Dotoar

Would you believe me if I told you that our supposedly washed-out heroes from Canterbury actually managed to squeeze out one of the best pop records of 1977, of all years? Well, maybe you would and you should too, because despite what the critics or the chart statistics or the nerds at Progarchives will tell you, "Better by far" surely is better by far. Just like on "Blind dog", all of the tracks are relatively short but I dare say that this time around they are also diverse and built upon simple but catchy melodies which will stay with you a long time after you turn it off.

If anyone's interested I can start with telling you that Mike Wedgewood was replaced by Dek Messecar on bass guitar, which may or may not have a part in the fact that the funk'n soul elements present on here are nowhere near as obnoxious or good-for-nothing as on "Blind dog" or "Gunning c u n t s". No wait, get outta here, Ted Nugent! Because essentially, the word of the day is power pop of the kind Big Star and Badfinger popularized (and that Beatles, Kinks and Byrds originated) and it kicks you right between the eyes from the very beginning. "Feelin' alright" sounds like a bona fide McCartney-penned Beatles tune circa 1965 and drags you with it in its truly uplifting catchiness and sets the tone for the whole record which rarely lets down this magnificent opening even a single bit on its way. "Behind you" showcases Caravan as fully capable of adopting a barroom rocker to their own harmful setting, and I can't help but sense a striking resemblance to whatever hard rock bands like UFO or Whitesnake did around this time. Of course, Caravan wouldn't touch metal with a ten foot stick but the vibe is there, man! The vibe is there! Not a highlight though, but essentially they pull it off.

The lighter side of things are represented by the title track with a really pretty guitar line and the song itself could be seen as succeeding where "Lover" failed. Not overblown by some uncalled for soul gymnastics, just a mellow and humble ballad distinguished by said guitar melody. Even better in that respect is the folksy Kinks-like "Give me more", greeting us with a neat whistling synth melody setting the scene in which Pye encounters a whore and proceeds to abuse her with certain bondage devices. Oh yes, you thought he had reached the limits of decency with that dog that was at it again four years ago? Forget that! His eagerness to show off his gigolo skills has only increased over time. I wonder if we're supposed to draw any conclusions from the album cover? Or the orgasmic wailings of Vicki Brown in the chorus? Whatever may be, it's still a nice song. As is the closing epic "Nightmare" that somewhat presages the lush symphonic indierock sound that Mercury Rev and Flaming Lips successfully would adopt in the 90's. I could easily see those fragile vocal deliveries performed by Wayne Coyne. And "Let it shine" which precedes it is yet another Beatlish pop tune, spiced with a Harrison-like guitar line that enhances its already sunshiny atmosphere.

In the midst of it all we also have the strange funk sendup "Silver strings" that is done completely Bowie-style, which may be a result of the record being produced by Tony Visconti. The drums sound almost pre-programmed in the trademark 'Berlin' kind of way and the bass line is weirdly deconstructed, and over it all we have a minimalistic guitar pattern that wouldn't sound out of place on "Heroes" or "Low". And what about the Traffic-meets-Supertramp, although less bloated, "Man in a car", with its crawling pace and hazy psychedelic vocals? Man, this is one mixed bag! But I consciously saved the best for last in this review. Apparently, Caravan felt they had to reconnect with their roots somehow and decided to throw in an instrumental and slightly updated Canterbury tribute, and to pay their respect to the queer community, dub it "The last unicorn" (ok, that last part may be subject for speculation). And might I say, it ends up being their best instrumental number ever, as well as one of their best songs altogether! It's simply breathtaking from beginning to end, starting with some gently strummed chords and Richardson's contemplating viola (he is the author of the piece, by the way), leading into a beautiful synth/recorder break that out-Camels Camel in just a few seconds. And then it throws itself headfirst into a rapid jazz-rock fiesta a'la National Health/Hatfield & The North, where Pye fires off what must be his finest guitar solo ever. Then everything settles down into the opening chords over which a tear-jerking flute waves goodbye. I dare say that this is the single best song of 1977, even with albums like "Going for the one" being in the competition, and that says a lot! Its only flaw is that it's too short. I would want it to go on for ten minutes or so, but then again, maybe not. The best songs always leave you craving for more, right? A prog masterpiece in pocket format, hands down!

So it turns out that Caravan really was a force to reckon with after all, even in the darkest depths of prog degeneration towards the end of the decade, which some of the other giants couldn't even handle. That speaks tons of their endurance and creativity, and not least of how they successfully managed to transform into a pop act instead of trying to force upon themselves some prog formula just for the sake of it. But on the other hand, they always had it in them, didn't they?

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Guybrush

Listening to it now as I'm reading your review. Give Me More is certainly a pleasurable listen! I picked this album up some time ago after it was recommended to me warmly by Anteater who is another user here. I just have so much stuff I'm supposed to listen to that I didn't get around to listening much to it (yet). What's better than a well written review as a reminder?

Well done again, Dotoar Don't forget to advertise your review!

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Something Completely Different

Dotoar

I know what you're saying, it takes time to get through all the things in the pipeline but as you can see, this one's worth it despite the prospects!

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Dotoar

This anachronism in the recorded history of Caravan was released in 1994, but all of the songs were recorded as a follow-up to "Better by far" in 1977 and for some reason shelved for almost 20 years. I'm gonna take the liberty to rewrite the history here and place it where it belongs chronologically, since Pye obviously decided not to tamper with the tapes at all when he finally decided they were release-worthy. A little revisionism hasn't hurt anyone. Yet. And what's 20 years in the cosmological perspective anyway? The Caravan fans of Alpha Centauri sure would care less when gazing towards us through the light years of distance. I hope they will catch this review though.

I hope you will too, dear earthling, because even if it's basically a collection of more or less raw demo recordings, at least the first seven tracks that apparently have been subjected to some production enhancement, it's at least as worthy a listen as "Blind dog". And for one thing, guess who's back: Richard Sinclair! Not that his presence makes him that much justice since Pye is the one and only voice present on here. These cool waters ain't running through no land o' grey'n pink, fo' sho'! It's still an interesting listen on a song-for-song basis, and it has its shares of ups an downs. One serious down, and I do mean serious, is the bloody atrocious "Tuesday is rock and roll nite". As you might read out from the title, awful in itself, they are trying their hands on good old-fashioned rock'n roll, and as you might guess, it results in a major facepalm. Hearing our favourite sissy boy proclaim "rock'n rooouuull, yeah" in the weakest and most wimpy intonation possible is the core definition of inadequacy. Yes, they had incorporated more rocking elements in their songs before, but they always adopted it to their own style. This time however, they try to step out of that style in favour of something they were simply unfit for. You gotta hear it at least once of course, just to witness why Pye is the last go-to-guy on earth when it comes to gaining knowledge about where tonight's rockin' is at.

Fortunately, none of the other tracks comes close to this puddle of embarassment (which sure would be an achievement in itself) but there are still some rather bland funk workouts present. "Ansaphone" doesn't do much, neither harm nor impact, and "You won't get me up in one of those" is at least memorable in its bouncy rythm pattern that betrays some new wave influences. "Cold fright" even approaches disco which is perfectly understandable, given the times and all, but not terribly interesting melody-wise. We're given a few slow-paced ballads as well, several of which are based on the same 6/8 rythm which gets tedious after a while. "To the land of my fathers" is little more than pure atmosphere and "Side by side" is mainly a re-write of "Better by far". "Crack of the willow" at least boasts a really good synth line but the real highlight out of these is the title track. "Cool water" is a really pretty barroom lounge-jazz shuffle, with a hushed atmosphere perfectly fit with the lyrics taking place at the closing hour of a night out during which a drunk and exhausted Pye wishes for nothing more than some cool water. Haven't we all been there? The one thing that bugs me though, is the fact that it's placed as the opening track when it more than anything should have been put last. It's just designed to be closing whatever comes before it and the only rational reason I can think of why it opens the album, is that they made a mistake in the sequencing process. All in all, it's a perfect afterparty track to play when arriving home late at night and settling down in the couch with a girl under your arm. God I hate being single. I want a girl, now! (Yeah, as if a girl would be into Caravan, much less reading long-winded reviews of them! If you are though, and look like Kate Bush, PM me.)

What convinces me even more that the positioning of that track was a mistake is the fact that it's followed by "Just the way you are", which is an obvious successor of "Feelin' alright" and thus a much more apt candidate for opening the album. A bouncy pop shuffle in the best Badfinger tradition, only catchier. "Poor Molly" continues the transatlantic popster tradition in a compact Steely Dan-fashion. Play this back to back with "Tuesday is rock'n roll s h i t e" and spot the difference. The closing "Send reinforcements" is once again mirrored in the previous album, this time in "Nightmare" which means it's perfectly good in itself.

As you can see, there was little progress made in the making of this could-have-been album so on one hand it might have been just as well that it wasn't released in time, especially since their previous album wasn't exactly successful in the eyes of the world. On the other hand, you should really give it a try, if only for the selected few tracks that are truly worthy. And, by all means, for the valuable lesson of "Tuesday is rock'n roll tripe".

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Anteater

In all honesty, Caravan don't really cut it as a pop band for me beyond Better By Far: I think their fanbase would have been happier if they'd returned to their early 70's sound after that particular set of songs.

Great reviews by the way: they're a pleasure to see!

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Dotoar

Thanks!

And yes, I agree. "The album" is just blah, at least beyond the opening track, but maybe I'll take the time to write about that one and the successor some day just for completion's sake.

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TockTockTock

You should review Gentle Giant's discography next. You did really well writing this review, and it would be great if you did the same with Gentle Giant.

Great review - four and a half stars out of five.

Dotoar

Spank you very much! I have more progsters in the review pipeline but Gentle Giant is not among them since they have already been thoroughly reviewed on here.

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TockTockTock

Who else are you going to review?

Dotoar

Check the review page in 3, 2, 1...

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