Caravan - In the Land of Grey & Pink
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.48 You Save: $7.50 (54%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Music CD See more new music releases 
|
|---|
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
Free Music Notes for In the Land of Grey & Pink
Free Music Review: A High Point in Progressive Music
Hit: 5 Stars
Without fluffing this up too much, I just want to state that the reason this album works so well is because of one man: Richard Sinclair. Perhaps I am partial to his music and achievements outside of Caravan, but I can see no other reason why this album has succeeded where many others in the band catalogue have not. The previous two albums in the Caravan discography are nice enough and worth checking out, but they seem to be lacking. The band was fully entrenched in the quirky psychadelic music of the late 60's, but aside from some moments on "If I Could Do it All Over....", there aren't any strong, distinctive elements that set the group apart from its peers.
During the production of this album, "In the Land of Grey and Pink", for whatever reason, Richard Sinclair came into his own as a songwriter. His writing and performances on the album are far from stunning: he's a decent enough singer, can pluck out a few chords on the guitar, but certainly no virtuoso. No, what Sinclair brought to this album was his sense of humor and fun. The whole thing begins with the classic "Golf Girl", a silly and campy song about a man who falls in love with a golf course employee. The melody and chord changes are nothing revolutionary, but again there is a light-heartedness to the song that is instantly appealing, even if the lyrics make little sense.
In my opinion, the best track on the album is "Winter Wine", another Richard Sinclair composition. The song begins with Richard plucking on an acoustic guitar and singing a folk-sy tale of yearning, castles, dragons, and various other fantastical things. The song picks up steam at roughly the 1:00 point, with a strong guitar riff and drum beat. The progression is pretty steady throughout its length, with plenty of jamming on organ & guitar, courtesy of Dave Sinclair (Richard's cousin) and Pye Hastings, respectively. The key to this song is that it is lovely, it also grooves, and it is fun.
Pye provides his sole contribution to the album "Love to Love You", which has a simple but catchy feel to it. The song has its own sense of fun, and the music is strongly appealing, but lacks the absurd humor of the Sinclair tracks previous to it. Coincidentally, the shortest track on the album.
The title track: again, nothing ground-breaking in terms of song writing, but it is good fun and Sinclair sings about all sorts of strange nonsense. The wonderful thing is that the absurdity is never off-setting.
The monster on this recording is "Nine Feet Underground", courtesy of Dave Sinclair. This is among the fan favorite recordings of the band, and it's not hard to see why. Unlike the previous tracks, it has many extended instrumental passages, with plenty of organ playing and grooves from the band. Strangely enough, the song doesn't FEEL as long as it does, and almost places the listener in a trance. The solos are never overly complicated, which is sometimes a fresh change from the million-notes-per-second mentality of other prog groups.
Plenty of bonus tracks here, but I won't get into them (this review is long enough!). My overall feeling about this album is that, although it doesn't have a ground-shattering effect on the music scene, it does present Caravan as a fresh and unique voice in any field of music. Unfortunately Richard Sinclair would leave the band after this album, and Caravan would continue to provide us with catchy, sometimes epic songs with Pye Hastings trademark dry humor and arrangements (see For Girls Who Grow album). This is so much fun, very much a product of its time and almost Brit-centric humor, but a worthy purchase!
Free Music Review: The ultimate Canterbury album
Hit: 5 Stars
This was the very first Caravan album I have ever heard and many people regard this as their best one, and I have no arguments about this. Caravan, unlike Soft Machine, Hatfield & the North, or National Health, leans more on the symphonic progressive side than the jazz rock/fusion side. Side one ("Golf Girl", "Winter Wine", "Love to Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" and the title track, to those who own the CD) consists of great, catchy songs with wonderful melodies. "Golf Girl" features some really silly lyrics about "Standing on a golf course, dressed in PVC", simply because "It started raining golfballs". Pretty silly, and great use of instrumentation including trombone and Mark II Mellotron. "Winter Wine" is by far one of the greatest cuts Caravan has ever done, in fact one of my favorite songs ever, with lyrics that are as mystical as "Golf Girl" was silly". "Love to Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly)" is a very short and catchy pop number, but very well done. Could've been played on radio. I am not much for the title track, sounds a little to much like filler, although I do like the lyrics which seem to be drug-oriented. Side two is filled up with the great "Nine Feet Underground" which is mainly a great jam showing off the keyboard talents of David Sinclair. In the Land of Grey & Pink is by far the Caravan album most dominated by Richard Sinclair, as Pye Hastings only sung on "Love to Love You" and parts of "Nine Feet Underground". The album cover features very cool fairytale artwork that seems to fit so well on this album. It's too bad that Caravan wouldn't be able to make another album as great as this one, several of their followup releases are definately worth listening to (Waterloo Lily, For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night, even Blind Dog at St. Dunstans) but the magic is more or less gone simply because the band was having trouble keeping a steady lineup. In the Land of Grey & Pink marks their last release with the original lineup of Richard Sinclair, David Sinclair, Pye Hastings, and Richard Coughlin. After the release of this album, David Sinclair left only to be replaced by Steve Miller (not The Joker and Fly Like an Eagle guy, but brother of Hatfield & the North and Matching Mole's Phil Miller), and of course more lineup changes afterwards.Free Music Review: Cheery and upbeat Canterbury rock
Hit: 5 Stars
This 1971 album is easily the most cheery and upbeat record that I have in my collection. It is an excellent example of the pop/prog side of the Canterbury scene (which is actually more diverse than most would make it out to be), is both warm and inviting, and boasts some solid musicianship - in short, this is a fantastic recording that brings me a great deal of enjoyment.
The core musicians on this album comprise what I consider to be the definitive Caravan lineup: Richard Sinclair (bass, acoustic guitar, and vocals); Pye Hastings (electric/acoustic guitars; vocals): David Sinclair (Hammond organ; mellotron; backing vocal harmonies); and Richard Coughlan (drums and percussion). Joining the band are Jimmy Hastings (flute, tenor saxophone; and piccolo); and David Grinstead (cannon, bell, and "wind"). All of the guys are good players although I have to say that Richard Sinclair is the best: his bass work with Caravan, Hatfield and the North, and Camel is excellent. Richard also has a great singing voice, as does Pye Hastings and their vocal approach works very well with the material.
I think that of all of the Canterbury bands (and other English progressive bands active at the time), Caravan stuck closer to the "pop song" format. Because of this, you will neither encounter the use of staggeringly complex time signatures, nor odd chords and root movements. Instead, the pieces on In the Land of Grey and Pink feature very pleasant melodies, and are mostly mid-tempo, without any jarring or experimental passages. There is also the classic Canterbury sense of humor, as evidenced by song titles such as Golf Girl and "Hold Grandad by the Nose". Most of the tracks on the album are in the 3-8 minute range, with the single exception of the massive 22'40" Nine Feet Underground suite.
This remastered album features the original (and excellent) album art with loads of informative liner notes. The bonus tracks include several tracks that should have been included on the original record (e.g Aristocracy), whereas the remaining bonus tracks are simply alternate takes/versions.
This is a great album lumped under the Canterbury scene and is very highly recommended to folks that do not mind a less technically-oriented approach to prog rock along with the excellent For Girls who Grow Plump in the Night (1973).
Free Music Review: A classic to listen at least once
Hit: 5 Stars
You typically get what you pay for. But, sometimes, the compensation is much higher. And, this Caravan album is one of those cases for me. After listening to the first two albums, my expectations were getting a similar album with a unique style, but still carrying the trademark of a 60s output (kind-of). I was wrong. It is an album that doesn't show its age. I am especially amazed by Winter Wine and Nine Feet Underground. I cannot even categorize those songs.
Winter Wine takes you elsewhere, and not somewhere in this world. Captivating, beautiful, soft (and you would expect me to say, silky), and silky. Always staying below a threshold, hence preventing you to escape its chains. On the other hand, in Nine Feet Underground, they just rock, from the jazzy introduction to the creamy ending. I do enjoy long songs, especially if they are well-structured and diverse-within. And, Nine Feet Underground hears such requests.
The remaining three, of the original version, are more like filling the blanks, connecting those two. At least, those are what I feel about them. Unlike Winter Wine and Nine Feet Underground, they are more pop oriented, hence, more attractive to the lovers of the genre. But, if you are an enthusiast of good music with deep details (or more layers), you may enjoy the other two like me more than Golf Girl, Love to Love You, and the title song.
The additional songs with the main theme of improvisation, illustrates the band's desires for this album. I also enjoyed them, but, the first five are what I would listen if I want to stay within the album's realm.
Free Music Review: The Land of Grey and Pink
Hit: 5 Stars
Maybe it could be because I was born in the wrong time, being only 33 years old, this album being a tad older, or maybe being the best kept secret in England's Canterbury district (town), I don't know. But one thing I got to say since I have heard the title song of this album, you don't get sick of it at all and why didn't these guys get as famous or more so than the Pink Floyd. I am a true fan of the singer/bass player Richard Sinclair, very rich and deep with a haunting sound betraying such great songs on this album. Every song on this album deserves recognition:
1 Golf Girl 4/5
2 Winter Wine 4/5
3 Love To Love You 3/5
4 In The Land of Grey and Pink 5/5
5 Nine Feet Underground 5/5
6 I Don't Know Its Name 5/5
Etc.....etc....etc....the rest are part of the original songs on this album with a different take on them.
Each one of these gems have a familar sound to it like you've heard it before in another time and it's a good feel. It is almost like Floyd or any progressive sounding material during this time but better, you even hear a little of Yes in here and even funny enough Rare Earth covering a Temptation song in Nine Feet Underground, near the end of the song. This group is really tight and it shows in their music indeed, too bad I didn't hear of them until recently in my life. And if you like this album, you'll like their other album 'If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You', funny name by the way.