KAYAK

The Dutch melodic symphonic crossover group Kayak is going through a brilliant phase since founding member Ton Scherpenzeel reformed the group in 2018 with the record 'Seventeen'. The 'Live 2019' record showed the new band to be in a glorious form on stage (which I also witnessed myself in the city of Arnhem). Vocalist Bart Schwertmann is the best singer the band ever had (which is saying a lot) and master guitarist Marcel Singer is the ballsy counterweight to Ton Scherpenzeel's very melodic and classically influenced type of songwriting. On their latest record 'Out of this World' the band manages to bring some of that great podium flair to the record (something lacking on the rather flat sounding 'Seventeen' record). The production is quite good here. Kayak usually makes albums with a few strong progressive rock tracks and a string of lighter melodic pop rock songs and this album is no different. There are however a lot of great five-star progressive tracks here; 'Out of This World', 'Under a Scar', 'Kaja', 'Mystery', 'The Way She Said Goodbye', 'Critical Mass', 'Red Rag to a Bull' and 'A Writer's Tale' are all tracks fit among the best material of the band. Think of extended Kayak classics like 'Merlin', 'Icarus', 'Starlight Dancer' and 'Daphne'. The band uses some classic building blocks to make the sound typically 'Kayak'; the intelligent harmonic chords patterns by Scherpenzeel, the endless melodic lines in vocals and guitar, the interesting mood changes within songs and the band's recognizable 'light touch' to tie it all together. Sadly the album is also plagued by three out of place sounding pop songs on which guitarist Marcel Singor has lead vocals. As much as I adore his guitar playing, I just don't see how these songs fit on a Kayak album with their strong influences of Bowie and perhaps Sting. Other notable songs are 'One by One', a ballad sung by bass player Kristoffer Gildenlöw that could have been written by Trans-siberian Orchestra. The last songs 'Ship of Theseus' is sung by Ton Scherpenzeel himself and is actually a nice ending with a ghost ship theme and atmosphere. This album could have easily been Kayak's 21th century swansong and it would still have had a playing time of 50 minutes, but as it stands I can't give it more than four stars. 'Out of this World' does however offer some of the best symphonic progressive rock of 2021 and therefor comes as highly recommended to listeners of before-mentioned genres.

The exquisitely arpeggiated piano intro to the title track lets everybody know from the very beginning that this classic Dutch outfit is back, and in the best form. And not only the instrumental prowess is back with them, but also the melodies, the tasteful (and tasty) arrangements and that fine pop craftmanship delivering great songs.

Having said that, it doesn't mean that there's few or nothing for the prog ear in this album, on the contrary: the good melodies take off and reach great high in the interplay and in the always sensible vocals. And the best part is that this happens with each and every track, you don't have to digest a lot of fillers in order to find just a couple of listenable tracks. The whole album flows nicely in a high level of musicianship, it never leaves you just waiting to see if the next track can save the day.

As a sample of the more basic, song-oriented material, give a listen to the track 14 Cary. As for the more epic content, go for the opener, and the tracks 3 Under a Scar, 6 Critical Mass, & 13 A Winter's Tale. The closer, even when brief, is a great symphonic moment.

As what seems to be the case with most people, my introduction to Kayak was through the excellent album "Phantom of the Night". This album, once it grows on you, will possibly influence you to check out Kayak's discography, and you'll find out that the band got it's start in 1972 and then disbanded in 1982 after releasing around 9 albums. During this time, the band saw many line-up changes, but founder Ton Scherpenzeel has been the one constant through the years. Then, in 1999, they were invited to participate in a TV show, and they decided to re-form. Since then, they are still active and have released several more albums since. There are, as a result, many albums to choose from.

Kayak's music has pretty much been a progressive pop style, not unlike that of The Alan Parson's Project in the use of pop, prog, and symphonic styles that make you sit up and listen while not really realizing that you are listening to progressive music until you get to know it better. It is bright music, led mostly by piano and other keyboards, but also not afraid to let the guitar take charge along the way.

So, if you are interested in checking out their discography, the album "Starlight Dancer" can be a somewhat confusing affair. It was released in Europe in 1977, and another version was released in North America at the same time. Now, this was a practice that was done by the record companies quite often. The track line-ups on the different versions of "Starlight Dancer" are quite different, to the point of them being two different albums. This was done in order to pick out songs that the record company "Janus" thought would appeal more to the population of the US and Canada. Instead of replacing one or two songs, though, the NA version only kept 4 of the songs from the European version of the album, and on top of that, replaced two of those with "demo" versions of the original album tracks. These songs were the title track, "Turn the Tide" and demo versions of "Irene" and "I Want You to Be Mine" They also included a track not on the European album version that was only released as a b-side in Europe; "Ballad for a Lost Friend". The other 6 tracks all come from the previously released album "The Last Encore". As a result of this, the NA version of "Starlight Dancer" actually becomes a compilation, with most songs coming from the previous album, not the current album. To make things even more confusing, the album cover on the US version is the exact same as the album cover from "The Last Encore" (except for the album title).

So, this particular review is for the North American version of "Starlight Dancer". I have not been able to listen to the European version, so I don't know how to compare it to that one. However, this version demonstrates the direction that Ton wanted to take his band, and it includes some bright, prog pop tracks that those who listened to "Phantom of the Night" would probably expect, but also contains some nice, soaring ballads, all with the prog edge needed to keep them interesting, but with pop-centered riffs and melodies that will stick in your head, but in a good way.

The album begins and ends with the demo versions taken from the recording sessions from 1977. Why the label decided to use the demo versions is unknown, but they both sound quite finished to me without hearing the finished versions of them. "I Want You to Be Mine" is a good opener and prepares the listener for the signature prog-pop sound of the band. "Ballad for a Lost Friend" is a bit more like a ballad which picks up later in the song and one of my favorites from the album. By the time you get to "Nothingness" you are ready for something not so bright, and you get it here with a soaring and sweet ballad which carries over somewhat in the next track that grows off of that.

The title track opens up the 2nd side with what is probably the best track on the album. At this point, more of the symphonic style is added in though throughout the album you have heard the use of the string ensemble, you'll really notice it here along with the Alan Parson's Project similarities. After this, the tracks are a bit shorter and begin to sound alike as they continue in this manner with the bright prog-pop they are known for. Things cool down a bit for the softer and flowing instrumental, the demo version of "Irene" which closes the album.

Just as is the case with most of Kayak's music, this album spotlights that pop-prog sound with the right mix of symphonic and folk influences that make it feel like, on first listen, that you are not even hearing prog. But as you become more familiar with it, you start to notice the non-standard phrasing and lyrical tendencies and the other subtle things the band uses to give it a light amount of complexity. As with most of their albums, it is a very pleasant listen, not at all challenging, yet not groundbreaking at all either. Many hard-core progressive fans will not like this because it is quite light on the progressiveness, but if you enjoy the lighter side of prog, then you should know this band because this is what they specialize in.

I think there's another version to this single (intended to the US market) where the prime side was given to "Keep the Change", a nicely paced mid-tempo song with radio potencial, dealing with romantic disappointment.

On the A side, from the album of the same name, we have "Phantom of the Night", a romantic ghosts tale, with nice vocals, exquisite classical piano and electric guitar lines rounding the chorus in a way that is really hard to forget.

On the B side, "Ivory Dance" is a nifty, yet not tremendously inspiring keyboards excercise resulting in some amusement for a night where your dining plans went overboard.

To try and put together a potted history including all the details of what has happened to this band over the years is a task beyond me, but let's just say that since their inception back in 1972 they have been one of the most important progressive rock bands in the Dutch scene. Keyboard player and composer Ton Scherpenzeel had basically given up on bringing Kayak back together again but decided to start afresh with a new line-up and in 2017 they released 'Seventeen' which reached #6 in the Dutch charts, their highest placing since 1980. This led to some tours with a line- up of Bart Schwertman (vocals, acoustic guitar, bass, percussion), Marcel Singor (guitar, vocals), Kristoffer Gildenlöw (bass, vocals) and returning drummer Hans Eijkenaar. They recorded some of the dates, and the original idea was to make a live album available just to fans on their next tour with The Flower Kings, but after that was shelved a decision was made to have it available through their website instead. I have the version which has been released as part of the wonderful True Music Guide series (#17), which is an A5 booklet containing an interview and photos, but as this was a limited edition I am not sure if it is still available.

Anyway, it is all about the music, and this double CD set lasts nearly two hours, yet it flies by. Here we have a band who may only have got together for the tour, yet the name has a long history and the crowd know all the songs and are there for a great time, and of course the band reacts to that. Schwertman and Singor are new names to me, but they are more than up for the job. Scherpenzeel is at the helm, which given he wrote or co-wrote virtually all the 22 songs on display is no surprise, and with a strong rhythm section it allows Schwertman and Singor to really relax into their roles. Singor is a very powerful guitarist, and if this band had been formed 20 years later than they had, then they would be discussed as neo prog as certainly in the live environment that is how their material comes across. Hard rock, melodic rock, progressive rock all combines together to create music which is dynamic, forceful and plain great fun.

Schwertman may have been an unknown before joining the band in time for the last album, but he is at home with the old material as he is with the new and is a singer with plenty of range and emotion. Let us all hope that Scherpenzeel fully recovers from his heart attack, and that this band can again get back into the studio and then onto the stage as nearly fifty years down the road, Kayak still have a great deal to offer the prog world.

Kayak is a Dutch symphonic / crossover prog group originating from the seventies. Founder Ton Scherpenzeel (keyboards, composer) was left but nothing but the Kayak legacy, after co-founder Pim Koopman had died in 2009 and the steady line-up until 2015 had all but dispersed into different projects. But then the tables were turned for Scherpenzeel; in 2018 the well-received album 'Seventeen' was released on InsideOut music with a completely new line-up. The band now reinvigorated, it got booked (by Glassville Music) for better venues than before and listening to this simply stellar album it isn't hard to see why.

This is a classic rock / prog concert. It has that musical flair of Queen, that symphonic hardrock of Saga, the heart crushing guitar leads of Camel and that unmatched harmonic and melodic song-writing by Kayak. Though the often gentle and classical influenced keyboards of Scherpenzeel are still the basis for the songs, he is now accompanied with this amazing band that almost outplays him. Guitarist Marcel Singor enhances every melody he touches with his thick lucid guitar tone and adds melodic hardrock finesse and splendor to all the songs. Bassist Kristoffer Gildenlow (former Pain of Salvation) became a fulltime member for the tour, he needs no further introduction. As much I may personally admire the guitar playing of Marcel Singor, he can't help being unable to outshine the newly introduced lead vocalist Bart Schwertman. His performance is worth studying for aspiring vocalists; his immense skill, endurance, variety and sense of style is unmatched by any prog concert I know of. The material ranges from mid-seventies symphonic prog, hardrock, modern symphonic, art pop to rockmusical - songs already sung by three different types of vocalists before him. Yet he finds a common feel to tie everything together in a strong-willed, heartfelt and - above all - festive classic rock vibe.

This 2019 version of Kayak simply crushes some of the original versions of songs like 'Daphne', 'Still My Heart Cries For You', 'Alibi', 'Irene' and 'Starlight Dancer'. On top of it the band produces a stellar version of the band's greatest hit 'Ruthless Queen'. The material of 'Seventeen' sounds significantly better than on the record as well and the albums two mini-epics 'La Peregrina' and 'Cracks' shine brightly here.

With an amazing energy, a strong recording sound and an almost perfect two hour long set-list Kayak delivers what must be one of the best live albums of modern progressive rock. I enjoy it as much as Arena's ''Live & Life'. An essential album for fans of symphonic prog, classic (art)rock and neo-progressive.

In a Rock Opera about a character who really existed, it's also important that the novelization is coherent with the real history as much as possible. Another important required characteristic is that the story flows from one song to the other without having to interrupt it too often by a narrator. Last but obviously not least, the music must be good. KAYAK surely succeeds in creating good music to support the story. Both the songs and the instrumental symphonic parts are good and the passages are melodic but never trivial as usual with this Dutch band. I don't know if a real musical has ever been performed. Probably not. KAYAK is a band that usually doesn't perform out of its Country, mainly beacause its mastermind Ton Scherpenzeel doesn't want to put a feet on an airplane and this is quite a big limit.

Back to the story: the character of Michel de Notre Dame, aka Nostradamus is famous for his hermetic profecies, and there's a huge amount of books about him and his writings. In a "compact version" of this opera, released as a single CD, there's a narration, in English and in Dutch about what the true story might have been, with an interesting, realistic, hypothesis.

An exhaustive review of all the songs would take long and wouldn't be of any use if one is interested in this double CD. Some of the songs are really excellent and who is practical with the musical style of KAYAK will find here them at their best.

Being it an Opera, some themes are recurring several times. "Celestial Science" and "A Man with Remarkable Talents" are two of themost important themes, but my personal favorite is "Save My Wife" which is dramatic, sad and has a melodic structure tytpical of the best KAYAK songs.

A great concept album from the same land of "The Human Equation". It's a pity that while Arjen Lucassen has been able to bring his one to a theather and to a DVD, KAYAK failed to do the same. A complete Rock Opera that probably will never be peroformed on stage, if not just by the band playing the songs.

My first encounter with Kayak was when I went to the record store way back when, and asked the clerk if there was anything new and interesting and he suggested Kayak's "Phantom of the Night". It ended up becoming one of my personal favorites back then, but especially because of the emotional tracks more than the upbeat ones. "Daphne (Laurel Tree)", "Phantom of the Night" and "Ruthless Queen" became songs I loved to sing out loud. After 1981 however, they suddenly dropped off the face of the Earth and I always wondered what happened to them. When I joined up on this site several years back, I was quite surprised to see they were alive and kicking again, so I started to check out some of their newer albums.

Kayak was one of those bands that played pleasing progressive rock and formed their band back in 1973, releasing some decent and accessible prog albums through the 70s. Then, after the release of "Merlin" they split up around 1982, and not much was heard about them for several years. Two of the band's founders, Ton Scherpenzeel and Pim Koopman decided to start working on some new material, but without intending to release it as Kayak, until Max Warner, the band's original lead singer, decided to have a go at the new lyrics to the new songs. When that experience ended up being positive, they decided to bring the band back together, at least with most of the same line up they had for the album "Royal Bed Bouncer". Thus, "Close to the Fire" released in the year 2000, was born. Even though Warner didn't want to continue past this, Scherpenzel and Koopman decided to continue on. The band is still putting out occasional albums and making top-notch crossover prog, however, only Scherpenzeel is the sole original member.

The music on this album still has that accessible Kayak sound that made them popular in the Netherlands and made them well known internationally. The big difference is that the album gives the band an updated sound, as if they were never even gone for several years. There are upbeat tracks and slower ballads, just like their fans expected from their previous albums, but the music has a slight edge that gives them their progressive status, though it definitely isn't what you would call heavy prog by no means, yet it is still a cut above the standard fare with emotional guitar solos, excellent keyboard and synth hooks and the occasional quirkiness.

Don't expect anything groundbreaking here however. There is really nothing astounding here either. The music is pretty safe, nothing really challenging, it just rides the line between power pop and light progressive music. As in the past, there are some nice guitar melodies, synth solos and a variation of tracks from slow ballads to moderate flowing melodies to upbeat and happy songs, with a slight touch of progressive sensibilities just to keep things somewhat interesting, but nothing that demands complete attention. They are songs that you can be inclined to sing along with, but, as was the case with "Phantom of the Night", nothing that will really etch itself into your psyche or soul. It's good, but it's also quite easy to listen to, so it's lasting power is doubtful. There are a couple of things of interest here, namely that "Full Circle" has a guitar solo from guest Adam Latimer of "Camel", and that the last track is a reimagining of one of Kayak's classics from the "Phantom of the Night" album, the song "Ruthless Queen" sung by guest Syb V.D. Ploeg.

In the end, it is good to hear their soft prog return, but more heart and soul will be required to produce an album that will leave an impact. Close to the Fire is a good 3 star album, but nothing that will help the band become progressive superstars.

Amazing concept symhonic rock opera by Kayak. I think it`s remarkable album by truely talanted band leaded by Ton Scherpenzeel. Please do not compare to Alan Parsons or Camel - it`s differet - it`s quite unique. What a great mixt of a story and musical ideas - you can hear Ton`s modulation and his playing is fabulous. Also i do like lead singers. It has powerful anthems , superbly gentle ballads , fairy instrumentals - Friend of the Star - wow! please dig into it, to me it`s even cooler than Merlin - but it`up to you to decide. Give it a try! 5 stars for sure!!

Faceless pop rock with prog flourishes that follows the formula Genesis used for success during this period. Of course Genesis had by far the better musicians but Kayak, as they always do, give it their best go. There are some titles I wouldn't mind hearing again, but the rest is bland. None of the instruments really stand out and the vocals pretty much follow the same formula. The harmonies aren't really that prevalent, there's little mellotron and the hooks don't dig in. Sometimes I like these later seventies records where the band morphs their prog sound to fit the times. Camel's Breathless comes to mind. This one, however, can go back on the scrap heap.