Illusions On A Double Dimple is the masterpiece that ELP never released!

This is one of those albums that I recognized as a big favorite of mine just after my first listening experience. It's been almost four years since then and I'm still highly enthusiastic about this album which hopefully means that it wasn't just one of those passing fads. The comparison to the works of ELP is of course very hard to ignore by this point of Triumvirat's development, but I'll try to spin it 180 degrees and proclaim that Illusions On A Double Dimple is the Tarkus that just never got made.

As most of you know, Tarkus was an important album in ELP's career since it featured a side long genre-defining Tarkus suite. There's really no denying that the 21 minutes of an epic is a masterpiece which should not be overlooked by fans of progressive rock music. The real problem comes up once we transition to side two of Tarkus only to find it being filled by shorter and much less exciting material. If you are like me and think this ruins some of the momentum that was created on side one, chances are you might find Illusions On A Double Dimple to be a great improvement.

With the strategic replacement of Hans Pape with Helmut Köllen, Triumvirat not only got themselves the needed support in the guitar and bass departments but also a great improvement of the vocals! Jürgen Fritz has definitely improved his songwriting since Mediterranean Tales and the long jam interludes have now been substituted with smooth transitions between the different sections of these two lengthy suites. The music itself is Symphonic Prog music at its finest with the album's title track being a great example of the balance that can be achieved between great solo-spots and the melodic instrumental arrangements.

Unfortunately I have the feeling that some people won't be able to enjoy this music solely because they'll be busy finding all the sections that Triumvirat had taken from the U.K. scene of the time. After all, ELP is not the only band that Triumvirat has taken their 'inspiration' from. As much as I'm partially guilty of that same nit-picking, there's just so much passion in these two compositions that I am able to overlook most of the flaws and concentrate entirely on the excellent songwriting.

This is where Triumvirat was on top of their game and so they took the occasion to show ELP just what those lads could have achieved if only they expanded their Tarkus suite to the full LP size. Even though Triumvirat's two compositions have taken a great deal from bands like ELP and Yes, Fritz and his band still managed to make it sound fresh and exciting which can sometimes be more than enough for a masterful performance.

***** star songs: Illusions On A Double Dimple (23:24)

**** star songs: Mister Ten Percent (21:37)

Let me make it very clear that this album is not the musical push-over that many prog fans seem to believe it is. Nor is it 'the jazzy album' in the sense that there's an overwhelming amount of jazz on here. The only reason that people see this as a jazzier album is because of the 10 minute instrumental Nothing At All, but the other tracks are just as jazzy as the rest of the Caravan catalogue. All in all, this is a grossly misunderestimated album, and with all the bad hype about this album, I was astonished by just how good it was.

Waterloo Lily is a fun song about... a prostitute! The artwork for the album suggests this theme also. The cover art for this album is actually William Hogarth's 'Tavern Scene' from his series of paintings known as 'A Rake's Progress'. This can be compared to the comical drawing of Waterloo Lily in the inner gatefold. The song follows my favourite prog format of 'short vocal section - meaty instrumental - short vocal section'. The instrumental is over 4 minutes long and has many interesting twists and turns, turning this song into a Caravan classic.

Nothing At All is simply a jazz work out. The first 5 minutes of this track sound the same the entire way through, and besides some instrumental soloing, there is nothing very interesting about it. The middle section, It's All Coming Soon, is a lot more interesting, as it seems to have actually been composed, unlike the entirely improvised first section. You don't come away empty handed after listening to this, but it's easy to agree that five minutes at the beginning is quite long.

Songs And Signs is a short, quaint piece that is unfortunately rather forgettable. Some nice melodies, but ultimately nothing to shout about.

Aristocracy is a leftover from 'In the Land of Grey and Pink'. I really like the melody to this song, and the 'Do do do' section. I first heard this track as a demo in the bonus tracks to the previous album, and for this album they decided to crank up the tempo so that this track loses most of it's sweetness. Also, in the demo, Pye sings with a higher voice which I found more appealing. Nevertheless, this is a still a good Caravan track.

The medley that is commonly known as The Love In Your Eye is undoubtedly the highlight of the album. This album is clearly the next in line of songs like For Richard and Nine Feet Underground. The first few minutes are augmented by a string section, and this section could actually do very well as a standalone track. I really like the chorus, and it's a shame it doesn't appear near the end of the song. After the first section, there are over 7 minutes of brilliant instrumental music, with great riffs that flow into each other perfectly. This section is often extended when played live. There is a brief lyrical section around the 10 minute mark before the group launch into a rock and roll outro that will easily get you on your feet. While Nine Feet Underground suffered from focusing too much on the keyboards, it seems that Caravan learnt their lesson for this album, as it seems nearly every instrument gets it's own part. Jimmy Hastings once again reprises on a Caravan album, with some more impressive flute work.

I find The World Is Yours to be such a sweet, adorable song. In my opinion, this is the best of Caravan's "love songs". The acoustic guitar has a melody that you'd expect to hear on a children's show about the countryside. That's how adorable it is! For the more progressively minded, the chorus in 10/4 might be of interest to you.

For those of you who are new to Caravan, I think this album would be a wonderful place to start, even if many people think this is too different from Caravan's normal sound. The replacement of David Sinclair with Steve Miller did have an effect on their sound, but this was a positive effect since Sinclair's keyboards did start to get quite repetitive on the last album. If you have listened to a few Caravan albums, but are unsure whether to get this one, I say YES YES YES go for it! Unlike quite a few prog fans on this website, I honestly don't see this album as a weak point in Caravan's career.