songs and excellent musical chops. If some of the album sounds like Winwood's old band Traffic, it's because four of the six songs were co-written by Winwood's partner in Traffic, drummer Jim Capaldi, and Traffic percussionist Rebop Kwaku-Baah also plays on a couple of tracks. But hey, I'm certainly not complaining! "Hold On" is a catchy, Steely Dan-esque number, and "Time Is Running Out," featuring Capaldi & Kwaku-Baah, is a punchy pop-rocker that wouldn't have sounded out of place on a Traffic album. "Midland Maniac," on which Winwood plays all the instruments, is a lovely piano-popper, as is "Vacant Chair." "Luck's In" is a smokin' tune, with a killer, Traffic-esque jam at the end. And "Let Me Make Something In Your Life" is a perfect ballad. Although it would take Steve Winwood one more album to truly establish himself as a solo artist, which he did with his 1980 hit release "Arc Of A Diver," his self-titled solo debut is a truly excellent album, and I sincerely hope that more of Steve's fans will check it out. I guarantee you'll like it.

Steve Winwood - Refugees of the Heart

2008-04-28T00:46:00.001-07:00

Steve Winwood - Back in the High Life

2008-04-28T00:44:00.000-07:00

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Steve Winwood was indeed enjoying the high life after the release of this album in 1986. Back in the High Life is one of the best albums of that musically rich decade, providing Winwood with four huge hit singles. Winwood almost became too popular as a result of these songs; the radio played Higher Love, The Finer Things, Freedom Overspill, and Back in the High Life Again so often that even I eventually began to grow tired of them. As a result, I can say that I enjoy this album even more today than I did at the time of its initial release. Winwood's distinctive, laid-back music never goes out of style, and it soothes the soul while touching the heart with some quite emotional, really meaningful lyrics. I'm afraid I can't really describe the music; all I can say is that it combines drums, guitars, and horns in a way that is all its own.

While the album is remembered primarily for commercial successes such as Higher Love (featuring memorable backup vocals by Chaka Kahn) and Back in the High Life Again (featuring harmony vocals by James Taylor), it features eight songs of incredible quality. I might note that each track exceeds five minutes in length, so this album is not as short as it may appear. Take It As It Comes had real hit potential in my opinion. Wake Me Up on Judgment Day doesn't seem that memorable yet plays itself over and over in your mind after you hear it. Split Decision features some great guitar riffs, proving that Winwood can get down and rock a little when he wants to. The final track, My Love's Leavin', may well be the best song on the album, communicating both loss and hope in a way few artists can equal. You would be hard pressed to find a more impressive album from top to bottom than Steve Winwood's Back in the High Life.

Steve Winwood About Time

2008-04-28T00:43:00.000-07:00

2004 reissue of 2003 album, featuring 11 tracks, includes a bonus disc with three extra tracks totaling almost 30 minutes of music, 'Dear Mr. Fantasy' (Live), 'Why Can't We Live Together' (Live), & a fourteen minute plus version of Jimi Hendrix's 'Voodoo Chile'. Sanctuary.

Check for yourself the reviews for the original 2003 release of About Time, and you'll see they are about 95% thumbs way up. This work was legitimately among the best to hit the shelves that year. One reviewer nailed it by saying "this cd is consistent all the way through its 11 tracks without one bomb". Considering how rare it is you can honestly say such a thing about a 70 minute CD, it probably qualifies for a "Best of the Decade" list.

If songs like Cigano, Phoenix Rising, and Silvia proved that Steve Winwood could still turn heads in the rock world, the additional tracks on the 2004 release of About Time may have dropped some jaws all the way to the floor. "Dear Mr. Fantasy" was a smoking hot blues-rocker when Winwood first did it as a member of Traffic, and I didn't think it would be possible to top that version, but this well-recorded live rendition may have done just that. I'm not sure if the import "Box Set" has updated liner notes for the extra CD (the "Expanded Edition" available from stevewinwood.com apparently did not revise the notes), but I believe that Mr. Fantasy is the only tune where Winwood lights it up on electric guitar. He sticks to burning up the Hammond B-3 on all the others.

A beautiful change of pace comes with a concert performance of the Latin-influenced "Why Can't We Live Together", where Winwood seems to be really getting into the soulful vocals. Again, the recording quality for this live show was excellent. As the song finishes and the next one begins, you soon realize that the fire started by these musicians during Mr. Fantasy is about to burn down the house in the form of "Voodoo Chile", an equally incredible blues-rock sizzler done in the studio.

Of course, Winwood handled the keyboards in the Jimi Hendrix original. (Most if not all of the founding Traffic members worked some with the great guitarist - Mason & Wood are also credited on Electric Ladyland, and evidently were part of his band on occasion during recorded concerts.) For all you voodoo lovers out there, don't get mad and pull out the pins and dolls, but if you ask me, Voodoo Chile has some strange lyrics to it. Winwood does a convincing job with the words, yet it is the heat generating interaction between the great organist and his inspired bandmates on guitar and drums (Neto & Reyes, I assume) that make this a worthy tribute to the legendary Fire. The intensity, combined with the level of instrumental skill, is beyond what most rock acts today can compete with.

Steve Winwood Back in the High Life

2008-04-28T00:42:00.000-07:00

Steve Winwood was indeed enjoying the high life after the release of this album in 1986. Back in the High Life is one of the best albums of that musically rich decade, providing Winwood with four huge hit singles. Winwood almost became too popular as a result of these songs; the radio played Higher Love, The Finer Things, Freedom Overspill, and Back in the High Life Again so often that even I eventually began to grow tired of them. As a result, I can say that I enjoy this album even more today than I did at the time of its initial release. Winwood's distinctive, laid-back music never goes out of style, and it soothes the soul while touching the heart with some quite emotional, really meaningful lyrics. I'm afraid I can't really describe the music; all I can say is that it combines drums, guitars, and horns in a way that is all its own.

While the album is remembered primarily for commercial successes such as Higher Love (featuring memorable backup vocals by Chaka Kahn) and Back in the High Life Again (featuring harmony vocals by James Taylor), it features eight songs of incredible quality. I might note that each track exceeds five minutes in length, so this album is not as short as it may appear. Take It As It Comes had real hit potential in my opinion. Wake Me Up on Judgment Day doesn't seem that memorable yet plays itself over and over in your mind after you hear it. Split Decision features some great guitar riffs, proving that Winwood can get down and rock a little when he wants to. The final track, My Love's Leavin', may well be the best song on the album, communicating both loss and hope in a way few artists can equal. You would be hard pressed to find a more impressive album from top to bottom than Steve Winwood's Back in the High Life.

Steve Winwood - Winwood

2008-04-28T00:40:00.000-07:00

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

1. Keep on Running
2. Somebody Help Me
3. Goodbye Stevie
4. Crossroads
5. Gimme Some Lovin'
6. I'm a Man
7. Can't Get Enough of It
8. Stevie's Blues
9. Paper Sun
10. Heaven Is in Your Mind
11. Coloured Rain
12. Dear Mr. Fantasy
13. Smiling Phases
14. Dealer
15. Medicated Goo
16. Forty Thousand Headmen
17. Vagabond Virgin
18. Sea of Joy
19. Empty Pages
20. Stranger to Himself