Now this is one very confusing CD issue, I will tell you that. And the liner notes do little to clear things up, though the history itself is well told. But the recordings themselves are not explained well. First of all, the "Cancelled 1972" part means nothing more than there aren't any recordings here from 1972. Supposedly they were shopping for major label support for an entire year, but failed. Only a passing mention of this is told in the liner notes, and is later fleshed out in the advert for this CD release.
The first 3 tracks are the clear highlight here, and are the only ones that are truly the "SWF Session 1973" - adding to the confusion. These 3 tracks are like the best of Chicago with ripping Terry Kath like leads and complex horn charts. After a short piano ditty, tracks 5 through 12 are the real head scratcher. The credits say it was recorded at the "Horst Jankowski Studio Stuttgart" sometime in 1973 - but it's clear to be a live recording. And the audience reaction is either ridiculously over-exuberant, or it's been piped in as a phony. Now as a former high school stage/jazz band performer, I can say that the student body would often react in an overly positive way to show support (especially since we were recorded live on radio). But it doesn't sound anything like an audience at a club show, for example (no pun intended). As well, the style of music is noticeably different from the first 3 tracks. It's still horn rock, but at the other end of the spectrum. Rather than jazzy, complex brass rock, we have here a soul based pop rock with horns... ...with a fake audience. Track 13 is labeled as coming from a radio show, but it sounds like a similar live recording to tracks 5 - 12, but musically is a bit closer to the first 3 songs.
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