★★★★★
With all due respect to Dave Mason, whose Zelig-like appearances with Jimi Hendrix, George Harrison, Cass Elliot, Delaney & Bonnie, Fleetwood Mac and Steve Winwood/Traffic assures him at least footnote status in any history of 60s/70s rock, this hodgepodge of re-recorded hits and a few new tracks seems to exist only as "fresh" product to hawk at concerts...
- www.americansongwriter.com
2014-05-16
★★★★★
One-time Kim Fowley protégé, one-time Spencer Davis guitar tech, Dave Mason was a key and founding member of psych/pop/funk/soul/fusion legends, Traffic. The writer of many of the band's early classics, including the timeless and much-covered 'Feelin Alright?,' Mason was the first to leave due to the classic 'musical differences.' Moving to the U.S., his first solo album was one of the many recordings to come out of the Leon Russell/Delaney & Bonnie axis in 1969/1970...
- www.forcedexposure.com
2010-08-27
★★★★★
Sound: This album has a timeless quality to it, while at the same time, hearing it will remind you of why the '70s were so great. The band plays tightly, and you'll hear a variety of instruments used throughout the songs, all played impressively well. I honestly have never heard another album that has the exact same style as this, and I have heard a lot of music from that era. Dave Mason was at his prime when he recorded this after leaving Traffic and it shows...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2009-11-15
★★★★★
ABC has finally compiled a Dave Mason album as good as Alone Together by the simple expedient of omitting only the worst and longest of Alone Together's eight songs (two of which have now appeared on five of Mason's six ABC/Blue Thumb albums), adding the two live Traffic-originated tracks, and sticking on one from Headkeeper. Engaging throughout, especially compared to his Columbia stuff, and true to Mason's place in history...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Pretty hard to do a nine-song compilation on a guy who recorded only sixteen songs for you, especially when the eight best--not counting two live remakes of old hits--are already on one album. Valiantly, Blue Thumb has selected one tune from Dave Mason Is Alive and four from Headkeeper in addition to the four good ones from guess where. And I bet it'll fool some people.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
The playing is predictable, the discography incredible: one new song, five from Alone Together (one also available in yet another live version on Headkeeper), and one from the Traffic days (ditto). With love form Blue Thumb Records, or so they claim.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Q: Given ABC/Blue Thumb's limited options, how much can this best-of differ from last year's? A: Well, it replaces "Walk to the Point" with the title tune from Headkeeper. Q: Why?
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
I know, the real heavy in Traffic, great songwriter, poor Stevie is lost without him, Delaney & Bonnie on tour, rakka-rakka-rakka. I love "Feelin' Alright" myself. But I've never wondered for a second what it means, and only when the music is as elemental as "Feelin' Alright" can such questions be overlooked. I mean, songs have words. This is both complex and likable-to-catchy, with a unique light feel that begins with the way Mason doubles on acoustic and electric...
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
★★★★★
Once again Mason, whose music has all but disappeared amid corporate machinations over the past few years, can offer new material in finished studio versions, and I bet he's genuinely happy about it. The vague romantic dolor of his songs, after all, is a professional gimmick rather than a personal commitment, and the welcome-back-folks title probably expresses his very deepest feelings. But for me it's like I was never here in the first place.
- www.robertchristgau.com
2009-07-10
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