New City

This album has received less than stellar reviews by some but I have been a big fan of Blood, Sweat & Tears since the release of B, S & T 2. While the musicianship has continuously improved, what makes the band so great are the vocals by David Clayton-Thomas. This album does not reach the level of B, S & T 2, or 4, but it is still has some great cuts including "Life," a blues tune, "I Was A Witness To A War," "Applause," and "Yesterday's Music," which has a great opening featuring the tuba. Certainly worth a listen especially for fans of this iconic blues/jazz band.

I bought this to replace a damaged vinyl copy and I am semi-satisfied. I personally really like the tracks on this album but to be fair, I am a trumpet player and big BS&T fan. This is not their best but it is a fun album. The playing is excellent as usual. The BS&T version of Ride Captain Ride is the cat's pajamas.I am no audiophile BUT like other reviewers mentioned, the quality of the this CD issue leaves much to be desired. If you have the equipment (or a kind friend) then rip it from the original vinyl onto your computer. I can still rock out to this CD, but the vinyl on this one is noticeably better and I was disappointed in this reissue.4 stars for the original recording and 2 stars for the CD for an average of 3.

This album has David Clayton Thomas returning to BS&T, and not for the better. No Sweat and New Blood demonstrated an evolution towards a jazz-rock fusion that was a brilliant direction, with infusion from the North Texas State alums who joined the lineup for those albums. DCT's return pushed the band in a rock direction that was neither polished nor successful, and the band never recovered from it, even it did continue to deliver a few more albums and tour.New City is for those who are dedicated fans, which I am, but this album marked the beginning of the end for what I saw as one of the big rock groups of the seventies.

Everybody's hitting all around the problems with this release. Wounded Bird had nothing to do with "remastering" New City. New City is where Colomby's own studio was built, and it in no way produced the same quality of recordings those iconic NY studios (from the '50's if we're talking about the first three records). There are stories about how creative people like Roy Halee were to create the soundspace that make those first three (for sure) and arguably a few thereafter (4, New Blood and No Sweat) GREAT records, both in engineering and performance.People who don't play wind instruments don't get what's missing in terms of the precision and "bite" that makes those early records stand out.The musicians on the later records are by no means poor, but their efforts are marred by an industry wide "compressor/limiter", ultra DRY, shift in priorities that didn't really go away until (for example) the Tom Jung Bob Mintzer recordings of the early '80's. (Simpler pathways, less "mung" in the signal chain). Clayton Thomas sang more sincerely in his youth. We do most everything more sincerely in our youth. But the Band and the arrangers were the "magic" of the early bands. How they were captured had as much to do with the "something's not right, but I can't put my finger on it"-ness of New City. It's about the worst sounding LP of their catalog. (Not the least interesting, that one falls to MIrror Image, IMO, but even it has "Maglomania", "Are You Satisfied" etc.) It was baked in to the initial product. Remastering the original multi track master might reveal some NICE surprises. Songs like "No Show", "Naked Man" and "Applause" should not be overlooked. They're not bad, they're just not on the level of the arrangements of Halligan and Lipsius, or the engineering of Roy Halee. I compare it to the "Cameo-Parkway" period of Maynard Ferguson. GREAT band, overwhelming a sub par recording venue. Chubby Checker didn't suffer, but Maynard sure did. It just is what it is.....

Vocalist Jerry Fisher, IMHO, never received the appreciation he deserved. David Clayton Thomas return with the album at hand marked the beginning of the end for this once-great jazz/rock band. Instead of being a group effort, this and the few albums recorded after this are basically "DCT and backup band."A lot of the material is very corny, sung by DCT in an insincere, Vegasy, over-the-top lounge singer manner. The DCT of the second, third and fourth B,S&T albums is long gone. Heck, there is hardly even any soloing by a very talented band.Avoid this one, it's the beginning of the end for a once great band. They would release three more studio albums and the best of those ("Brand New Day") has only been released on vinyl.

Blood, Sweat & Tears hatten ja eine sehr wechselvolle Geschichte, ebenso häufige Wechsel der Bandmitglieder und auch sehr wechselhaften Erfolg mit ihren einzelnen Produktionen. Aber eines war immer vorhanden: die begeisterte Umsetzung der musikalischen Idee, die Al Kooper bei der Gründung von Blood, Sweat & Tears vor Augen hatte. "New City" aus dem Jahre 1975 mit dem wieder dazugestossenen David Clayton-Thomas war zu dem Zeitpunkt allerdings nicht mehr so populär, weil der Zug im Hinblick des medialen Interesses für B,S & T damals schon irgendwie abgefahren war. Dennoch ist diese Musik phantastisch und steht den ersten beiden Produktionen der Band, "Child Is Father To The Man" und "Blood, Sweat & Tears" (1969) nur um wenig nach. Superbe Arrangements, viel Spielfreude, gutes Songmaterial, wie z.B. eine kongeniale Coverversion von "Ride Captain Ride" von The Blues Image oder "Got To Get You Into My Life" von The Beatles, auch super Material von Randy Newman oder Allen Toussaint. Aber auch sehr gute eigene Songs. Vorgebracht mit musikalischer Leidenschaft und großem Können. Und manchmal sogar auch mit einem humorigem Augenzwinkern > siehe die Songs: "Naked Man" oder "Applause". Mein Resumee dieser Platte (CD): von der damaligen Kritik ziemlich unterschätzt, musikalisch aber wahrhaft eine Perle! Das gilt heute genauso wie zum Zeitpunkt des Erscheinens 1975.

この作品が出たのは1975年。71年の４th迄聴いていましたがVocalを始めとする主要メンバーの殆どが脱退して以降聴いておりませんでしたが、最近になってＣＤ化が進んで後期の音が聴けるようになったので改めてD.C.Thomasの声が聴ける本作を購入しました。実は筆者は初来日の1971年公演は観にいっていないのですが、このアルバムが発売された1975年か1976年に来日したB,S&Tを新宿厚生年金会館で観ました。非常に記憶はおぼろげですが演奏はしっかりとした良いコンサートだったと思います。D.C.Thomasの声には憧れていましたから本物を聴けて大変嬉しかったですし、ドラムのﾎﾞﾋﾞｰ･ｺﾛﾝﾋﾞｰも素晴らしかったですね。他のﾒﾝﾊﾞｰも上手かった確かオープニングはこのＣＤと同じRide captain rideでした。　初めてアルバムを聴きましたがオープニングから半ばくらいまでは素晴らしくリマスターもされていないモコモコ音源でも楽しく聴いていましたが、後半はネタ不足なのかつまらない曲（素材）を取り上げているので飽きてしまいました。曲によってはサーカス小屋の楽隊みたいな演奏もあって限界が見えてしまいました。後半はビートルズの１曲だけですね。　でもジャケットは良いし懐かしかったので及第点です。　「頑張れ東北」

残念ながら平凡なジャケットな製品が届いてしまいました。アルバムとしてはBlood Sweat & Tearsの可もなく不可もなくな出来なのはわかっていたのですが、まあこういうこともあります。