ABC - Traffic (2008)

"OLD DOGS, NEW TRICKS" WEEK (MAY 1-7, 2011)

This is a great ABC album, second only to 1982's The Lexicon of Love. It's just a perfect blend of soul, rock, and technopop. Martin Fry hasn't lost any of his skills, he's just been hiding them for 20 years. It doesn't sound like an '80s album and it doesn't sound like a 2008 album, either. It sounds like an album from a man (Fry) who is comfortable with where he is in life and where he is as a musician, still unafraid to use female backup singers and disco strings. This release won't bring ABC any new listeners, but it should make the older listeners (like this guy) very happy. I wish ABC would have released this music in 1983 instead of Beauty Stab.

In its review, the BBC stated that "Fry has recorded something equalling his all-time best."

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart (I'm not sure the album received an official US release)

Tracks: My favorite cuts are The Very First Time, Ride, Love Is Strong, Life Shapes You, Minus Love, and Way Back When. I usually skip the first track, Sixteen Seconds To Choose, not because it's an awful song, but because it just doesn't seem to fit with the other songs. It sounds more like something from Beauty Stab. Weaker tracks include Caroline, One Way Traffic, Validation, and Fugitives.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This CD received as much play time in my truck in 2008 as my tape of Lexicon of Love got in the Markmobile 25 years earlier.