IN THE LAND OF GREY AND PINK

When dreaming about pigs that might fly, I always tend to forget the time. Then again, the land of grey and pink is such a beautiful place without any worries that it all doesn't really matter. That's kind of the general mood of this album: dreamy, warm and most of all very lighthearted. Delightful, somewhat simple songs cover up the first half, while a stunning epic completes it.

"Golf Girl" opens the album, and is just like the other songs on the first half a catchy, dreamy pop song. It being a pop song does, however, by no means indicate it's bad. In fact, all of these pop songs sound fantastic to my ears. Caravan's style here is pretty distinctive, featuring often calm and pleasant instrumentals with Richard Sinclair's benign vocals on top of it. Pye Hasting also makes a vocal appearance on the more energetic "Love To Love You" with his higher pitched vocals. Also notable is David Sinclair's very likable fuzzy organ played through a rotary speaker, which is especially evident on the folky "Winter Wine" and the epic of the album, "Nine Feet Underground". This nearly 23 minute piece is a largely instrumental piece driven by a somewhat jazzy sound and features some long jams and solos. It clearly has a much more progressive feel than that of the songs on the first half. The lyrics on "Nine Feet Underground" are just as dreamy as the introduction of this review might suggest, while the lyrics on the other songs are somewhat quirky and most of the time don't make all too much sense. I don't get the impression that the lyrics are supposed to take an important role on the album though.

I don't consider In The Land Of Grey And Pink to be a masterpiece, but nevertheless it's a great album in the least. There is nothing really to dislike about it, but keep in mind that the first half of the album might be somewhat different from your expectations of a highly regarded prog album. In my view, In The Land Of Grey And Pink easily deserves 4 stars.