NATTDJURSTID

This album is a completely different story compared to the ones they've recorded before. "Nattdjurstid" ("Nightanimalstime), is on the whole a Hans Lundin effort, the leader, singer and keyboardist of the band. The record is filled with his haunted, screaming voice, which I know is too much for some, but I love it. The music is sometimes dark and in some sence a mix between new-age (as it sounded at the time) and (then) modern prog and it comes out very nice, I think. The songs are rather short, but in fact Kaipa usually made shorter tracks then many other bands in the genre at the time. I was rather dissapointed when it was released, but it has grown over the years and I now find it strong and charming. It was released at a small independent label at the time and hasn't been released on CD yet, which makes me thank God for old vinyls and cdr:) Oh, one more thing: the final track; "Väntar en storm" (Expecting a storm) is one of Kaipas strongest tracks, IMO!

Finally, Hans Lundin found his way in music. kaipa, with Nattdjurstid, became a "new wave" band trying to "explore" some new territories as Depeche Mode, Ultravox or Kajagoogoo ( do you remember ? ). I beg your pardon if you find me too sarcastic but this CD is one of the worse I ever listened ( bad songs, bad singinging, bad sound ). I understand than a musician try to play different kind of music in his life, but this CD is really too stupid.

If You can see past the (almost futile) use of some electronic effects used in this recording, it stands out as the best Kaipa album up till the pause. "Väntar en storm" is outstanding. I got a CD copy made from a LP, and it is always with me in my car. I would love to have this reissued with some extra tracks from the recording sessions.

Kaipa previous album was not really great to say the least. Partially AOR oriented it still held some symphonic and pleasant tracks. I have to admit that this album features even less interesting songs (actually none).

This album is more electro-pop oriented and I have to say that if I didn't really liked Mats Löfgren lead vocals on their previous two albums, I can't stand at all the one of Hans Ludin here. His role should be confined to what he's doing best: keyboards playing. Period. To be convinced, just have a listen to the dreadful title track. But I would recommend you to press the magical key: NEXT.

This album has NOTHING to do with symphonic prog. Of course, "Kaipa" is not the first one to have changed from musical direction during his life cycle. And it hurts. Just as it hurt with lots of other bands. To name them all would be a real hell of a job but you get the idea.

This album is a pitiful effort which is absolutely useless IMHHO. The worst being probably achieved with "Zepapo". In all honesty, I can't find a single good track. "Nattdjurstid" is just a juxtaposition of poor songs even if once in a while there are some better aspects ("Identitetskris").

You shouldn't really bother with this album. Their first three studio albums were far much more enjoyable. This one is only painful. From "Galen" (the opening track) to "Våntar En Storm", the closing one.

One star. Vocals are really UNBEARABLE.

And I thought Händer was bad. This album is plain old nineteen eighties synth pop. I suppose Kaipa at this point were desperate to get played in the euro-discos, or something. Even as synth pop, it is a completely unmemorable album. Even after listening to it a few times in a row, the only thing I can recall is on the title track, Nattdjurstid, there is an unintentionally humourous point where a synth hand clap occurs, and the singers shout, sounding as if they were just (rightfully) slapped.

The group hid from view for over a decade after this turkey. I don't blame them.

1/10

From the series "bottom", a more infamous example.

Heck, me neither. Again snapping my love for rock and '80s pop, but listen to an album as Nattdjurstid is an experience too painful to my ears. Kaipa had really hit rock bottom here: although they had done something slightly decent in his previous album Hander the same can not be said about this horrible, disastrous album.

I usually find some good things even in the worst albums, but not in Nattdjurstid. Hmm, let's see:

-Vocals?Not;

-Badly-programmed drum machine?Not;

-Guitar?Not;

-Keys? Not (I've seen a lot better at that time);

-Melody? God help us!

-Bass? Err ... more or less (the title track is even acceptable).

Anyway, is more than clear my disdain for this album. I emphasize the fact that the Kaipa of the new millennium is much better than the past, and that the band did not escape the "curse of 80´s ". However I should make clear that there are other bands symphonic work infinitely better than this. 1 star.

This album is so unbearable that it makes me laugh. Today I received three remaster CD's of KAIPA '78 - '82 to be reviewed. Knowing in advance this one is regarded as the worst of them, I listened to it at first, trying to be as open-minded as I could. Sure, the synth-oriented pop/rock of the early eighties can be pretty good, even if made by a former prog band. For example Duke (1980) by Genesis isn't a bad album at all, and Peter Gabriel re-invented himself and made his first masterpiece (1980). There are some elements in Nattdjurstid [= Time of Nocturnal Animals] not so far from these mentioned albums -- think of 'Man of Our Times', the worst track of Duke, or PG songs such as 'Not One of Us'. Another influence for KAIPA at this time must have been TALKING HEADS. Musically, this album does have a peculiar and relatively original nature and it would be worth multiple listens, but... the vocals are the final insult to my ears and steal the second star from my rating.

And it's the same guy, Hans Lundin, whose bright and deeply emotional vocals I appreciate a lot in the Kaipa debut (1975)! Here he's not actually singing, he is YELLING. This is why the only track I actually like is the instrumental 'Identitetskris'. Some of the songs would be interesting if only the vocals were good. They all are in a rather fast tempo and the playing often has clever angularity comparable to the 80's KING CRIMSON (yeah, I mean it).

The recent CD release by Tempus Fugit includes three bonuses, the single 'Cellskräck' / 'Bländad ikväll' plus the previously unreleased 'Armé av lust' from the album sessions, all quite similar to the album's stuff, but the less vocal-oriented 'Armé' is in fact one of the best tracks. Well, anywhere else than on a PROG site, maybe two stars would be earned...

There are stinkers like Timmar Av Glas on this album. But I found it an interesting listen. I really started to like the title track Nattdjurstid, but mainly on an outre rock level. The pulsing bass and saw mill guitar were really catchy. Skipping right over the aforementioned Timmar Av Glas , the next song that catches my interest is Zepapo. I like a little funk now and then. (Funk guitar can be pretty fun to play.) Of course, I like the wild distorted guitar and the interludes of spacey keyboards that make a little cool jazz interludes, which really make the song a better listen. Identitetkris starts out like techno pop, but it quickly adds some dischordant and fanfare keyboard motifs which kind of sound like something in the general area of Alan Parsons, Saga, some of what you could hear from Steve Hackett, and even kind of themes the Steve Morse might have played.

I have to say I don't mind the aggressive vocals nor the brief interludes of straight pop elements, because Kaipa here was pretty good about not just leaving you there. Inam oss has to be seen as pretty much an attempt at New Wave, which I don't think fails.

I remember the 80s as a prog fan. It was no surprise to see yet another band let you down and start producing something more current. And we heard a lot of "Our music has changed". So I can understand the disgust with this album. On the otherhand Kaipa wasn't ever a band I listened to. And the more aggressive tone I heard on this album surprised me, beacause Kaipa usually runs a little twee for me. I saw this come up in my Spotify recommendations, and I was giving it a couple of tracks, because I didn't recognize it, and the difference between what I expected and what I heard, and what I thought was interesting enough to spin through it a couple times.

I think it's really an interesting attempt to maintain some semblance of music integrity at the same time as trying to stay alive in the market. I'm pretty sure it's at this time that Kerry Livgren of Kansas started writing his per-album record-companies-suck-song, so I've always chalked it up to increased pressure by record companies on all fronts.