Entrance by Edgar Winter (Vinyl record album review)

Album name: Entrance

Artist name: Edgar Winter

Year: 1970

Number of discs: one

Label: Epic Records

Collection: Brenner / Gessner

Distinguishing characteristics: “G” written on top left of album, indicating that my father owned it

Buy it on Amazon: $25.39

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I have never heard of Edgar Winter or this record.

What I expected

Rock.

What it was actually like

This was pretty bad, and after listening to the first side, I almost did not flip it over to listen to the reverse. I was glad that I did, though, because the best song on the record by far was an excellent cover of the blues standard Tobacco Road (here’s another by The Animals).

A bunch of these songs had the tendency to run together, and it was seldom clear when one ended and another began. The title track Entrance, for example, was not easily distinguishable from Where Have You Gone, and I hated both of them. I would call the musical style progressive rock, but the sound was really weird and disjointed, and kept changing every 15 seconds or so, as if he couldn’t decide if he wanted to make a rock song or a show tune. Actually I would have a hard time calling it a “song” at all.

Rise to Fall, which was more jazz fusion and ran into Fire and Ice, was a bit better, sounding all right for most of it, but I strongly disliked the first saxophone part, which was totally out of place. When the saxophone came back later, it was good, and had more of a jazz sound.

Hung Up, Back in the Blues and Re-Entrance all also ran together, though the first was more of a progressive rock and jazz fusion sound, while the second was more of a blues sound with harmonica, and the third was elevator music.

Back on the second side, Jimmy’s Gospel had a saxophone part that sounded like it belonged on a Barry Manilow record.