An Incomplete Guide To Kayaking: Part 3
Posted on | April 21, 2008 at 10:37 am | Comments Off
This is a continuation of my series of blog entries on the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak.
Phase 2: Prog Pop (1975-1977)
The Last Encore
Kayak’s fourth album featured the same lineup as the third one and built on Royal Bed Bouncer, further refining their prog pop or “symphonic rock” sound.
But change was in the offing, as the title suggests. This was to be their last album (for quite some time) with original drummer/co-songwriter Pim Koopman. Koopman has a lot of interesting stuff on this album, so he went out with style. He wrote half of the twelve songs on the disc, far more than on any other album. (The rest were written by Ton Scherpenzeel, as usual.)
I’m going to run down the songs in the order from the CD I have. The original LP had them in a different order.
The first song is “Back To The Front”, which is really two songs in one (the other should be called “We’ve Only Just Begun”). The first half is a melancholy, slower number that seems to be equating relationships to war. The tempo speeds up for the second half, when apparently the protagonist is in a happier mood, ending the song with “It’s only love making me feel we’ve only just begun”. Johan Slager’s electric guitar work makes the song(s) more interesting than it deserves to be, though it’s not without some vocal hooks.
Next is “Nothingness”, a ballad that prominently features a slow instrumental section with some wordless layered harmony vocal crooning followed by some complicated piano and string work.
The third song is Koopman’s stellar “Love Of A Victim”, one of my all-time favorite Kayak songs and one that is very atypical. The tempo is fast – really fast, and the song is short. It’s an unabashed rocker about loving the wrong person. Extra points for the weird treated piano sound in the break followed by the guitar solo. It’s good to see that Max Werner has the vocal chops to handle this sort of thing, though his high, thiny voice definitely give it a unique feel.
Song #4 is Koopman’s ballad “Land On The Water”, a lovely little song:
The God of Mediocrity is waiting for a lift
May he think his blindness is a gift
This is another song with a catchy break that sounds like it’s from a different song.
I don’t want to gather knowledge, if it’s second-hand
Think I’ll just retire on my land
The thrust of the lyrical sentiments in the song seem to presage Koopman’s retirement from the band. He just wants to get back to his land on the water!
Next is the title song, “The Last Encore”. It follows the usual Kayak formula of starting off as a vocal/piano ballad and gradually bringing in more instruments. Catchy chorus. The outro is too long and dull though.
Then we get another Koopman uptempo number, “Do You Care?”. I like this one quite a bit. Again, the lyrics seem to foretell his imminent exit from the band:
Do you care, really care if I say
What it takes, to convince me to stay
Guess I’m knowing it’s all worthwhile
But the habit’s beyond the smile
When you get to the top
Who’s the first one to drop
By that time I just might have gone crazy
Really nice guitar work by Slager in this one, as usual.
Song #7 is a Koopman relationship tune called “Still My Heart Cries For You”. It’s basically a ballad surrounding an intense fast-tempo catchy middle section. I like this one a lot, it uses my favorite Kayak formula.
Then there is “Relics From A Distant Age”, a showcase for Ton’s piano playing. It’s the longest song of the album and harkens back to more proggier times. Still, it’s a pretty song with some nice vocals. “Love Me Tonight/Get On Board” is a bit of Kayak curio. It’s a short double novelty song, intentionally sounding like something from the age of 78s. It’s a nice song to put on a mix tape and freak people out. “Evocation”, the second-to-last Koopman number is another ballad with intricate layered vocal tricks and some bursts of energy. I can never remember what this song sounds like unless I’ve just listened to it. Then there’s “Raid Your Own House”, Ton’s guitar-based rocker on the album. Nice vocal gymnastics by Max on this one. Ending the album is Koopman’s farewell, “Well Done”. It’s a short song, less than a minute long. Strings, piano, vocals – you know the score.
Favorite Songs: Love Of A Victim, Still My Heart Cries For You, Land On The Water, Do You Care?
Pim Koopman rejoined the band when they reunited in 2000 and has been with them ever since. His songwriting contributions to the post-reformation albums have been one of the best things about the Phase 4 version of the band. Although I have to say that Ton did a good job taking over pretty much sole songwriting duties (along with his wife Irene Linders on lyrics) in the intervening years. I think the absence of Koopman really pushed him to get his game on.
But we’ll get to that soon.
Next: Starlight Dancer. Disco Prog!
Latre.