THE LAST ENCORE

By the mid 1970s KAYAK was Holland's answer to the intellectual but oh so self-satisfied art pop of 10CC, CITY BOY, and SUPERTRAMP, although they appeared to be forging a parallel course rather than using those bands as a blueprint. Their admittedly short and generally vocal oriented tracks do qualify as progressive in their quirky structures and shifts, but their attitude is the antithesis of prog as they try to outsmart and distance themselves from their audience with a humorless parodic take on the genre.

Nonetheless, in some cases strong melodies do shine through and salvage this release from life imprisonment. The ambient "Nothingness", the maudlin "Land on the Water" and the cosmic "Relics from a Distant Age" all distinguish themselves while exposing the wasted talent elsewhere. For each of these are a couple of vapid duds like "Back to the Front", "Love of a Victim", "Do You Care", "Still My Heart Cries for You", "love me Tonight/Get on Board".

KAYAK combined some of the worst aspects of pop and prog: the ephemerality of the former and the impenetrability of the latter. Even the cheesily rousing anthems of STYX and QUEEN, and the late 1970s/early 1980s concessions of YES, GENESIS, and CAMEL seem more authentic than the Kayak of 1976. Nonetheless, they did garner a sufficient audience to ensure that "Last Encore" would not live up to its name. Slightly under 2 stars.