REVIEWS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES
De CD opent met twee songs over een grimmig onderwerp. Da's mooi, want dan schrijft Pye in het algemeen een goede song.
Song 1. De eerste Right for me is een fraaie over de schietpartijen van de laatste tijd, waarbij de verklaring van het motief van de dader (frustraties) mogelijk ontoereikend blijft, spelen onzichtbare machten ook een rol? Fraaie uptempo song met Pye'stem in de lagere registers. Even wennen, niet meteen herkenbaar als typsch CARAVAN, maar wel meteen pakkend.
Song 2 is Revenge en gaat à la Liar van The Battle of Hastings (1995) over het opgelicht en afgezeken worden door managers e.d.. In dit geval de jongens van HTD, zij het dat het onderwerp niet zo toegespitst wordt bezongen (vgl...although your name is mud over manager Roy Clay in Liar) nu meer geabstraheerd: je kunt niemand vertrouwen, mensen doen zich voor als vrienden maar...... Heel fraai toetsenwerk van Dave, zowel op de moog als met een soort rammelende piano. Spanning loopt hoog op in dit lied, zenuwslopend is het trefwoord hier, en dat is volkomen in lijn met de tekst.
Song 3. De titelsong met het verhaal over de illegaal geconsumeerde appel, tekst is lollig - waar alles mee gezegd is - maar de melodie fraai. Jan Schelhaas laat horen dat hij z'n toetsen ook nog volkomen in de greep heeft. Dit nummer kent een uitgesproken moogsolo van zijn hand, zij het veel te kort. Dus drie uitstekende uptempo songs, met meeslepend stotend ritme, op een rij.
Song 4. Met de vierde song zijn we toe aan een ballad. Tell Me Why. Komt wat moeizaam op gang, zoals Somewhere in my heart van TBOH dat ook doet, maar daarna een plezierige song. Bossanova-achtig. Op het einde broeder Jimmy met de clarinet, en komt het vroegere CARAVAN even om de hoek kijken....
Song 5. No. vijf is m'n favoriet, was-ie niet meteen (dat was Revenge), titel It's getting a whole lot better. Pye zingt het met z'n croonstem (klinkt wel zo fraai als z'n falset stem). Dat het nu beter gaat, prima zelfs, het geluk kan niet op, maar klinkt niet ook angst en vertwijfeling door: alles is immers eindig in dit leven? Schitterend lied voor met z'n tweetjes bijde open haard!. Doug even heel
mooi met de gitaar, daarna zeer fraaie saxaccenten door Jimmy.
Song 6. Head above the clouds sluit daar qua sfeer goed op aan, maar is in zich inderdaad zo optimistisch als de titel zegt. Neigt ook meer naar enig uptempo. Voor mij klinkt dit nummer ook weer naar Latijns-Amerika en daarmee naar het vroegere CARAVAN. Het vraag-en-antwoordspel tussen gitaar en moog in het midden van de song versterkt dit gevoel nog.
Song nummer 7, Straight to your heart, is dan op het eerste gehoor een meer modale love-ballad, hoewel - de combinatie piano en orgel maken het in mijn oren eigenlijk tot een gospel! En daar begint dan weer dat proces dat een song groeit en groeit bij elke keer dat je haar weer hoort. Dus is modaal als trefterm al niet meer op z'n plaats, Fraai modaal is weer wel het gitaarspel (eigenlijk een
lange, even kort onderbroken solo) van Doug. Hoe ook, zoals ik zei, wat modaal is bij CARAVAN, is altijd evenzeer in orde (daarom zijn we fan, nietwaar).
Song 8 is een bijdrage van Geoffey, Wild West Street, tekstloos nummer dat Beter bij de Penguin Orchestra zou passen, niet dat het misklinkt, zeker niet, maar toch enigszins een stijlbreuk.
Song 9 is de enige song van Dave die op deze CD staat en wel een zeer, zeer goede! Nowhere to Hide steekt no 5 naar de kroon als m'n favoriet. Gezongen door Jimmy L. met Pye als tweede stem, zeer geslaagd (suggestie: zing 's mee). Dit is het enige nummer waarop Geoffreys viool eventjes goed naar voren komt. Zoals (haast) altijd bij een song van Dave, voorzien van een bijzondere spanningsboog en melodische wisselingen, (jazzy moog op zeker moment), fraai subtiel toetsenwerk ook, naast mooi spel van Doug.
De laatste song, no 10, komt van de hand van Doug en heet Linders Field. Wie spetterend gitaargebeul verwacht (deed ik) komt wel zeer bedrogen uit: Linders Field is een wat minder gestructureerde poging tot klanklandschap, c.q. een variant op de bijdrage van Geoffrey, de stijlbreuk herhaald!
In dat opzicht eindigt deze CARAVAN CD bepaald anders dan we gewend zijn: Vrijwel elk ander album eindigt met een fraaie, heftige song als uitsmijter (beter: een tot het 'volgende album'), een uitsmijter die steevast een tijdlang of zelfs altijd tot het bühne-repertoire behoorde of behoort. (Loop de albums er maar op na!).
Terugblikkend op TUBI moet gezegd dat het bij het eerste luisteren niet meteen de ons zo betoverende CARAVAN-magie prijs geeft. Maar bij elke keer spelen komt die meer en meer over je. Dat komt omdat de nummers sterk vanuit het ensemble zijn gemaakt. Zo zijn er eigenlijk weinig specifieke solo's zoals op TBOH. Tekenend is b.v. de gitaarsolo van Doug op het einde van de titelsong. Terwijl de mannen het refrein herhalen, haalt Doug nog even uit,waar je verwacht
dat hij het midden van het lied beheerst met een solo. Verder zijn er tal van geluidsgrapjes van de hand van Julian jr, maar ook die gaan allemaal schuil achter het ensemble, en laten zich dus geleidelijk ontdekken. Dat maakt TUBI wel zo spannend.
Eindoordeel: een album om zeer tevreden mee te zijn, het kondigt impliciet, subtiel, maar niet minder duidelijk, muzikale vernieuwing aan. Het breekt echter evenzo weer verder weg van het klassieke CARAVAN.
Jasper Smit 05.12.2003
In mijn jeugd (ik ben van 1958) draaide mijn broer regelmatig platen van CARAVAN. Hij was verkocht toen hij van een schaakvriend het nummer Nine Feet Underground te horen kreeg. Het ging allemaal redelijk langs mij heen (ik ging meer voor The Doors, Paul McCartney, Chicago, Bread en het betere Top 40-werk) maar er bleef mij bij dat ik het album "In the land of Grey and Pink" wel goed vond.
Begin jaren 90 zag ik de CD van "In the land of Grey and Pink" en kocht hem om te horen wat ik toen wel leuk vond. Sindsdien behoort deze plaat tot mijn persoonlijke top 3 en gaat hij elke vakantie mee op reis - tot grote ergenis van mijn vrouw die het "stofzuigergeluid" van Dave Sinclair niet kan waarderenden. Hele avonden ging Grey & Pink op de repeat-toets. Geleidelijk ging ik meer van CARAVAN kopen en dat ook waarderen.
Mijns inziens ligt hun absolute top bij "In the land of Grey and Pink" en "If I could do it all over again ...". Ook het album "CARAVAN and the New Symphonia" behoort tot hun artistieke hoogtepunten; de samenwerking met het orkest is prachtig. De toevoeging van Geoffrey's viool op "Plump in the night" is zeer verfrissend. De stijlverandering midden jaren zeventig ("Cunning Stunts") is begrijpelijk (stilstand is achteruitgang) maar spijtig voor veel fans van het eerste uur.
Na een vrij lange periode van inactiviteit v.w.b. nieuw materiaal, kwam CARAVAN in 1995 ijzersterk terug met "The Battle of Hastings" (TBOH). Weliswaar deed weinig meer denken aan hun beginalbums, maar de songs staan als een huis. Ruime gelegenheid tot solo's maar die zijn (zoals altijd) tekort. Bij iedere keer draaien groeit deze CD. Zo'n nummer als "I know why you're laughing" is klasse! Dit jaar brengt CARAVAN eindelijk het vervolg hierop uit. In veel opzichten gaat CARAVAN op "The Unauthorised Breakfast Item" (TUBI) door op de nieuwe weg die met "The Battle of Hastings" werd ingeslagen. Leuk is dat in enkele nummers kort wordt teruggegrepen op de beginperiode van CARAVAN!
Song 1. Smoking Gun: lekker nummer dat uptempo begint en een sterk instrumentaal vervolg kent. Het einde ruikt naar Private Investigations van The Dire Straits.
Song 2. Revenge: met afstand mijn favoriet. Het begin staat als een huis,daarna zakt het iets weg (ietwat monotoon) maar vervolgens gaan alle (instrumentale) remmen los. Pye Hastings realiseert zich gelukkig dat de meeste fans genieten van uitgebreide solo's. Met name Dave Sinclair's moog-solo doet denken aan de sterkste nummers van Grey & Pink. Heerlijk, maar helaas veel te kort.
Song 3. The Unauthorised Breakfast Item: inhoudelijk grapje vergelijkbaar met "Wendy wants another 6" inch mole" (The Battle Of Hastings). Verder een aardig toegankelijk nummer waarin Jan Schelhaas zich profileert als een bekwaam vervanger van Dave Sinclair.
Song 4. Tell me why: is een leuke ballad die mij doet denken aan "Somewhere in your heart" van The Battle Of Hastings . Toegankelijk, maar af en toe lekker ouderwets tegendraads. Het einde met broer Jimmy Hastings is heerlijk jazzy.
Song 5. It's getting a whole lot better: prachtig dromerig nummer waarbij de vocalen in dienst staan van het nummer. Het hemelse gitaarspel van Dough Boyle en de sax van Jimmy Hastings doen de alledaagse stress even vergeten. Sterk nummer!
Song 6. Head above the clouds: rustig, zij het een iets te lang intro dat naadloos aansluit op het vorige nummer. Na anderhalve minuut komt een prachtig up-tempo nummer op gang dat duidelijk voortborduurt op TBOH. Het samenspel tussen gitaar en moog is heel sterk en laat zien dat CARAVAN op instrumentaal gebied nog altijd zijn mannetje staat. Het nummer mist alleen een sterk eind; dat wegdraaien van een nummer is te gemakkelijk.
Song 7. Straight through the heart: een heerlijke ballade die je rustig een avond op de repeat-toets kunt zetten. De hemelse solo's van Dough zijn het hoogtepunt en doen mij denken aan het debuutalbum (First) van Bread-voorman David Gates.
Song 8. Wild West Street: dit instrumentale nummer van Geoffrey past helaas niet op deze CD; helaas was Geoffrey op deze CD niet echt in vorm.
Song 9. Nowhere to hide: zeer sterk nummer geschreven door Dave Sinclair. Jim Leverton heeft een heerlijk doorleefde stem, die prima in dit nummer past. Dave zou Dave niet zijn als hij het toegankelijke eerste deel niet zou laten volgen door tegendraadse, melodische wisselingen.
Dit zal veel fans van het eerste uur zeer aanspreken maar belette wellicht de commerciële doorbraak van CARAVAN.
Song 10. Linders Field: vroege CARAVAN platen hebben korte maar leuke epilogen of tussenstukjes. Linders Field zou dat ook kunnen zijn als Jimmy zijn fluitspel had beperkt tot 30 à 45 seconden. Als volledig nummer helaas misplaatst.
Conclusie
The Unauthorised Breakfast Item is absoluut geen slecht album. Het zal net als The Battle Of Hastings groeien naarmate je er vaker naar luistert. Dissonanten zijn de twee instrumentale nummers. Deze energie had beter gespendeerd kunnen worden aan het uitbouwen van Revenge. Er staan enkele lange solo's op The Unauthorised Breakfast Item, die teruggrijpen naar de roots van de band. Wellicht pakken de heren tijdens hun komende live-concerten deze uitdaging op! The Unauthorised Breakfast Item bouwt voort op The Battle Of Hastings . maar grijpt incidenteel terug naar de begintijd. Dat zal vele fans plezier doen, maar zoals vroeger zal het nooit meer worden.
Al met al is The Unauthorised Breakfast Item zeker een aanrader voor wie The Battle Of Hastings kon waarderen!
Ruurd Ouwehand 05.12.2003
Caravan's resurgence continues unabated with the release of their new album The Unauthorised Breakfast Item. Unbelievably it has been seven years since The Battle Of Hastings, the remarkably good (considering it had been a further 14 years since 1982's frankly dire Back To Front album) but largely overlooked, return to the studio. Since then, the 'Canterbury Sound' mainstay, have gone from strength to strength - triumphant returns to Japan, Canada and North America (captured for posterity on the live DVD/CD A Knight's Tale) as well as national tours of the UK have cemented the bands reputation, forced many old fans out of 'gig retirement' and enticed a whole host of new supporters in the process.
The current line-up consists of the ever-present Pye Hastings and Richard Coughlan, the charismatic Geoffrey Richardson, the seasoned campaigner Jim Leverton, guitar wunderkind Doug Boyle and the return of Jan Schelhaas. Founder member Dave Sinclair once again jumped ship in the midst of recording the album, an event that should come as no surprise to scholars of Caravan's eventful membership history, although he does feature on two of the tracks.
So what does one get for their money? The answer is one hour of classic Caravan. Anyone who witnessed the band in concert over the last few years will know that the atmosphere in the band is at a high with the members simply delighting in each other's company once again. This has had the beneficial effect of resulting in some of the strongest songwriting from Pye Hastings in many years. Comparisons with other bands are somewhat moot, Caravan sound like Caravan, just as they always have, and just as they always should! This is not to imply that they are simply retreading old ground, far from it, the album has a freshness about it that is inspiring, and the sheer quality of the musicianship makes each listen a voyage of new discoveries. Little flourishes, like the banjo in Straight Through The Heart and the saxes of Jimmy Hastings, particularly on the slower paced Tell Me Why and It's Getting A Whole Lot Better, also expound on the infamous sound.
Dave Sinclair's sole writing contribution, Nowhere To Hide is one of the album's stand out tracks. The days of 20-minute epics may well be over but this song comes close to the feel of some of those early classics. Naturally keyboards dominate the proceedings and Doug Boyle lays down a classy guitar solo towards the end. The song builds for an expected 'big finish' but, instead of a grandiose adn overblown finale, I found the ending to be rather limp. Smoking Gun (Right For Me) and Revenge are mid-tempo rockers that start the album off with intent, with the latter of the two tracks being a particularly strong song which in days past would have made an excellent single. The idiosyncratic title track, inspired by a rather pedantic waitress in an American hotel in Trenton, New Jersey, is classic tongue-in-cheek writing from Pye. Uncharacteristically, there are two instrumental cuts, sandwiching the final song Nowhere To Hide. Although the band have often incorporated expansive instrumental sections in some of their longer compositions, discrete instrumentals are somewhat of a rarity. Wild West Street is basically viola over an acoustic guitar and cello (at least it sounds like a cello, but the instrument is not mentioned in the sleeve notes!) backing, there is a bit of piano tinkling away in the background as well. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a purely solo performance from Geoff Richardson, it's certainly the most uncharacteristic Caravan piece on the album. Doug Boyle's contribution, Linders Field, has a degree more familiarity, particularly as it opens with Jimmy Hasting's flute trilling away.
As a treat for fans a special limited edition version of the album (2500 copies only!) is available containing a bonus disc of live material. Featuring recordings of four of the album tracks taped in Japan in May of this year and the welcome return of an orchestrated performance of the classic For Richard from Canada in July 2002, the bonus disc is well worth getting hold of.
All-in-all and excellent album from a much-loved group that deserve much greater reward for their steadfast and reliable contributions to the field of bloody good music. Caravan really are a band for everyone.
Mark Hughes 9/10 12.10.2003 (DPRP.NET)
I have always been a fan of this legendary Canterbury band, one of the offshoots of The Wilde Flowers. In fact they are one of those bands that managed to perfectly convey that feeling of the British countryside within their music giving it a typical and characteristic British style of progressive rock.
What one should mention is that this album is not a down and out progressive rock album, but then again Caravan where never that typical progressive rock band. The maturity of the band, after 35 years in the musical scene, has certainly left its mark as the band flit between the contemporary and the progressive. Pieces like the opening Smoking Gun (Right For Me) and Revenge have a more AOR touch with some great catchy hooks and strong rocking. Sometimes the band seem to move into that jazzy Steely Dan tricolour as happens on the title track The Unauthorised Breakfast Item, which highlights Pye Hastings' husky vocals which though limited in range conveys a sense of warmth tinged with melancholy, and the rockier Tell Me Why.
With It's Getting A Whole Lot Better Caravan move into the lounge jazz territory with Jimmy Hastings' saxophone playing carrying the track to a whole new level. Straight To the Heart is the final track from the album that is written by Pye Hastings and the final track that has his indelible plaintive stamp over it.
Wild West Street was written by Geoffrey Richardson, and this is the main reason why his viola playing is so prominent. It is a magnificent piece of atmospheric instrumental music and is more of a duet between viola and acoustic guitar. The viola once again leads the way on Nowhere To Hide, a composition by the now departed Dave Sinclair while Linders Field, composed by lead guitarist Doug Boyle has a more folk orientated approach. It seems that his time with Robert Plant seems to have rubbed off on him!
Whereas some bands have been unable to weather the years gracefully, Caravan have managed to come up with a new album that shows them applying the maturity of their 35 years in the business. The fact that many of their past albums have managed to withstand the test of time and included as some of the great rock classic albums of the seventies is indeed a testament to this. With The Unauthorised Breakfast Item Caravan have shown that they are still able to create magnificent pieces of music. It is not what one would call your typical progressive rock album, though on the other hand it is a welcome album by all fans of this legendary band, and definitely an album which shows Caravan are still capable of creating very valid music.
Nigel Camilleri 8/10 12.10.2003 (DPRP.NET)
The 21st century version of Caravan is here to entertain the die-hard Canterbury heads, and fans of the group should be pleased by some familiar names from the good old days of the '60s and '70s, who appear either as members of the core sextet or as special guests. Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan, Geoffrey Richardson, Jan Schelhaas, Dave Sinclair, and Jimmy Hastings can all be heard at one point or another on the whimsically named The Unauthorised Breakfast Item, the 2003 CD whose title track references an apparent run-in of sorts with hotel restaurant staff when the band appeared at the 2002 NEARFest in Trenton, New Jersey.
The well-produced ten-track CD includes a ten-page booklet filled with photos and lyrics to the eight non-instrumental tunes, whose presence in the track listing might be a warning sign for Caravan fans right from the get-go. For while various touches -- Sinclair's trademark fuzz organ keyboard tone during his solo at the conclusion of "Revenge," Jimmy Hastings' lovely soprano sax during "Tell Me Why"'s closing vamp -- might get an old Caravan aficionado pumped up a bit, the fact is that this CD is filled with catchy yet conventional rock songs, some pretty balladeering, and lots of lead vocalizing by Hastings (whose somewhat understated singing style remains engaging and sounds basically unchanged from the early days, even if the booklet photos suggest he might be physically morphing into Bill Clinton).
In the band's heyday, Caravan let loose with stunning instrumental passages on extended suites like "For Richard," "Nine Feet Underground," and "The Love in Your Eye." Certainly this pegged the group as a prog rock outfit, but unlike most others in this much-maligned style, Caravan never stalled the momentum or became heavy-handed in their sometimes intricate extended jams.
Here, the brief instrumentals "Wild West Street" and "Linders Field" might toss a bone to those who would like the bandmembers to step back from the mikes and just play for a bit, but the band's spacy instrumental interludes often seem less than fully developed, tending almost toward smooth jazz with an adult contemporary or new age sheen.
The hottest soloing is reserved for a comparative youngster, guitarist Doug Boyle, whose blues-rock approach (he's a former Robert Plant axeman) passes for street cred in this group and also suggests he's a big fan of Andy Latimer. The Unauthorised Breakfast Item has enough heartfelt vocalizing, driving rhythms, hooky choruses, burning solos, contemporary jazz overtones, and atmospheric production effects to give some satisfaction to Caravan fans of yore. But newcomers should seek out the band's discography from about 30 years or more ago to experience stronger doses of excitement.
David Lynch (ALLMUSIC)
The Battle Of Hastings, with its subtle, but special atmosphere of cold melancholy and nostalgia, could have been a highly appropriate and intelligent last goodbye for Caravan — one of those nice turns of events when a formerly great and then degenerated band comes together for one last statement; not a huge one, but reflecting a certain degree of wisdom and experience. Too often, however, the temptation to mistake a successful «last goodbye» for a sign of self-permission to go on recording new stuff, so to speak, becomes impossible to overcome. And thus, at the turn of the new millennium, Caravan come together once again — to make a record that, to me at least, sounds completely superfluous.
Again, this lineup only includes Hastings and Coughlan from the original band, although Dave Sinclair was still a member when they went into the studio: he contributes and plays on 'Nowhere To Hide'. Reportedly, though, he split with the band again over «creative differences», and all the other tracks feature Jan Schelhaas, the band's old keyboard player from the Blind Dog At St. Dunstan's period. Richardson and Leverton reprise their roles from The Battle Of Hastings, and an extra lead guitarist, Doug Boyle (who'd previously played with Robert Plant's band) is brought over to lend a hand. With the Hastings/Richardson/Schelhaas core, you might faintly expect them to deliver another Blind Dog — unfortunately, instead of this they deliver another Better By Far, albeit with some technical flaws that were typical of the late 1970s corrected and replaced with some technical flaws that are typical of the early 2000s.
If you have heard the opening track, 'Smoking Gun', you have already assessed the overall sound of the record — grimly optimistic pop music created by prog survivors and released in a world where neither distorted guitars nor cosmic-sounding electronic sounds no longer make anybody bat an eye just because they are, you know, distorted and/or cosmic-sounding. It's a nice sound, but it no longer has the added bonus of The Battle's world-weariness, because these guys have survived their mid-life crises and seem fairly happy now to occupy their parliamentary seats in the post-prog world of elder(ly) statesmen — making professional, but pizzazz-free music.
The production is marvelous: all the most subtle guitar overtones reveal themselves instantaneously. There is hardly anything substantial behind that production, though. The second track, 'Revenge', sounds almost exactly like the first one, and that is just the beginning.
Eventually, after about four numbers that are completely interchangeable, they arrive at a point where they remember that they used to be a progressive band with long-winded epics, and begin to pump out 7-8-minute long epics that, unfortunately, fall more into the «adult contemporary» pattern than into the «progressive rock» scheme (amusingly, something very similar had earlier happened to Genesis, with their pseudo-prog monsters like 'Driving The Last Spike', etc.). 'It's Getting A Whole Lot Better', for instance, is an unmemorable chunk of smooth blues-jazz with Kenny G-style sax solos; 'Head Above The Clouds' is at least speedier, but essentially it's the same smooth jazz taken at a faster tempo. One might have hoped that 'Nowhere To Hide', the only track left behind by Dave Sinclair (and sung by Jim Leverton rather than Hastings), would be better — but its first half is exactly the same jazz-pop as everything else, and its second half largely consists of a fusion synth solo from Sinclair that sounds like... well, I have no idea why I should be listening to any of this instead of, say, Al Di Meola.
At least Al Di Meola had pyrotechnics. Why should you need Al Di Meola-like music without pyrotechnics?
In the end, the only track that has shown a few signs of life to me was the instrumental finale, 'Linders Field', mainly because they hit upon a different kind of sound here — multi-tracked folksy jangle mixed with smooth, ambient-like keyboards. It's a pretty and unassuming coda with a curious (probably unintentional) psychedelic effect on the brain. But having to sit through 50 minutes of professional, clear-sounding, thoroughly monotonous, humorless, and essentially meaningless adult pop to get to it? Honestly, I'd much rather live my life knowing that the door on Caravan was slammed with the last power chord of 'I Know Why You're Laughing'. Recommended only for major Pye fans and hardcore sentimentalists; for everybody else, definitely a thumbs down.
George Starostin 24.05.2017 (ONLY-SOLITAIRE.BLOGSPOT.COM)
Great Caravan Album (almost 5 stars)!
I am amazed that I am the first one to review this album, which came out in 2004 and which I recently bought. I've read a number of
reviews of the Caravan classics from the 1970's, and recently reviewed "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night," my favorite. I would have
thought that the "many" Caravan fans would have at least tried this one out, and I think many of them would have been pleasantly surprised
and pleased as I have been, to hear that this great group has still got something to say (musically).
Clearly if you are expecting the Caravan of the 1970's (and I also heard one of their 1980's albums), you aren't going to hear that Caravan,
but what you will hear is rock music that is appealing and pleasant. The 2 newer additions (on lead guitar and bass) give the group a different sound,
but Caravan still rocks - in fact the lead guitarist gives Caravan a true lead guitarist, and it makes a difference. Pye Hastings can still write
interesting songs, his voice is still great though it isn't as high-pitched as it used to be. Coughlan and Richardson still sound great on drums and
viola. The post-Sinclair keyboardist is fine, and Sinclair himself recognizably plays on 2 of the songs, which should please the group's fans from long ago.
I'd say I like all of the songs (many of which are excellent), but the ones that really stand out are the title track (it has a line, "tell
me what the truth is"), "It's Getting A Whole Lot Better," which features some great saxophone playing by J. Hastings (familiar to all Caravan fans),
and "Head Above The Clouds". The last track is a short, interesting instrumental with some nice flute (by J. Hastings).
As a long-time Caravan fan I'd say this one is absolutely worth hearing.
S. A. Felton 4/5 23.05.2007 (AMAZON)
Not their finest.
The Canterbury scene during the sixties in England produced some of the most innovative music ever produced. Bands like Soft Machine, Hatfield and the North and National Health managed to keep us guessing, whilst living impoverished lifestyles in the quest to be uncompromisingly creative.
Caravan was another. They were a little more accessible than most - and a lot more accessible than Soft Machine and their resident genius Robert Wyatt! - but they were quirky and humorous, innovative and adventurous, so they nibbled on the edges of commercial success without ever having a bona fide hit.
A lot of their music comes across as being deceptively simple at first, but only reveals further depth on repeated playing. Albums from the early seventies like "Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night" and "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" fall into this category. Both these albums - and several others - are rightly considered classics, and "In The Land Of Grey And Pink" is regarded as one of the great English progressive rock albums of its era.
Artists who have been around for a while (and Caravan has been around now for a very long time) can either throw caution to the wind and record brave music, or they can slip into a comfortable jumper and do what comes naturally. Unfortunately Caravan, with "Unauthorised," have stepped away from their quirky, individualist roots, and produced an album mostly devoid of the charm and surprises of their earlier work. And, for this reviewer, it doesn't get any more interesting with repeated listening. The instrumentals Wild West Street and Linders Field redeem it a little, but the rest of it is pretty bland and very predictable.
It's a pity that such an esteemed band didn't push the envelope a little more like they used to.
Stephen Renfree 3/5 04.05.2011 (AMAZON)
Exceptional.
Another fantastic work from Caravan, the same line as before, but with a lot more new ingredients that make this CD a lot richer than some of the previous ones. Pye Hastings composed excellent songs and the interpretation of the old members of the group is oustanding.
J. M. Garwacki 5/5 04.01.2007 (AMAZON)
It was great to have this released last year after all the delays and nonsense about band member dischord etc. I think it is a well rounded album and has some very powerful typical Caravan numbers like Nowhere to Hide, Smoking Gun and the best one in my opinion, It's getting a whole Lot Better. There is some nice bonus material on the second CD and the autographed sleeve was a plus. Three and a half stars would be an accurate assesment.
Chris S. 3/5 05.07.2004 (PROGARCHIVES)
Prog Folk.
3.5 stars really. Eight years after Battle Of Hastings, Pye's band comes back for a stronger effort. I am a huge Caravan fan (I go see them in concert anywhere they play in Benelux and up to Paris) and hold in highest esteem their first six albums . However , if they are a delight live, the studio records have been relatively tedious , but things are looking up. Breakfast is probably their finer effort since Blind Dog At St Dunstan but still a far cry from the fabulous six early (I include the New Symphonia album ) vinyls.
Pye is of course Caravan almost by himself and his songwriting is still the same (very pop with delightful melodies and witty lyrics ) and he accaparates most of the songs on this album. This may be why Caravan will not make better albums unless others are to make their influences better felt other than by their impeccable playing but to enlighten these tunes. This is what made their early albums great - the Sinclair cousins had a lot to say and got very involved in the writing. Most of the tunes on here are typical Caravan numbers but the more interesting times in them are the spaces where the instruments are doing the talking and then one can see those slots alloted were "glued on" at the end of a song or "stuck/fitted" in the middle of one. This was done by Dave sinclair's arrangements. This is not applicable to all numbers as Nowhere to Hide is excellent. Caravan is feeling much better than in the early 90's , but is still not back to their heydays.
Just one more thing: Caravan are known for the superb or humorous art cover sleeves and titles. The title comes from Richardson's near brush with New Jersey's police , as he had taken one more croissant for the road and the 250 lbs female cashier wanted to make him pay for that Unauthorized Breakfast Item and Geoff had no cash on him. He was saved fron life imprisonement in NJ's best cells by Pye's Visa card to pay for another full breakfast. Imagine the headlines : Caravan's Croissant Demise Scandal. The incident was immortalized in a song , album title and , if humorous , one of the the worse art sleeve work they made. Too bad.... This might have gotten them to a fourth star.
Sean Trane 3.5/5 23.11.2004 (PROGARCHIVES)
I have only this year caught up with this 2003 release of Caravan's but am very pleased that I did so as it is a splendid record! In fact, I would go so far as to say that "The Unauthorised Breakfast Item" is on a par with their best records from those halcyon days of the 70s, "If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It All Over You", "In the Land of Grey and Pink" and "For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night".
The sound and feel of this record are very much of Caravan at their best. It is perhaps a bit poppier than those early masterpieces but when that is only an element of the sound in a pop-rock-jazz-progressive mix then it is no bad thing to have. Compared with the landmark "Canterbury Sound" of those early albums, Caravan have added an extra aural texture in the form of Doug Boyle's lead guitar playing: it is added so skilfully that it merges in seamlessly and enhances the band's hallmark soundscape. Many of the musicians responsible for creating Caravan's soundscape feature on this fine record: Pye Hastings, in such wonderful voice; Geoffrey Richardson's viola; Jimmy Hastings's sax and flute; Jan Schelhaas and Dave Sinclair's keyboards; Richard Coughlan's drumming. As such, it should be a very enjoyable record for anyone who enjoyed the band in the 70s.
Of the 10 songs on the album, two are instrumentals and both are gorgeous - Doug Boyle's "Linders Field" closes the album in fine style whilst Geoffrey Richardson's "Wild West Street" acts as a very natural prelude to Dave Sinclair's "Nowhere to Hide", one of the album's highlights (sung beautifully by Jim Leverton, the only time that Pye relinquishes the lead vocal spotlight).
Even on the non-instrumental numbers there are lengthy passages of instrumental music, beautifully conceived in the best Caravan style. Whilst the whole of the album is excellent the highlights that I would pick out (in addition to the three above) would be the pacey opener "Smoking Gun (Right for Me)", the slower tempo "Tell Me Why" with Jim Hastings's sweet sax contribution, another Jimmy Hastings influenced song, "It's Getting a Whole Lot Better" and "Head Above the Clouds" which picks up the pace nicely from the preceding two.
I can see myself playing this album often!
alextorres2 5/5 23.09.2007 (PROGARCHIVES)
To consider "Caravan" as one of the most popular band of the original prog explosion is just not correct IMHO. This band has had an immense esteem success, but no more.
They have of course produced some fine albums, but during the last twenty years of their career, these were non-existing. I am not a huge fan from the band and IMO, their last good album was "Blind Dogs" released in . 1976. Almost thirty years prior to this one. To be complete, the band has only released four albums in the meantime.
This release is rather pleasant, I must say. As usual there will be some conflict with one of the Sinclair cousins who will leave during the first recording sessions. But we are used to this by now (being one or the other cousin.).
Song writing is pretty much decent. One of my fave is the rocking "Revenge". Premonitory Several songs are on the rocking edge, but it is not to dissatisfy me. My favourite album from the band "For Girls." was already heading this direction, so.
The inspiration is probably not on par, but this album holds plenty of enjoyable numbers (as the title track). And some are fully respectful of the original "Caravan" sound ("It's Getting A Whole Lot Better"). It is a pleasure to listen to this good album after so much average work (at best).
Another joyful song as they have produced a lot is best experience while you listen to "Head Above The Clouds". This undeniable great flavour is fully available. Such a pleasure, to be honest. I was reviewing "Innuendo" yesterday and the same feeling prevailed. How good it is to listen to a band that reverts to good music! As one very well known commercial would say, this is "priceless".
The melancholic "Straight Through The Heart" features a great and emotional guitar solo. Rhythm is upbeat and, again it communicates such joy that one can only be please while listening to such a piece.
The brilliance of the early days might not be on the rendez-vous, but this is a good and unexpected come back. Three stars for this good album. As Hughes have said, it is their best effort since "Blind Dog". And I fully agree with this statement.
ZowieZiggy 3/5 06.02.2008 (PROGARCHIVES)
When a band grows old and doesn't have any ambition of escalating the charts two things can happen: retirement or an album of this kind. The Caravan sound was dated and their attempts to make some pop music during the punk age were quite pathetic. I mean things like "The Album" or "Back To Front", but in the new century, after the little rebirth of prog, has a new flavor, maybe nostalgic.
The album starts with a pop tune, or better, it would have been a pop tune 30 years before. "Smoking Gun" it's just a nice easy song. It's good hearing Pye's vocals again which are still a band's trademark. "Revenge" is another typical Caravan easy song with some Jimmy Hastings in the background and just a bit more rock than usual. It has made me remember "Stuck In A Hole", but the coda features an excellent solo by Jan Schelhaas.
The title track sounds like it was from the Waterloo Lily age. Up to now it's a pleasant album, not even comparable with the rubbish releases of the 80s, but honestly not special. What I think is remarkable is that even using "modern" keyboards and guitar effects their sound is still unmistakable.
"Tell Me Why" is another typical easy song. Catchy enough to have the possibility of a radio passage also in those days, but it's "It's Getting A whole Lot Better" which makes me cry to the masterpiece. It's a slow jazzy and atmospheric track which values the price for the whole album. It recalls some of the atmospheres of the early albums, I think to"If I Can Do...". The very hot voice of Pye Hastings fits perfectly into the jazzy mood and the guitar riff,for the sound used, seems belonging more to Camel than to Caravan. This is Pye Hastings at his best, but also brother Jimmy plays a very good sax on it. This track is so good that makes "Head Above The Clouds" appear as just a pop song (and it's not). This song has a low volume instrumental intro before becoming a typical Caravan song, belonging more to the "Plump in the Night" period.
"Straight To The Heart" is the song I like less. Like a pop song of the late 60s it's not bad on its own, but it's just a melodic pop song, nothing more. That bit of nostalgic flavor that it has saves it, anyway. It can't be considered really a lowlight.
Geoff Richardson's viola opens "Wild West Street". He was unlucky to join the band when it was starting its decline. This track, built for his viola, is not bad. It's just a bit "misplaced". Too different from the rest of the album, I would have put it as closer, instead.
"Nowhere to Hide" sees Dave Sinclair back with his former band. Piano and viola open it. I don't think the vocalist is Pye here. The chords are easy, everything but challenging, but the song puts me in a mood that I'm used to call "blue effect". It's not easy to explain, I mean blue as colour, not as feeling. I would have just expected a bit more effort from Dave Sinclair, but he mainly plays a solo in the three minutes coda which seems to have been tied to the normal end of the song. Three excellent jazzy minutes, anyway. The most "Canterbury" part of the album.
"Linders Field" closes probably the whole Caravan's story. Acoustic guitar, flute and congas give us some minutes of relaxing and dreaming instrumental music. After two minutes the flute is replaced by a clean electric piano and a bit of electric guitar plays long notes in the background. It's not a typical Caravan's track, probably the best way to close the career of this historical band: like saying "hey guys, we could have made more of this stuff for the next years, this is what you are going to miss".
It's honestly a non-essential album, but it's the final act of a great band which has lost itself for a long time. It's the last, and I don't think anybody would complain if I add a star for the career. It's the best Caravan's album since from the 70s.
octopus-4 4/5 10.05.2013 (PROGARCHIVES)
The Unauthorized Breakfast Item from 2003 is Caravan's twelfth studio album. It was released eight years after their last record "The Battle of Hastings" which I thought was a good one. So, in 2003 the band made up by Pye Hastings(vocals, guitar), Richard Coughlan(drums), Jan Schelhaas(keyboards), Doug Boyle(lead guitar), Geoffrey Richardson(viola, banjo, ukulele, guitar) and Jim Leverton(bass, vocals). This is the last Caravan record with Coughlan on the drums. He has now past away a couple of months ago and did not contribute on Caravan's 2013 record. The cover picture of The Unauthorized Breakfast Item shows the band eating on a restaurant and looking at a woman holding a big fish in her arms. It is a quite special cover. The elapsing time of the record I have heard is sixty minutes and a lot of them are good.
My over all impression of the record is though negative. This sounds all too much as any band and not particularly Caravan. Some songs seems to have preserved the right feeling but most tracks do not interest me. The best song is "Revenge", a rocky tune, with great instrumentation and especially the guitar is played in the typical Caravan style(7/10). I also like "Smoking gun" (6/10) and "Head above the clouds"(6/10) which is poppy and nice. There are a lot of fine ingredients on many of the other tracks but I can't allow myself to be especially pleased of it. The music doesn't challenge me and some of the songs do I really find boring such as "It's getting a whole lot better"(4/10), "Straight through the heart"(4/10) and "Linders field"(3/10) which is just ambient. Sometimes you hear this is Caravan but it is a pale copy of its former appearence, which is sad to say. I hope I will find glimpses of glory on their newest record anyhow. Two stars!
DrömmarenAdrian. 2/5 02.02.2014 (PROGARCHIVES)
Caravan's best album in 30 years!
Exactly three decades after their peak with For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night in 1973, Caravan finally managed to make an album that was up to the standards of their best works; finally a return to form. 2003's The Unauthorised Breakfast Item has everything that that the foregoing handful of albums from the 90's, 80's, and the late 70's lacked: inspiration, energy, strong material, the right sound and the right feel.
The line-up here consists of Pye Hastings, Richard Coughlan, Jan Schelhaas, Doug Boyle, Geoffrey Richardson, and Jim Leverton, with Dave Sinclair and Jimmy Hastings appearing as guests. The album has all of the band's trademarks, yet at the same time it also has a strong Rock edge that is uncharacteristic of Caravan and that was completely missing from the previous, acoustically driven The Battle of Hastings. The opening track, for example, has an almost heavy Rock groove, but the chorus lines are still cheerful and catchy and the melodies are memorable this time around.
Another strong point about this album is that there is a good flow and a good balance between vocal and instrumental passages and between acoustic and electric instruments. There is a nice variety of tempos from upbeat to almost ambient, and the instrumental variety is here as well with tasteful uses of viola, banjo, flutes, and saxophone, among the "normal" (Prog) Rock setting of drums, bass, guitars, and keyboards. The influences include Jazz, Folk, Rock, and Pop music.
The whole album is very good, but the absolute highlight for me is the almost nine minute Nowhere To Hide which features excellent lead guitar and towards the end erupts in a synthesiser and violin dual that reminds me of Kansas! Some hardcore Caravan fans might perhaps complain that this track, as well as some of the other tracks here, don't sound enough like (classic) Caravan. But at the same time this album might appeal to people that normally are not overly keen on Caravan (like me, for example; I like the band, but am not a big fan). I actually enjoy this album more than almost any other Caravan album.
SouthSideoftheSky 4/5 11.02.2014 (PROGARCHIVES)
I would like to give this album a higher rating, it isn't bad. In truth it is quite pleasant and I never truly regret listening to the album. Despite this the album is ultimately dull and contained, a mere shadow of the once great Caravan. By saying that I don't imply that the album isn't nice enough, nor that Caravan (as a band) haven't aged well... Compared to many classic prog bands they've aged extraordinarily well. The issue that I have with this album (and for that matter all Caravan albums since 'For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night') is that it's safe, it's catering to a fan base and producing material that, like it or not, we've all heard before.
This isn't entirely a bad thing, and when done well can produce an album with a great deal of merit but the question is, is it done well on this album and the answer to that question is sometimes. At the album's height it can sound interesting, a softer 80s Rush to my ears... At its low points however it feels like I'm listening to a Bon Jovi album in which they forgot to write pop songs. At many points the album sounds inane and predictable such as with the opening track Smoking Gun, the title track and Tell Me Why.
There are some minor peak moments in this album the interesting and evolving It's Getting a Whole Lot Better is to me the highest point on the album, giving a fresh and expansive feel to the overall sound. Moments like this are, for me, few and far between however however and don't grant the album a strong recommendation to say the least. To collectors of Caravan (or fans of Bon Jovi) I can recommend this, it is a pleasant listen most of the time... To fans of prog or anyone looking for an album that hasn't completely sold itself into the well-written but dull soft rock category stay clear there is very little that one can take away from this album.
1.5 rounded down to 1 star because I'm not quite sure how people think this is a 4-star album... Maybe I'm missing something.
Personal rating would probably be 3 stars as it is a nice enough album.
MJAben. 1/5 20.03.2014 (PROGARCHIVES)
Here's a gem of subtlety, which is not surprising because Caravan is composed of musicians who have demonstrated in their heyday how much they could be inventive. What is astonishing is that they have recovered their whole creativity after 25 years of very poor albums.
We find ourselves 30 years in the past, always with this mixture of humor and virtuosity, lightness and seriousness that are the marks of the so british Canterbury style. And they have kept their admirable melodic sense. What has however changed is the purity of the sound in the many brilliant instrumental parts of the album. Even the only weak song of the disk, unfortunately placed in the second position, "Revenge", is transcended by a splendid instrumental final.
This perfect sound, from the beginning to the end of the disk, could probably be seen as a loss of the Canterbury soul. But it also removes a rough side, some kind of draft aspects that were not always relevant during the 1970's.
And modernity in the sound does not pollute or interfere with the Caravan identity which is so specific. It can greatly distinguish this album from those the band produced in the past, while still providing an undeniable continuity in the style.
This disc would deserve, in my opinion, between 4 and 4.5 stars if we could further refine the notes.
Kjarks 4/5 02.11.2014 (PROGARCHIVES)
Acht Jahre nach dem letzten "echten" Studioalbum "The Battle of Hastings" nun also eine neue CD der Canterbury-Legende. Nein, ein neues "Waterloo Lily" ist es - natürlich - nicht, das hat aber auch niemand erwartet. Wer allerdings mit "The Battle of Hastings" und zuvor mit "Cool Water" etwas anfangen konnte, wird am neuen Silberling erst recht seinen Spaß haben.
Ein wenig nach Dire Straits klingen die ersten Töne des Openers "Smoking Gun" bis Pye Hastings seine Stimme einsetzt. Selbstverständlich bricht damit kein Vocal-Orkan los, aber man fühlt sich ein wenig so, als käme ein alter Freund nach langer Zeit mal wieder vorbei.
"Revenge" hätte sicherlich auch auf den Mitt-Siebziger Alben der Band einen Platz gefunden. So ist neben Jimmy Hastings am Saxophon auch das Canterbury-typische Keyboard von Dave Sinclair noch einmal zu hören, der inzwischen - zum wievielten Male eigentlich? - die Band wieder verlassen hat.
Es folgen in gewohnter Art und Weise das Titelstück mit treibendem Rhythmus und das ruhige "Tell me why", das ein wenig an Stücke wie "Winter Wine" oder "Lover" erinnert.
Und dann der absolute Höhepunkt, ein Stück das zur Hochzeit der "Canterbury-Scene" ein potentieller Caravan-Klassiker gewesen wäre: das knapp 9-minütige "It´s getting a whole lot better". Sanfte Sphärenklänge leiten den Song ein, eine fast ambient-mäßige Gitarre klingt im Hintergrund. Geoff Richardson lässt seine Geige wie zu besten "Penguin Cafe Orchestra"-Zeiten dezent weinen. Nach etwa vier Minuten folgt eine leicht blues-gefärbte Gitarreneinlage, nach fünfeinhalb Minuten ein jazziges Saxophon-Solo, das auf den Frühwerken von Miles Davis auch nicht schlecht geklungen hätte. Sinclair und Schelhaas übernehmen gemeinsam die gefühlvolle Arbeit an den Tasten. Okay, ich revidiere meine oben geäußerte Ansicht: dieses Stück lässt ein "Waterloo Lily"-Feeling aufkommen. Welch ein Abschluss hätte es für das gesamte Album werden können.
Leider steht der Song in der Mitte der CD und so klingen die nachfolgenden Stücke simpel und können die aufgebaute Erwartung nicht mehr ganz erfüllen. Gute Unterhaltung sind sie aber allemal und man merkt den beteiligten Musikern sowohl die Routine als auch den Spaß an der eigenen Musik an. Erwähnenswert sind noch der Einsatz eines Banjos bei "Straight through the Heart", das instrumentale "Wild West Street", geschrieben von Geoffrey Richardson, offenbar eine Erinnerung an das Penguin Cafe Orchestra und dessen viel zu früh verstorbenen Leader Simon Jeffes, sowie Doug Boyles "Linders Field" mit tollem Flötenspiel von Jimmy Hastings.
Die "Special Limited Edition" bietet zusätzlich Live-Versionen der ersten vier Stücke des Studio-Albums, aufgenommen in Japan, sowie eine in Kanada mit den Quebec International Festival Orchestra zelebrierte (anders ist das nicht zu bezeichnen) Fassung des Klassikers "For Richard".
Insgesamt ein sehr gelungenes Album, wenn auch durch eine andere Reihenfolge der Songs der Spannungsbogen etwas geschickter hätte gestaltet werden können. Canterbury- Fans und Einsteigern gleichermaßen zu empfehlen!
Dirk Reuter 12.10.2003
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