This album is good, but not great. Miles Davis is undoubtedly my favorite jazz musician, and his later albums, namely Kind of Blue and Bitches Brew, rank among my favorite albums of all time. With this one, however, it was just kind of forgettable for me. Maybe because it’s stuck in the shadow of the records that were to follow, but Birth of the Cool just didn’t really do much for me.

It’s hard to write about an album that you don’t really have any feelings towards, positive or negative. That said, there were some tracks here and there that I enjoyed enough to mention. “Moon Dreams” is in my opinion the highlight of the album, with a great mood and relaxing atmospherics. “Godchild” is pretty catchy, with a jumpy melody and the usual quality improvisation. Other than those two, none of the tracks really stuck out to me in particular. There aren’t any bad tracks on this album, just ones that fail to make an impression.

So this album just wasn’t for me. It’s alright, but I probably won’t be revisiting it again. Miles Davis’ later albums are absolutely incredible however, and I can’t wait to get to them. So what did you think of this album? Leave your feedback in the comments, I’d love to hear your opinions!

Favorite Tracks: “Moon Dreams,” “Godchild”

Next Up: Kenya by Machito (1957)