CLOSE TO THE FIRE

I personally think this is Kayak's best album. It sounds like the classic Kayak moved over to our time. Most prog fans might find them a bit too poppy, but it's a good balance between pop, rock and progressive music. On the following albums the guys from Kayak start using a lot of female vocals, which is not a bad thing on itself but it looks like Kayak has changed direction on the progriver with this. So this album really sounds like a classic one and for anyone who wants to get acquintanced with this great band this album is the right place to start. Highlights are the songs Close to the Fire, Crusader and Full Circle (with guest appearance of Andy Latimer!). The last song is an addition of probably their best well known song Ruthless Queen, but too bad it's sung by a famous Frisian popsinger who totally ruins the song in my opinion. But hey, it's an additional song and the album itself is great.