Super Sessions is a pretty unique album.  First of all I went into the album having very little experience with Mike Bloomfield despite numerous reviews convincing me of the genius and spectacular beauty of Bloomfield's guitar style.  Well guess what?  I DO love the mans style!  It takes a while to warm up to it however, and this is mainly because he plays at such an intense speed that there's hardly any time to catch your breath!  You need to hear it several times in a row to absorb and understand it!

Now when I first heard "Albert's Shuffle" a thought occured to me... "MOVE over Eric Clapton!" because it sounds almost identical to some of Clapton's heavy blues stuff such as the live version of "Have You Ever Loved a Woman?" from his EC Was Here live album.  It definitely falls under the same category of emotionally resonant blues, but regardless who influenced who (though I think Clapton beat him to the punch but I could be wrong, hehe) this song is downright amazing.  Amazing how the guitar solos build through several layers of emotions and THEN to add more excitement, a keyboard solo makes an appearance around the halfway point, and it's a highly melodic keyboard solo at that.  It's an interesting change of pace going from emotional guitar solos to melodic keyboard work.  Perhaps the light touch of jazz after the keyboard solo is a bit much, but then again, this IS 1968 and considering this is what I believe the beginning of the classic years of rock, it's quite a performance.  There's definitely nothing lacking or incomplete about this album overall, that's for sure.  "Really" falls under the same category- emotional guitar playing, melodic keyboard solos, jazzy tendencies, etc.  Another high point.

I absolutely LOVE "His Holy Modal Majesty".  In fact I actually first heard this song a few years ago on XM radio.  What caught my attention is the bass groove that can be heard during the first couple minutes, and... I had to do a google search to find THIS out, but the musical instrument jamming with the groove is something called an ondioline.  Don't even ASK me how to pronounce that, haha.  It's a high pitched instrument that's somewhere in between an early synthesizer and a keyboard.  Well whatever it is, it would probably irritate the pants off of me if it were to linger a few minutes longer BUT for just a couple minutes?  I can tolerate a couple minutes of a weird instrument!  Heck I can tolerate extreme pain for 2 minutes!  Well then again I've never been tortured.  Don't get any ideas!  :)

Anyway, that bass groove is... WOW!  It makes "His Holy Modal Majesty" the best song on the album for me.  It reminds me of something kinky or rather, an Egyptian girl being kinky, hehe.  The rest of the song is occupied with fast-paced blues solos that are pretty melodic for the most part.

"Season of the Witch" is the highlight for many people since it's the most familiar song here.  Well truth be told I never thought it was *that* great of a song- a slow-chugging, slightly ominous vocal melody that actually reminds me of Neil Young's "Down By The River" for some reason, and the jazziness we eventually experience is... eh, a bit much.  Not a bad song by any means, and this is by FAR the best version of it too.  11 minutes is just too much for my limited attention span I'm afraid!  Though it IS really melodic so at least it has that going for it.  "Stop" is based around really cool, melodic blues guitar and keyboard soloing.  Once again, the keyboard work strikes me as immediatley melodic whereas the guitar solos are a bit on the complex side so it takes time to search for the melodic lines.  It's awesome though.  "Harvey's Tune" is an atmospheric jazz instrumental.  I love it.

"Man's Temptation" is a soulful tune with really beautiful and memorable vocals.  I love the creative inclusion of horns as well.  Yes there's hundreds of 60's songs that closely resemble this one in terms of atmosphere, arrangements and vocals but I don't care- I'll take them ALL!  "You Don't Love Me" is dominated with the ULTRA cool phase shifter effect.  You'll know what I mean when you hear it.  It sounds like you're in a spaceship and headed for Saturn!  I wonder if todays technology can recreate this particular sound?  I haven't heard this effect used in any music after the mid 70's.  It must have went out of style.  Anyway this is a blues/hard rock song similar to Robin Trower's early work, and it's awesome.  "It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry" reminds me of the mid 60's Byrds with a fast-paced, psychedelic part-country style.  Those feel good vibes are in high quantity here as well.

Overall, it's super duper Super Sessions!  Pick it up for a solid taste of Mike Bloomfield, Stephen Stills and Al Kooper (though for me Bloomfield CLEARLY steals the spotlight).
Super Sessions is a pretty unique album. First of all I went into the album having very little experience with Mike Bloomfield despite numerous reviews convincing me of the genius and spectacular beauty of Bloomfield's guitar style. Well guess what? I DO love the mans style! It takes a while to warm up to it however, and this is mainly because he plays at such an intense speed that there's hardly any time to catch your breath! You need to hear it several times in a row to absorb and understand it! Now when I first heard "Albert's Shuffle" a thought occured to me... "MOVE over Eric Clapton! " because it sounds almost identical to some of Clapton's heavy blues stuff such as the live version of "Have You Ever Loved a Woman? " from his EC Was Here live album. It definitely falls under the same category of emotionally resonant blues, but regardless who influenced who (though I think Clapton beat him to the punch but I could be wrong, hehe) this song is downright amazing. Amazing how the guitar solos build through several layers of emotions and THEN to add more excitement, a keyboard solo makes an appearance around the halfway point, and it's a highly melodic keyboard solo at that. It's an interesting change of pace going from emotional guitar solos to melodic keyboard work. Perhaps the light touch of jazz after the keyboard solo is a bit much, but then again, this IS 1968 and considering this is what I believe the beginning of the classic years of rock, it's quite a performance. There's definitely nothing lacking or incomplete about this album overall, that's for sure. "Really" falls under the same category- emotional guitar playing, melodic keyboard solos, jazzy tendencies, etc. Another high point. I absolutely LOVE "His Holy Modal Majesty". In fact I actually first heard this song a few years ago on XM radio. What caught my attention is the bass groove that can be heard during the first couple minutes, and... I had to do a google search to find THIS out, but the musical instrument jamming with the groove is something called an ondioline. Don't even ASK me how to pronounce that, haha. It's a high pitched instrument that's somewhere in between an early synthesizer and a keyboard. Well whatever it is, it would probably irritate the pants off of me if it were to linger a few minutes longer BUT for just a couple minutes? I can tolerate a couple minutes of a weird instrument! Heck I can tolerate extreme pain for 2 minutes! Well then again I've never been tortured. Don't get any ideas! :)

Anyway, that bass groove is... WOW! It makes "His Holy Modal Majesty" the best song on the album for me. It reminds me of something kinky or rather, an Egyptian girl being kinky, hehe. The rest of the song is occupied with fast-paced blues solos that are pretty melodic for the most part. "Season of the Witch" is the highlight for many people since it's the most familiar song here. Well truth be told I never thought it was *that* great of a song- a slow-chugging, slightly ominous vocal melody that actually reminds me of Neil Young's "Down By The River" for some reason, and the jazziness we eventually experience is... eh, a bit much. Not a bad song by any means, and this is by FAR the best version of it too. 11 minutes is just too much for my limited attention span I'm afraid! Though it IS really melodic so at least it has that going for it. "Stop" is based around really cool, melodic blues guitar and keyboard soloing. Once again, the keyboard work strikes me as immediatley melodic whereas the guitar solos are a bit on the complex side so it takes time to search for the melodic lines. It's awesome though. "Harvey's Tune" is an atmospheric jazz instrumental. I love it. "Man's Temptation" is a soulful tune with really beautiful and memorable vocals. I love the creative inclusion of horns as well. Yes there's hundreds of 60's songs that closely resemble this one in terms of atmosphere, arrangements and vocals but I don't care- I'll take them ALL! "You Don't Love Me" is dominated with the ULTRA cool phase shifter effect. You'll know what I mean when you hear it. It sounds like you're in a spaceship and headed for Saturn! I wonder if todays technology can recreate this particular sound? I haven't heard this effect used in any music after the mid 70's. It must have went out of style. Anyway this is a blues/hard rock song similar to Robin Trower's early work, and it's awesome. "It Takes a Lot To Laugh, It Takes a Train To Cry" reminds me of the mid 60's Byrds with a fast-paced, psychedelic part-country style. Those feel good vibes are in high quantity here as well. Overall, it's super duper Super Sessions! Pick it up for a solid taste of Mike Bloomfield, Stephen Stills and Al Kooper (though for me Bloomfield CLEARLY steals the spotlight).