BACK TO FRONT

this is from the original line-up and although better than its predecessor still a disappointment but the times would not allow them greater freedom. It seems the band enjoyed enough Videos , that this popped-up regularly in the 90's concert. Really a bunch of uninspired songs , but still one can hear somehow , how this was still Caravan. The opener and the final number are the better numbers on this album but the rest is rather unexciting.

This album had already been released on Cd but got a remastering (and probably a few bonus) on the Eclectic Label in late 2004

SHOULD I COME BACK AND STAY ? WHAT FOR?

This is another existential question that the Sinclair cousins might have considered before rejoining "Caravan". Lots of hopes when you see the line-up. The original one, yes! But the least I can say, is that this album is not very much inspired.

Very pleasant vocals of course, some upbeat and pop songs ("Hold On", "Videos Of Hollywood"). Not bad but way off expectations. This reminds me more of the poor "Camel" of the late seventies (but both bands have profound links of course).

I have never been a great fan of the band but I have to say that they released very few bad albums so far (actually only one : "The Album") but to be honest, there is very little to retain from this one. A major deception if you considered the musicians involved here. The core of a band which created a style on their own. I have always been granted "Caravan" for this. But such an album won't add anything great to their fame.

Mellow mood with "Sally Don't Change It". Press next (but you could already have hit this key with "Videos)

This album is not very good. Might be OK when you listen to it abstractedly. But does "Caravan" music need to be listened to that way? I guess not. The finale of "All Abroad" is awful and disco oriented. And it is not the reggae-ish "Taken By Breath Away" that will convince you (nor myself). What the hell did happen to "Caravan"? Probably the same dreadful eighties syndrome.

I guess that the very few reviews for this album indicates sufficiently that it isn't really an essential album (even for die-hard fans).

Three out of ten (max) is the rate. Since it is still not possible on PA I will downgrade it to one star. A poor album indeed. Don't bother with this album.

I took years, after the first spin, to find the courage to retry this album. When I have bought it in 1982 it was a total disappointment as I was expecting a lot from the original lineup of a band able to release to of my all time favorite albums: If I could.. and In the Land...

The first disappointing thing was the cover sheet. It's a clear remind to Escher with flowers turning into birds, but what does it have to do with the album?

"Back To Herne Bay Front" is not a bad track at all. It has lost the disco-funky mood of some songs of the previous "The Album", even if I really dislike the sound used by David Sinclair on the solo. It's jazzy and the bass and vocals are quite good.

What's now? " Bet you wanna take it all / Hold on hold on" an uptime glam-rock&roll song...no, I don't need anything like this. What's the sense of releasing a pop song that would have been good in 1970 while in 1982? It wouldn't have been a success in 1970 either. In the second half (or the second song) when it slows down is a bit better. Mel Collins plays a nice solo even on a trivial base.

I have controversial feelings about "A.A. Man". It features non-trivial passages, odd signatures and Richard's voice, but it doesn't do much for me. inserted in a different album would have been different. It could have been a good filler if part of a good disc.

"Videos Of Hollywood" is a song that seems taken from Camel's I Can See Your House From Here. Probably because of Richard's vocals. If only the guitar was played by Andy Latimer.... Also the sounds used by David Sinclair are similar to those used by Camel on that album. Add Mel Collins' sax and this is a "lost Camel's song".

"Sally Don't Change it " is on the same strings but almost without drums. It's Camel more than Caravan but without Latimer. I don't know where Pye Hastings is. He could have found room for good solos on songs of this kind, but there's very few guitar here.

"All Aboard" is nothing special, a pop Caravan song to let go in the background.

"Take My Breath Away" is in my opinion the poorest track of the album. I can't find a sense in this song. It seems survived from the disaster of The Album. Already heard and already discarded.

"Proper Job" starts similar to Nine Feet Underground. Of course it's just few seconds. It sounds like an attempt to return to the good moments and effectively there are moment in this closer that can remind to better moments. Add to this Mel's sax and the result is not that bad.

Back to Front is not totally back. Even if surely better than "The Album" (doing better wasn't a hard thing to do), it still doesn't deserve the third star, but apart of 3 weak songs all the rest is listenable and there are tracks of the old goodies.

2.5 stars

Better. But not by far

Caravan soldiered on during the early 80's with Back To Front, another entry in a series of weak albums from the group that began with Blind Dog At St. Dunstans. Back To Front is better than the previous The Album, but it is not better by far. The material is still uninspired, but at least here they again sound like Caravan. I find it a pleasant enough listen, but it fails to make an impact or leave any lasting impressions. After this album there would be a longer silence from the band and not until 1995 would they release another studio album. I think it was clear that they had come to the end of the line here. And like for most other classic progressive Rock bands, the 80's were not kind to them.

The song Videos Of Hollywood was previously familiar to me from Caravan's entry in the Classic Rock Legends video series. It is a rather simple Pop number, but at least it has a memorable melody and a characteristic lead vocal.

Back To Front is another Caravan album for fans and collectors

Caravan's Back To Front is notable because it's the reunion album - the original quartet of Richard and Dave Sinclair, Richard Coughlan, and Pye Hastings got back together (Hastings and Coughlan having been the only consistent members of the band since beginning) and assembled a studio album for the first time since In the Land of Grey and Pink - and alas, with the death of Coughlan in 2013, it would prove to be the last time.

The long-absent Richard even gets to lead off the album with one of his songs - Back To Herne Bay Front, a gentle pop- ish number about a visit to the seaside - but anyone hoping to get back to that grey and pink land of yore would be disappointed by this. In keeping with recent Caravan albums, this is something of a pop-prog release rather than a prog-oriented thing; the band hadn't put together a truly epic track since the Grubby Little Oik suite on Blind Dog At St Dunstans', and show no intention of doing so here.

In some respects, this allows for a nice level of stylistic range - the album sounds even more diverse than The Album in this respect - since in effect each band member is contributing their own songs and doesn't seem to feel obliged to stick too close to a single defined sound. That said, the group members' musical trajectories more or less work together. Just as Caravan had been in a pop-prog vein for a good while now, Richard Sinclair had been onboard for some of Camel's more successful attempts at pop-prog blends (and indeed Dave Sinclair had also joined Camel for Breathless).

It makes sense, then, that for this reunion album the group members would contribute songs in this sort of pop-prog vein: if you've found common ground after so long apart from each other, concentrating on that is just sensible. And to be fair, from their debut album to songs like Golf Girl, the original Caravan lineup had included a dose of pop sensibilities into their formula right from the start. Still, I can see why fans for whom the long, epic Caravan workouts were the point of the exercise would find little to enjoy here (though the closing number of Proper Job/Back to Front attains some of the climactic drama that classic Caravan were so good at).

For my part, I think this is just as charming a prog-pop album as, say, Camel's Raindances or Breathless, which thanks to the presence of Richard Sinclair's voice this would make a great companion piece to. Adding Mel Collins on sax for the wistful Visions of Hollywood just makes it all the better (and makes the Camel comparisons all the more apt).