Caravan

Label: MadfishRelease date: 8. 10. 2021Production: CaravanAlbum length: 50.04 minGenre: Progressive Rock / Canterbury SceneRating: 9.0/10 Caravan, alongside Soft Machine and Gong, are among the most revered representatives of…

At a time when new albums from the Canterbury prog scene had become rarer than rain in the Gobi Desert, Caravan did a good job with "The Unauthorised Breakfast Item", turning out a thoroughly solid and very listenable record.

»The Battle of Hastings« was an unexciting but still solid comeback for the Canterbury champions everyone had all but written off.

With »Back to Front«, the original Caravan lineup made a farewell album for their own souls, since by then they couldn't have cared less whether it brought them any commercial success.

»The Album« captured the sound of creatively pretty worn-out Canterbury scene legends, who were trying to survive by any means at a time when their stylistic approach was deeply unpopular and they were losing fans with every passing day.

»Paradise Filter« is a seriously solid effort from prog-rock icons whom hardly any fan expected or demanded new music from, though the decision to head back into the studio ultimately proved the right one.

On »Better By Far«, whose title is sadly way off the mark, it became obvious that Caravan were slowly running out of steam for bigger musical adventures and had started glancing around way too much, trying to somehow hold on to their…

»Blind Dog at St. Dunstans'« was the sign that Caravan were slowly starting to slide past their artistic peak, though there's still a fair few brilliant moments on it that instantly remind you why these eternal clowns used to rank among the…

For reasons that were never quite explained, »Cunning Stunts« often gets overlooked when people list the best studio achievements of the Canterbury greats. Caravan were still at their artistic peak back then, cementing their position.

»Caravan and the New Symphonia« is pretty much the perfect marriage of the unforgettable fusion wizardry of a legendary prog rock quintet and a symphony orchestra.

»For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night« is an epic triumph of subtle compositional polish, improvisational spontaneity, majestic ambient shading and unbridled English humor, courtesy of one of the greatest progressive rock bands of all…

It was an incredible feeling to catch a cult prog-rock band like Caravan live for the first time, especially since these days it's extremely hard to see them 'in the flesh' outside their home turf, the British Isles.

"Waterloo Lily" is a totally one-of-a-kind album in Caravan's rich catalog, and from an instrumental improvisation standpoint it remains especially interesting for anyone who loves jazz rock fusion.

Masterpieces like "In the Land of Grey and Pink" rank among the greatest achievements in prog rock, and the British government should really get around to declaring it a national treasure.

"If I Could Do It All Over Again..." has in many ways become the prototype of the signature sound of the legendary Canterbury scene champions. Caravan would keep refining it in the years to come.

In the mind of the average Anglo-Saxon, Canterbury is known mainly as the seat of the head of the Anglican Church, whoever happens to be occupying that much-revered post among the God-fearing flock. I doubt that among