WHEN THE EAGLE FLIES

	When The Eagle Flies
	Produced by Chris Blackwell and Traffic
	Released on September 1974
	UK CHART POSITION #31 . . . US CHART POSITION #9 . . . GOLD RECORD (11/5/74)
	Find it at GEMM
7E-1020 cover [high resolution photo]

A listless turkey by any other name. For truth in advertising, look to the colorless cover. Clearly the band had tired of being in Traffic, and When The Eagle Flies is a wilting affair missing the energy and interplay of classics like Low Spark. Steve Winwood mumbles his way through “Love” and “Something New,” the band’s arrangements blowing through these thin compositions like a dry desert wind. I’ve flown with Eagle about a dozen times, and it’s not a completely thankless journey. “Dream Gerrard,” cowritten with the Bonzo Dog Band’s Viv Stanshall, is mildly mesmerizing; “Walking in the Wind” isn’t bad either. But most of the album lacks focus, dissipating into the aether without any sign of resistance. The title track, for example, might be the most apathetic treatment of the apocalypse I’ve ever heard. You can hear some interesting things going on in the music, vaguely jazzy sections and even a Mellotron, though the anemic band chemistry this time is hardly a catalyst for great things. Even fans of Traffic are likely to get frustrated with this sluggish performance, and you may want to pursue the solo work of Winwood and Jim Capaldi prior to plunking down ten bucks on a lame bird like this. Of course, I didn’t get much out of Last Exit or Welcome to the Canteen either. Not that I begrudge Traffic the money (assuming they still collect royalties on this record), but your time should be valuable, and When The Eagle Flies will waste too much of it searching for something that isn’t there.


7E-1020 back cover	7E-1020 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

SOMETHING NEW 3:15
DREAM GERRARD (Steve Winwood/Viv Stanshall) 11:03
GRAVEYARD PEOPLE 6:05
WALKING IN THE WIND 6:48
MEMORIES OF A ROCK N' ROLLA 4:50
LOVE 3:20
WHEN THE EAGLE FLIES 4:24

All songs written by Steve Winwood/Jim Capaldi unless noted

CREDITS

JIM CAPALDI --
ROSKO GEE --
STEVE WINWOOD --
CHRIS WOOD --
Brian Humphries -- engineer
Nobby -- engineer
Martin Hughes -- sleeve design

return to TRAFFIC discography

REGION	RELEASE DATE	LABEL	MEDIA	ID NUMBER	FEATURES
UK	September 1974	Island	LP	ILPS 9273	lyric sleeve
US	September 1974	Island	LP/8T	7E-1020	lyric sleeve, picture label
AUS'L/NZ	1974	Island	LP	L 35307
BRA	1974	Phonogram	LP	410044
CAN	1974	Asylum	LP	7ES-1020
GER	1974	Island	LP	88334 XOT
ITA	1974	Island	LP	ILPS 19273	lyric sleeve
JPN	1974	Island	LP	ILS 80059
MEX	1974	Island	LP	LA 016
NET	1974	Island	LP	88334 IT
ARG	1977	Island	LP	5116	lyric sleeve
UK	1993?	Island	CD	IMCD142
GER	1998	Polygram Int'l	CD	846 154
RUS		Kankard	CD	TRCD-009
JPN	2000	Island	CDLE	UICY-9278	Ltd. Ed. (5000), digital remaster
US	May 20, 2003	Island	CD	548826	digital remaster

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