This link is super-ready for you to click on it... Jupiter Lesson Overall Album Score: 7.7 out of 10 I guess I should begin this review stating who these three people are. Mike Bloomfield worked with Bob Dylan during his electric revolution. Just previously to this record, he formed the psychedelic blues band Electric Flag that I should listen to one day soon. Al Kooper is a multi-instrumentalist who formed the highly regarded jazz-rock band Blood, Sweat & Tears, an even more famous band that I should listen to one day soon! And then there's Stephen Stills who was a founding member of Buffalo Springfield and obviously would later be a namesake of CSN and the only reason why this album is associated with CSN. Anyway, these three forces came together to create this album full of over-extended jam-rock tunes. AKA, a "super session." It wasn't so horrible to note that Mike Bloomfield can play the guitar like nobody's business, so I can think of worse things to do that listen to those. Stephen Stills is also a legendary guitar virtuoso, though obviously not as much so as Bloomfield --- well, as much as I can hear from it at any rate. I do have some complaints about Al Kooper though. I don't question his abilities as a keyboard player, but there are more than enough moments in here where he's just being obnoxious... The keyboard introduction for "His Modal Majesty" is just annoying, and other moments seem like he had no idea what to do instead of twiddling his fingers in between two notes. Well, he was the guy who wanted to put this album together, so I guess it's no use complaining too much about him... It's interesting that this album was originally meant to be just a Bloomfield and Kooper album. Bloomfield was a drug addict, and he couldn't perform for the second half of the album. Thus, Kooper asked Stills to contribute in his place. Well, Bloomfield and Stills are different people --- so the two sides are pretty different. Simply, the first side is very bluesy and the second side consists of rambly psychedelic music. It's also notable that this album is also known as the first time Stills was able to act as a more independent force. He didn't write any of those songs... I guess there wasn't time for that. According to the All Music Guide, Super Session was an important landmark for the progression of rock 'n' roll as an art form. I guess it's amazing what weird things paid critics will say. But they say the same thing about Neil Young, so there's that. Their reason for calling this influential seems to be because it contains overextended songs. But they failed to notice that Procol Harum had a 20-minute prog suite called "In Held Twas I" released the same year. That song was actually planned. Any skilled musician can goof around in a recording studio to create a meaningless 11-minute, rambly version of Donovan's "Season of the Witch." I don't want to sound negative, because I think this music is pretty enjoyable. It's certainly worth owning even though I can safely say I'll never listen to it again. I'm too busy relistening to David Bowie and Kate Bush albums to bother with this rambly inconsequential music! As on-the-fly entertainment goes, this is wonderful. I have enjoyed myself while preparing to write this review, and this is a fun album above all. At the very least, neither Kooper, Stills nor Bloomfield were drummers, so there was no obligation to include any idiotic drum solos. You know, drum solos are my primary fear toward jam-rock. Overall Score: 7.7 out of 10 (This is an entirely decent jam-rock album that I can mildly recommend to you. It definitely has its strong moments! ... But it has its weak moments, also...) Average Song Score: 8.2 (This is an enjoyable album with nice songs. Naturally, some are better than others.) Album Tilt: 7.5 (It's an inconsistent affair and cripplingly so.) Artist Rating: 7.5 (It's not very creative either and cripplingly so!!!) Track Reviews Albert's Shuffle 9.5/10 Yeah, Super Session helped fashion rock 'n' roll as an art form. This is the most revolutionary song ever concocted. Nobody ever thought of making a slow-tempoed R&B instrumental with an organ riff and rip-roaring electric guitar solos...... OK, you caught me. I was being sarcastic! (Tee-hee!!!) Hate to burst your bubbles, but this album was about as influential as the 1910 Fruitgum Company (who was probably even more creative). But anyway, this is as convincing of a Booker T. and the MG's clone as there ever was one. This Mike Bloomfield fellow proves why he's such a guitar legend. Holy crap, that guy could play some wicked guitar! That's all I really need to say about this ... GREAT GUITAR!!!! I love hearing the MG's, but I love this just as much. That's saying something indeed. This is great as far as jammy music goes. A complaint I have is the organ noodling --- usually it's pretty great, but there's a moment in here where he just sounds like he's just twiddling his fingers --- and Bloomfield has to rescue him with another beautiful solo. Anyway, this whole track is pretty dang soulful, which makes this quite a treat. They pepper this up with horns, which was mixed in later. They didn't need it, but whatever. This music might not be influential whatsoever, but it's entertaining. Stop 9.5/10 This is mid-tempoed (and therefore a little bit more upbeat) and probably more prone to make you snap your fingers! This one not only features those wicked guitar licks but also some rip-roaring organ noodling from Al Kooper. I actually find this a little bit more fun than the previous track, which was admittedly much more soulful. Well... as I said, this is an entertaining jam record. Man's Temptation 7.5/10 It's shorter than the previous two tracks, and it actually features vocals. The melody is fine though boring! The horn sections are featured over the electric guitar and organ solos, unfortunately, and they're way too imposing if you ask me. Yeah, this song isn't anything special... It's pretty weak compared to the previous two. His Holy Modal Majesty 7/10 This features drugged up organ solo that sounds like it's emulating bagpipes. No, that's not even original since the Beatles already tried that on "Tomorrow Never Knows" and properly subdued that sound amidst other sounds... You know what I'm talking about. Even though Kooper is the glue that held this album together, he also seems to be the weakest link. This is the second time his noodling didn't impress me. Meanwhile, the backing band does all it can to keep a jazzy beat going... Nothing about that organ solo is good. It's would have worked better if it were just 10 seconds long, but this is extended for several minutes. Fortunately, Bloomfield comes in with some very noodly jazz solos. He has technique, but this one seems like its sleepwalking a bit. Not a whole lot of personality here, which would have been nice. This rambly song goes on for nine minutes, and all you can do is hopefully marvel at their skills. Overall, this thing is pretty monotonous. The end doesn't improve it much, but I like the idea... it sort of twinkles into nothingness. Really 8.5/10 OK, "really" is a meaningless word in the English language that I admit I have a bad habit of overusing (I mean, I REALLY overuse "really"). I guess it's appropriate that "Really" is another R&B cliche! You do have to love those guitar licks, which do pick up a lot of steam that was lost after that boring previous track. Unfortunately, Kooper's twiddling his fingers again. Does this guy have no reason to live or something? I mean, he does a good job with the organ 80 percent of the time, but he's just plain obnoxious the other 20 percent of the time. Again, it takes Bloomfield with an even more rip-roaring guitar solo to rescue him... It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry 9.5/10 Out with Bloomfield and in with Stills. Hello, Stills! He decides he wants to cover a Bob Dylan song that was never officially recorded by Dylan (and just appears on his Bootleg series). This is an enjoyable and bouncy pop song with highly developed vocals. (Wow, that's a *huge shift* from that heavy blues number that just preceded this.) The melody is wonderful, and I like how they deal with that riff. There's a sort of distorted organ tone that you hear --- it sounds perfect. I like Stills' voice, and he even does a very good job with Byrdsian harmonies. Kooper's Beatles organ is only 10 seconds long --- like it should have been on "His Holy Modal Majesty." Season of the Witch 14/20 They're back to the bluesy jams with this over-extended Donovan cover. It's 11-freaking minutes long!!! It's a shame that it doesn't say a whole lot, but this is OK to listen to as background music. You'll be wishing that Stephen Stills could play like Mike Bloomfield, because his guitars are nowhere near as soulful. To make the matters worse, he uses a strange, watery guitar that just sounds awkward. Well, who needs any of this, to be honest??? I guess Stills should just stick to the pop music --- as he would perfectly with CSN. You Don't Love Me 8.5/10 What a strange song. Composition-wise, it isn't too unique, but there's a weird keyboard tone Al Kooper uses. It's interesting --- not always so successful as it probably should have been. But it's difficult to argue with the uniqueness of this... Again, it's just this synth tone that's unique, and I'm still debating with myself if I actually like it or not. The actual vocal melody is alright though... Harvey's Tune 8/10 Such an odd way to end the album though I can't say I don't appreciate it. It's a two-minute lite-jazz track featuring mostly horns and twinkly guitars. I almost think it's a shame that they didn't expand on that a little more ---- Oh, crap. What am I saying? This is lite-jazz!!! Yeah, two minutes was long enough. Your sweet comments are eagerly awaited here.

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