KAYAK

Let me start by saying that I've never listened to Kayak prior to the release of this album. This is quite a shame since I've now gone back and explored some of their catalogue and found it to be quite impressive. So if you're in the same spot as me and love crossover prog bands like Supertramp, Barclay James Harvest, ELO, Procol Harum etc then don't hesitate and give Kayak a go.

My first encounter with Kayak occurred just a few months ago when I stumbled upon a video trailer for Seventeen on InsideOutMusicTV YouTube channel. I have heard of Kayak before but somehow assumed that they were similar to their countrymen Golden Earring and thus was nothing that would interest me. The music that I've heard in the trailer really sparked my interest due to the strong melodies, stellar keyboard work from Kayak veteran Ton Scherpenzeel and the interesting band lineup that featured Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex-Pain of Salvation, For All We Know) on bass and Collin Leijenaar (ex-Neal Morse) on drums/percussion. The album was due in early 2018 and I was quite interested in hearing more of the material. I went on Spotify and found three singles All that I Want, Feathers and Tar and the shorter version of La Peregrina. All that I Want was easily the least progressive of the bunch but featured strong verse and chorus that made it enjoyable for me. Feathers and Tar and La Peregrina completely stole the show for me. Both of the songs begin with very melodic guitar style of Marcel Singor and he is, together with Ton Scherpenzeel, the one that has the most time in the spotlight during the album's duration. Singor really made an impression on me and I'm interested in hearing more of his other work in the future.

There was just no way that I could let this album pass me by so I did the obvious and ordered the 2-CD edition of the album from Kayak's website. Once I got the album, I must have played it at least a dozen times without every getting tired of the material. Once the opening track Somebody starts playing there's just no way for me to stop the album from going all the way to the last track To An End. Beside the shorter songs and interludes like X Marks The Spot and Ripples On The Water (featuring Andy Latimer on guitar), there are three centerpieces in the form of La Peregrina, Walk Through Fire and Cracks . I'd say that La Peregrina is easily my favorite out of the three and I really enjoy it musically and contextually (story about the famous pearl La Peregrina throughout different eras with reflections on immortality of objects and the mortality of men who think that they can own the pearl). This 12 minute opus feels much shorter than its playtime might imply and I still haven't gotten tired of this composition and all of its twists and turns. Walk Through Fire is probably the composition that has grown on me the most over time. At first, I didn't think much about the lyrics and the melodies but it did sort of fall into place eventually and Walk Through Fire is definitely a great piece of music that most prog fans will enjoy. Cracks is the last of the three longer compositions on Seventeen and is definitely my least favorite. I feel that the structure of this composition is all over the place and it lacks the melodic punch that Ton Scherpenzeel is usually known for with his material.

Even though we're still in the beginning of the year, I'm very certain that Seventeen will be one of my top 10 favorite albums that I will take with me from 2018. Not only does the album deliver in its centerpieces but there are just so many great moments spread out all over this album that makes for a great overall experience!

***** star songs: Somebody (3:04) La Peregrina (11:42) Falling (3:08) Feathers And Tar (3:14) God On Our Side (3:30)

**** star songs: Walk Through Fire (10:23) Ripples On The Water (3:40) All that I Want (3:47) X Marks The Spot (1:58) Love, Sail Away (3:12) To An End (3:32)

*** star songs: Cracks (8:50)

Kayak is a Dutch band that was formed in the early 70's. The band was active from 1973 up to 1982, during which, they released 8 studio albums. In 1999, the band was re-formed and they are active since then. Almost a month ago, they released their new studio album named as Seventeen; which, as you can understand, indicates that it is the band's seventeenth studio album. Personally speaking, if I had to choose between their 2 periods, I would choose the 2nd one, because their music has improved a lot during the last 17 years. Seventeen is the band's first studio album in their new company Inside Out; I don't know if that had any impact on their music or not, but for me, Seventeen is one of their best works ever! From the ones I heard at least. (I have 7 albums by Kayak in my collection).

In Seventeen, the band seems to be in great form, balance and inspiration, which is proven by the quality of the songs. Speaking about the band, I think that I should mention the participation of Andy Latimer of Camel as special guest, which is something important in my opinion. The album includes 12 songs and has a total running time of almost an hour. The 2 long - over 10 minutes ? songs that are included here can be characterized as the album's highlights. But if you ask me, the whole album is a highlight by itself. I have it for almost 2 weeks now and I keep listening to it on and on. It is a wonderful piece of work, and with every new listen I discover something more in it.

This is one of these albums that you listen from the beginning 'till the end, without feeling the need to press 'skip'. Every song has something to offer to the listener, from the simplest 3:00 minute long one, up to the far more complicated 'epics'.

But have in mind that, the album's general style can be characterised as Prog with Pop influences. Maybe the Hard-core Prog fans will not appreciate it that much. There are many short songs included here, soft and mellow, in the style of Supertramp let's say.

I am not going to mention the songs one by one; there is no need to do so. If you want my opinion, give this album a couple of listens, and decide by yourselves. For me, it is an excellent and very enjoyable album, and I'm perfectly happy with it! Although it is still very early, I'm pretty sure that, at the end of the year, it is going to be included in my annual top-10 album list for 2018. Album's highlights: Somebody, La Peregrina, Falling, Walk Through Fire, All that I Want, Love Sail Away, God on our Side, Cracks. My rating would be: 4.5 stars.

Finally came the new album "Seventeen" of the famous Dutch band Kayak! This is their 17th album too. The band was founded in Hilversum, the Netherlands in 1972, and dissolved in 1982, but reorganized in 1999 and is still active today. Initially their style was the most popular symphony of the time, but later became somewhat popular. After the revival of the 21st century, they devoted themselves to the creation of rock opera. They released three pieces, each featuring Merlin and Nostradamus And Cleopatra's story, in which Merlin that Zhang is the re-production of the old album, a medieval style. These albums have received a good rating. Their symphony melodies are very attractive, Moog and Mellotron are used frequently, and keyboardist Ton Scherpenzeel also joined Camel (it was during the dissolution of Kayak, Kayak reconstituted that he quit Camel back to the old ), Explains why Kayak's style is a bit like Camel, beautiful, meticulous, melodic, and sometimes majestic, with late-rocking and pop flavors (which is what keeps pace with the times). Last year, the band released a box called "Journey Through Time," recording all of their studio albums and two addendums, leaving a space in the box. The band explained that this was their 17th album. This year, 1 On May 12, Kayak fans are finally able to fill this space with a new album. The new album has been four years since their last album. The band said on the official website: "Kortom: het bootje slaat welens om, maar weigert voorlopig te zinken." (In short: Kayak Meaning kayak, then the name of the band with the sex) will turn, but will not sink.) Now, they are back! Speaking back to the new college, the reason for this is also because Camel guitarist Latimer also guest guest, Camel last year announced on the official website of the band assembly and explore their future path, can not think of his new special did not come out, Latimer and old friends Scherpenzeel made Kayak's new music together, and Latimer was busy himself, helping with the band's bassist Colin Bass. I have not got the exacting creator of "Seventeen" for each song, but there are many guitar solos that have the charm of Latimer ("Falling", "Walk Through Fire", "Ripples on the Water" ... oh my god! Latimer has been involved in the creation of almost all songs!), Elegant and long, soothing, and sometimes straight to the heart, soul-stirring! The album is exactly 60 minutes, the basic structure of three songs about ten minutes, plus nine more than three minutes of short songs, so that both the avant-garde and popular potential. Although such a structure is similar to the rock opera they had previously done, the band said it was not a concept album. In addition to symphony and opera blend, the new album is also some folk features, the introduction of some folk music melodies, and melodious flute (Latimer should not be the style), more than three minutes of short songs are beautiful and beautiful, some very witty relaxed, Some are rock-and-roll and form a contrast with those magnificent and complex long songs. Scherpenzeel's keyboard is still hot and pleasant, he is also used for the synthesizer as pure fire, the piano played smooth as water. For the three long songs, they are all standard symphonic shaking structures, which have brought back the feeling of the 1970s. They mainly focus on the melodious guitar solo. The piano is laid out in the back and strings are added to enhance the momentum. In addition, I must mention that the voice of lead singer Schwertmann did not show the old state, but it sounds very comfortable. The first song "La Peregrina" as its name, which a synthesizer solo very "pilgrimage" atmosphere. The second "Walk Through Fire" opening is the Latimer iconic style, followed by the Northwestern European folk style melody to join the last hot guitar, string and synthesizer have hurricane, the perfect ending in the passionate chorus. The third song "Cracks" is more conventional, without the first two so prominent, which is the album's weakness, the first half is too exciting, the second half is relatively mediocre. However, flaw does not cover Yu, the old cannon this combination has brought everyone a classic! Proper four-star semi-critical, the top10 contender of the year!

Even though KAYAK from Netherlands had some symphonic prog flavours especially on their earliest albums, their music had very clear pop tendencies right from the start, and naturally the pop side pretty much took over from prog during the seventies. Perhaps one could use the term symphonic pop with keyboard-oriented bands such as Kayak, Supertramp, The Alan Parsons Project, ELO, certain phaces of Procol Harum, etc. The A-side song of this single comes from Kayak's debut album See See the Sun (1973).

'Lyrics' sounds rather sweet - I mean, actually really too sweet - as a highly melodic song with an emphasis on piano. It's not exactly sentimental or emotional, more like playful and witty. The fast-paced notes keep jumping up and down. I'm not fond of it, because of the zaccharine taste.

The B-sider 'Try to Write a Book' wasn't originally included on the album, but appears on the reissue of it. My initial reception was "What a silly little song with horrible singing", but it deserves a closer listen. It's only two minutes short and yet it manages to be quite progressive. It has some resemblance to the psychedelic side of The Beatles ('I Am the Walrus', etc.). It has a monotonously beating but funnily twisted rhythm pattern. Luckily it's not plain humour music, just mock-serious black humour and wit. In the end, this song is slightly more interesting than the sweet 'Lyrics'.

Two stars will do, without any speculation whether the single would be a valuable rarity if you saw it on sale (possibly so).

(This review, like many others, is loosely based on a chapter of my prog book Aamunkoiton portit - soon on print again!) It seems that the Dutch band KAYAK aimed at an international fame right from the start, on the heels of Focus. On their earliest, more symphonic albums one can hear British prog influence, mainly from Yes and Genesis, but unfortunately the more commercial approach took over in the latter half of the seventies. My first acquaintance with Kayak was "The Best of" compilation, concentrating on the late 70's / early 80's period. Its music is rather sweet, highly accessible, melodic and often quite catchy too, not very far from the hits of The Alan Parsons Project, except with more emphasis on keyboards (and, of course, not quite that well produced). However, on their more recent albums they have again had more progressive ambitions. Now back to the beginning, for this is their debut.

When the band was founded in 1972, Ton Scherzenpeel, Pim Koopman and Max Werner were young music students in Hilversum. After Cees van Leeuwen joined on bass, Scherzenpeel (who had studied double bass as his major) concentrated on keyboards. He and Koopman had been writing songs already for five years. Kayak signed a contract with EMI, and the group entered a proper recording studio for the very first time. "We were like kids in a toy store as we were testing what we could do with the 16-track equipment", Scherzenpeel recalls in the CD liner notes. According to him, See See the Sun is an album full of ideas, not all of them being worked to perfection. After two weeks' studio sessions the tapes were taken to Abbey Road studios for Alan Parsons to mix. Dark Side of the Moon had made Parsons a hot name, so this was clearly a calculated move from EMI in order to increase the international appeal.

The results may not be the most original prog of the time, but surely it's well produced and extremely convincing debut from young musicians. The opening track 'Reason for It All' has notable Yes flavours up to vocal harmonies and Wakemanesque harpsichord decoratings. Slightly oversugared song 'Lyrics' already hints at the later pop direction. Several compositions contain ambitious complexity without feeling very meaningful. Among my favourites is the lengthy and dreamy 'Lovely Luna', in which I sense a similarity in atmosphere to 'The Moon Is Down' by Gentle Giant. 'Ballet of the Cripple' is like a mixture of Mellotron-heavy Genesis and the more straight-forward Electric Light Orchestra. In the end they were at their most original on emotionally loaded songs such as 'Forever Is a Lonely Thought'.

The adventures in the British prog influences continued on the albums Kayak (1974) and Royal Bed Bouncer (1975), on which Ton Scherpenzeel's creative force was perhaps at its strongest. After fairly good The Last Encore (1976) there occurred some changes in both the line-up and musical style; the most commercial phase produced the albums Starlight Dancer (1977), Phantom of the Night (1979) and Periscope Life (1980). See See the Sun is warmly recommended for listeners of keyboard oriented light prog - and Supertramp, whose album Crime of the Century (1974) Kayak's bright sound has been compared to.

Kayak's debut album finds the band crafting a blend of prog rock sensibilities and aesthetics with pop catchiness and accessibility. Compared to their subsequent self-titled album, which was rather mannered and polished, this time around the band's sound is a bit rougher and rowdier, and I'm inclined to give it a slight edge over its successor but not much of one. Both this debut and the subsequent released proved that an interesting sound could be developed by bridging the prog and pop worlds, and if you enjoy one you will probably enjoy the other, and See See the Sun deserves a certain kudos for blazing this trail not just for Kayak but for other artists like Supertramp.

Their more progressive and energetic moments remind me of a rockier Genesis or Supertramp; their quieter, smoother, poppier moments put me in mind of some of the ballads that the Alan Parsons Project would turn out in subsequent years. And in between all of that, just occasionally they let loose some vocal melodies that put me in mind of what Queen were getting up to around this point in time. Kayak were one of those groups who were paying attention to what the progressive world were doing but also had a keen sense of the mainstream pop zeitgeist, and happily on Kayak II they manage to bridge the two beautifully.

Beautiful innovative pop gembox, that can be called for this Kayak's "Merlin" soundtrack, especially the A-Side. Honestly to say as a progressive rock reviewer, the five pieces upon the B-Side are so fine pop songs and might not appropriate to be called as "Crossover Prog" that I cannot evaluate at least here if they are good or not, sadly. Contrary to the reverse "poppie" side, the five "Crossover Gems" upon the first appearance of this soundtrack should be listened by all of progressive rock freaks.

The beginning of this Merlin theatre is superb ... started with a gorgeous music phrase of "Niniane", very extensive, brilliant hard-edged rock sounds and clear voices take off one after another. Always pleasant colourful world can be felt under this song. "Tintagel", a short piece but a quiet song Fantasia to brilliant piano plays, is another dream in this theatre ... what a solemn voice Edward has really. In the third track "The Sword In The Stone", heavy backing voices crystallized with strict, rigid rhythm sections' explosive play are beyond expression. The following "The King's Enchanter" is a tad danceable, enjoyable one along with slight eccentric rhythm yay.

"Niniane (Lady Of The Lake)" must be considered as their masterpiece. One of the most incredibly beautiful tracks I've listened to until now, and this excellence can give this album such a kaleidoscopic sound colour, I'm sure. Ton's keyboard storytelling and Johan's crying guitar shout outside in the middle of this track are indeed awesome. Cannot listen without tears. Very suitable for the last song on the A-Side.

Let me mention as follows: this soundtrack should be a fantastic mirror that can project the bright side and the dark one around a progressive rock combo, not only like Kayak but also like other ones drenched in pop / catchy wave in the latter music life. A pathos around the progressive rock scene can be felt, in a sense.

A splendid album nonetheless.

Based on the succesful path of the debut the Dutch band followed ''See see the sun'' with a second album, which was originally to be titled ''His master's voice'', but this ideas was soon abandoned not to raise conflictions with the label of the same name.Eventually the album carried only the name of the band as a title, but became known also as ''Kayak II'' or ''Alibi'', named after the opening piece.It was released on EMI in 1974.

Now, the influences remain stable for Kayak, GENESIS and YES were the basic sources of inspirations, but this time the songwriting appears to a be a bit more accesible, focusing on vocal harmonies, elaborate melodies and striking choruses, flirting more and more with the emerging sound of SUPERTRAMP.So, in ''Kayak II'' the formula displayed follows a complex Symphonic Pop style and the band comes as the best retro equivalent to Swedish A.C.T., having a rich and convinving composing style, which ranges from poppy lines to symphonic orchestrations, filled with keyboard and piano interludes, interesting paces and joyful guitar plays.There are certain pieces that recall GENESIS' smoother and lyrical side, like the beautiful ballad ''Mountain too rough'' or the melodic ''Serenades'', but all pieces contain some serious musicianship with big time Mellotron dashes and organ runs.But it's not all about Symphonic Pop here.The long ''They get to know me'' is a pure Symphonic Rock opus with dramatic vocals and different segments, reminding of other North-European acts like FOCUS and DICE.Melancholic and haunting symphonicism, quirky synth drives and crying guitars complete a stunner in Kayak's discography.Or the 6-min. ''Trust in the machine'', which has a slight CAMEL touch circa ''Moonmadness'' with some jazzy orientations in the keyboard parts and some impressive Mellotron washes towards a grandiose outro.

Great Symphonic/Art/Pop Rock by Kayak.The greatest proof that poppy vibes cannot ruin a progressive album, on the contrary, this has to be one of most excellent and intelligent albums ever recorded by a Prog Rock group.Highly recommended.

I always enjoy compilation of early albums like this one with KAYAK which basically after they released five studio albums: See See The Sun (1973), Kayak II (1974), Royal Bed Bouncer (1975), The Last Encore (1976) and Starlight Dancer (1977). My first listen of Kayak happened with Kayak II especially with its Woe and Alas track. To be honest I love this track very much since the first time I heard it even until now. I really don't know why this compilation does not include this beuatiful song Kayak has ever made.

However, I like the inclusion of Nothingness right here in this compilation. This song has a very solid composition combining nice piano work and very good vocal harmony. The poppy song I. I Want you to be Mine (4:46) is actually good as well. Still my Heart cries for you (4:34) is very melodic and melancholic. While Starlight Dancer (5:03) is an excellent song with brilliant composition starting with something melodic at intro part followed with a blast of music that moves nicely from start to end. Irene (4:22) is a very good instrumental.

Overall it's a good compilation. Keep on proggin' ...!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW