THE SHOW OF OUR LIVES: CARAVAN AT THE BBC 1968-1975

Be aware that this set comes in two versions: the standalone version subtitled "Caravan at the BBC 1968-1975" has two songs (Place of My Own) and Ride) from a 1968 session which aren't included on the version (subtitled "Caravan at the BBC 1970-1975") compiled in the recent Decca/Deram Years compilation boxed set. (Presumably this is because those songs didn't come out on Decca or Deram, but Verve.)

That said, I wouldn't cry too much over those tracks - fun gems from Caravan's 1968 debut album though they are, they're rather minor songs which quickly fell by the wayside in the wake of the far superior material which Caravan would develop from 1970 onwards. On either version of this set, you get comfortably over two hours of live/live-in-the- studio renditions of much of the band's best material, as well as the odd rarity - perhaps the biggest rarity here being a 9 minute take on Feelin' Reelin' Squealin', which was an early single put out by Caravan's chums Soft Machine.

Magnificently covering Caravan's evolution from underground eccentrics to one of the more polished of the second- tier 1970s prog acts (in the sense of commercial success - they never hit ELP levels of showbiz prominence, but musically speaking they were a top notch act), either version of The Show of Our Lives is excellent, not least for having the good taste to stop comfortably before the wheels ended up coming off of Caravan by the end of the decade.