Cahoots

"Unraveling from the pressure of success and celebrity, the Band moved to a new studio in Woodstock and made their fourth album, a stiff and scattershot record that is somewhat enlivened by a new reissue".

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"Ultimately, completists may debate the worth of this particular anniversary offering, due not only to the aforementioned repetition but also because of the definitive live Band recordings that accompanied the recent re-releases of The Band and Stage Fright. That said, a half-century anniversary makes any Band album well worth revisiting".

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"When it was first released 50 years ago, The Band's Cahoots received lukewarm reviews. Maybe it suffered by comparison with the group's first three albums, two whose standards it was impossible to live up to. And while the energy level of the album does dip a little on side two, it seems a little unfair to complain, given the brilliance of, say, Life Is A Carnival, in which brass soul, electric rock and bluegrass are all pulled together into a fully rocking, fully funky weave ... Despite being (mostly) Canadian, they were America itself, from north to south. Among the out-takes, "Bessie Smith" is a further indicator that their sense of American 'roots' was fully integrated".

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"This 50th-anniversary edition affirms the underrated triumph in 'Cahoots' - a gripping portrait of long-haul road dogs struggling with adulthood and the steep price of recklessness - while the highs are as good as anything on the first three albums. "Life Is A Carnival" remains a jubilant entrance, propelled by Allen Toussaint's fleet of street-parade horns. Helm carries Dylan's contribution "When I Paint My Masterpiece" in a no-surrender sandpaper howl buoyed by Garth Hudson's cantina-rapture accordion. "The Moon Struck One", meanwhile, in its grace and tragedy, is Robertson's greatest ballad, sung by Manuel with breathtaking heartache ... The primary extra (amid a few outtakes and live ruckus from Paris in '71) is a new mix by Bob Clearmountain that makes striking changes in the clarity and movement of parts. It's risky business, messing with original text. But for 'Cahoots', so misunderstood for so long, it feels like another lease of life".