THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS

Caravan

Canterbury Scene

2.87 | 156 ratings

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octopus-4
Special Collaborator
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams

Pye Hastigs and Dave Sinclair give a touch of old Caravan with their vocals, but the 70s will never come back again.

This reunion album, without Richard Sinclair, doesn't contain true highlights. The opener "It's A Sad, Sad Affair" is nice but just a pop song, and things don't go better with "Somewhere In Your Heart", that's a song to make thirteens dance at birthdays celebrations, even with Jimmy Hastings closing the track with his flute.

"Cold As Ice" is better. We have to wait for the third track to listen to Caravan. It's everything but a masterpiece, but it's a decent Canterbury song. "Liar" is similar but with some "70s disco" moments.

"Don't Want Love" is the first good song, in the sense that's more than just "decent". Unfortunately it lacks the long instrumental parts which made songs like Winter Wine great. The final flute is not enough.

"Travelling Ways" is just a nice pop song with no Caravans inside. "This Time" sounds like the poppy Camel of "Breathless", but Camel were making Harbour of Tears at this time. This is a huge difference.

"If It Wasn't For Your Ego" is a song that belongs to the "glam" side of Caravan. Not bad also this, but not much better than things like Love To Love You.

"It's Not Real" has a slow funky mood It sounds like Wishbone Ash on Front Page News. Again the problem is that we are in 1995.

"Wendy Wants Another 6" Mole": two minutes to skip.

"I Know You Were Laughing" is one of the best songs. It sounds Caravan enough and is captivating. Only it's that kind of nice songs one get soon tired of.

This second "reunion" some 13 years after the last one is neither a revival. It's well played, but we know how skilled those guys are. There are no essential songs and some weak moments. I can't rate it more than two stars, sorry.

octopus-4 | 2/5 | 2011-4-11

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