REVIEWS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES
Big fan.
I have followed Caravan for over 40 years and still listen to their albums.The group has changed musicians many times but I still enjoy them to this day.I would recommend their first 5 albums as one of the finest example of sixties and seventies music around.I just love this group.
jay kanter 5/5 22.05.2013 (AMAZON)
Let's start with the ugly! Technically speaking, this album shows too many mistakes and a relatively bad bad work! Never has the tune "Why Why Why?" deserved a better title! 1:16 cut abruptely without any logical reason; on the track list from the back cover, you'll have to shift "Golf Girl" and "Smoking Gun", the latter coming first as track 4; a few very short glitches will also test your ear here and there (who let this awful mastering fault happen?), some of the fadings are poorly executed or set together and finally, oooh, Pye doesn't sing too good ... at times! It all depends on the range used for the tune. But let us skip for a moment the minus side, just because this concert is NOT a bad concert; it seems to be a straight soundboard recording and it does sound good! in fact it is still impressive to hear the band playing with such positive energy; kudoos to the rhythm section! The new man on drums, Mark Walker, does a solid job and Jim Leverton on bass is wailing with a contagious enthusiasm; both Jan Schelhaas on keyboards and Geoffrey Richardson provide us with great soloing, the former even emulating at times Dave Sinclair's classic organ sound (the one in family with Dave Stewart's and Mike Ratledge's). So let's face it relaxed: if you want to check what Caravan is doin' to date, you'll get the right answers here or in other of the live recordings from about the same period flourishing on the market (the entire Caravan at the Metropolis studios is uploaded on You Tube, 87 minutes in all, a shameless lack of moral when you think the DVD is officially marketed!). If you're new to the band, then it would be - like nearly always - better to check them chronologically, there are plenty of possibilities for you, from the super anniversary edition of "In the Land of Grey and Pink" to Japanese papersleeves or several compilations. So, if you're one of those who have followed our boys entertaining us in more than 40 years, making us smile or get relaxed, whistle and go along their highly contagious melodies, you probably wouldn't feel in foreign territories here, with a repertory stretching from "In the Land of Grey and Pink" to "The Unauthorised Breakfast Item" and, with the same smile as when you were young, would think: they still rock!
PIOTRLEROUGE 2.5/5 17.08.2012 (RATEYOURMUSIC)
Allez, je cote un peu large. Parce que Caravan, quand même, le meilleur groupe de la scène de Canterbury, pourvoyeur de merveilles absolues au firmament desquelles In the Land of Grey and Pink brille toujours de mille feux.
Là, on est en 2011, autant dire que les gars ont pris du gras et du sel dans le poivre. Des temps anciens, demeurent le fabuleux violoniste Geoffrey Richardson ainsi que Pye Hastings, lequel, il faut bien le dire, n'a plus sa voix d'antan. Sur "Memory Lain Hugh" et "Headloss", il est limite faux; il faut dire que ces compositions sont, vocalement, extrêmement subtiles et difficiles à chanter et que s'y attaquer à plus de soixante piges mérite le respect.
Seulement voilà, des performances live de Caravan, il y en a des biens meilleures que celle-là, notamment le grand .... Du coup, album dispensable, pour fans absolus (j'en suis) qui suivront le groupe ad patres.
AGMN 3/5 05.03.2012 (RATEYOURNUSIC)
Buyer beware.
I'd just came from the band's semi-official site and a news item on April 2, 2012 indicates an issue with the quality of the disks as the master disk used for pressing somehow was corrupted. You may want to check with the site before ordering this new or used. It's not clear if the problem has been fixed or how anyone with damaged disks can get replacements shipped.
This is a damned shame as the bootlegs I have of the tour show the band in fine form.
Kevin M. Fries 4/5 04.04.2012 (AMAZON)
LET ME SAY THIS FIRST .... I LOVE THIS BAND! .... and I'm still giving this 1 star!
I LOVE THIS BAND! ... But this.... this is awful.
Major mastering faults: why, why,why? ends after less than 2 mins mid-performance,mid-bar .. jolting into spoken intro for next track. There also 2 or 3 garbled 1/2 second glitches on both disks. Track order and starting points all over the place....... total mess
And sadly .. on the performance ...And the vox .... oh dear .... weak as hell and well out of tune in places. Sounds like a bad covers band.
Don't buy this! Please! Theres a few passable bits on this 2CD set (Nine Feet Underground is good .... and always is ..its my fave track from the back catalog)but most of these performances are NOT Caravan at their best - far from it. (Although Richardson's Viola is sublime as always.)
I know its a 'straight from the desk' recording ... but it shouldn't be this bad.
mastering faults, poor vocals, duff songs performed.... NO!
Avoid.
If you're a completist - you are gonna buy this anyway.
If not - buy just about any other Caravan recording out there - it will be better than this.
I hate to bitch about a band I genuinely love - but this recording is legacy damaging stuff
Instead, go buy ALL their albums up to the mid-70's - those are gold dust ... thats my advice FOR THOSE FEW OF WHO DON'T ALREADY OWN THEM AND LOVE THEM ANYWAY!
Matt-T 2/5 03.04.2012 (DISCOGS)
I just read Matt-T's review on this very forum so let's start saying it one more time: technically speaking, this is a relatively bad bad work! Never has the tune "Why Why Why?" deserved a better title! 1:16 cut abruptely without any logical reason; on the track list from the back cover, you'll have to shift "Golf Girl" and "Smoking Gun", the latter coming first as track 4; a few short glitches will also test your ear here and there and finally, yes, Pye doesn't sing too good ... at times! It depends on the range used for the tune. But giving this album one star is maybe just the price of frustration! Because this concert is NOT a bad concert; in fact it is still impressive to hear them playing with such positive energy; kudoos to the rhythm section! The new man on drums, Mark Walker, does a solid job and Jim Leverton on bass is wailing with a contagious enthusiasm; both Jan Schelhaas on keyboards and Geoffrey Richardson provide us with great soloing, the former even emulating at times Dave Sinclair's classic organ sound (the one in family with Dave Stewart's and Mike Ratledge's). So let's face it relaxed: if you want to check what Caravan is doin' to date, you'll get the right answers here or in other of the live recordings from about the same period flourishing on the market (the entire Caravan at the Metropolis studios is uploaded on You Tube, 87 minutes in all, a shameless lack of moral when you think the DVD is officially marketed!). If you're new to the band, then it would be - like nearly always - better to check them chronologically, there are plenty of possibilities for you, from the super anniversary edition of "In the Land of Grey and Pink" to Japanese papersleeves or several compilations. So, taking into account those guys have been entertaining us in more than 40 years and globally still deliver the goods, make us smile or get relaxed, I honestly feel that a rating between two and three would be more appropriate and I'll go up to three, as two and a half are not featured here.
Music By Mail 3/5 03.04.2012 (DISCOGS)
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