An Incomplete Guide To Kayaking: Part 4
Posted on | April 29, 2008 at 7:41 am | 1 Comment
This is a continuation of my series of blog entries on the albums of the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak. To see the previous entries, do a blog search (that little box on the top right) for the word “kayaking”.
Phase 2: Prog Pop (1975-1977)
Starlight Dancer
This is the last album in what I call Kayak’s “Prog Pop” trilogy. In many ways, it’s a transitional album. It’s the last one (until 2000) with Max Werner’s lead vocals. It’s the first one without Pim Koopman’s drums. The rhythm section (Charles Schouten on drums, Theo de Jong on bass) on this album only played on this one album. Ton Scherepenzeel does almost solo songwriting duties for the first time. Johan Slager remains as guitarist extraordinare.
Yet, it many ways, it’s my favorite Kayak album. It really refines and establishes what I consider to be the “Kayak Formula”, though I have a hard time expressing exactly what that is.
It’s hard to know which version of this album to review, since there’s been a few. The original one I had was the American version, which is actually a compilation of songs from the previous album The Last Encore and the European version of Starlight Dancer (and even has the cover art from The Last Encore). It also adds one song I haven’t seen anywhere else: “Ballad For A Lost Friend”. It’s no wonder I fell hard for that version, since it had the best songs from two albums on one album. But the version I have on CD, which I think is the only one that was released on CD, is a “two-albums on one CD” disc that also contains the next album Phantom Of The Night. These are arguably the two most popular Kayak albums, and they’re not available separately. To further confuse matters, the song order on the CD is nothing like the song order on the original LP, at least according to this, and the CD is also missing two songs from the LP (”Dead Bird Flies Forever” and “Sweet Revenge”). However, I do have a tape of the original import LP (which I think was owned by DJ Smallberries) which does have the same song order as the CD, with those two additional songs stuck near the end. So I’m just going to go by the CD song order, especially since that’s what I’m used to. Whew. Confused yet? I know I am.
The first song “Daughter Or Son” is a strange choice for an opener (and, indeed, it’s apparently the closing song on the original LP). It’s not all that catchy, and has that annoying “duck-quack” guitar sound in the chorus (I forget the word for that), like Steely Dan used to use. However, the lyrical subject matter is probably even more relevant today than it was back in the 70s:
But time will come that doctors want to know
What you would like
Or what you would prefer
A boy or a girl
Then you’ll look at her
And not find the words
Now what do you want?
Daughter or son
Picking the one
Daughter or son
Science taking giant steps
It’s bringing back the fun
What do you want?
Daughter or son?
The next song is the title track “Starlight Dancer” and it may be my favorite Kayak song. It’s another one that starts off slow and that has a big, fast-tempo instrumental break with tasty keyboard/guitar riffs, followed by a tasty vocal section, then back to the instrumental break, then back to the slow stuff for the end. That’s the Kayak Formula I love. Especially since the instrumental part is so catchy. The lyrics are science fiction-y, and remind me a bit of Blue Öyster Cult’s “The Great Sun Jester”:
I’ve had my residences all over space
Bridging lightyears each day
Only one dream away
From the cosmic stage
Starlight dancer…
A live performance so the whole world could see
I’m aligning the stars
Universal in art
See the god in me
Starlight dancer – that’s my destiny
Starlight dancer…
And now we’re up to track three, “Want You To Be Mine”. This song was the group’s biggest chart hit in the US (#55). It is unrepresentative of the band. I can’t think of what else to call it except “Disco Prog”. It’s an extremely danceable little number that’s run through with some rocky/proggy flourishes. I’m trying to figure out how I can post some of these songs in streaming mode (or maybe temporarily in downloadable mode) so you can hear them. If you’ve never heard this song, you need to. I’ll work on that.
However, the version I have on the CD and the tape is not the version that was on the American LP, and so was not the one that charted. I hear that the American version was actually the demo version of the song, which the guy who was the head of the American record label (Janus) liked better than the finished version. I do have the American LP, but I don’t have it on tape and I don’t have my record player hooked up, so I can’t listen to it and refresh my memory about how it sounded different. Is it even more disco?
Note that the cover of the album (above) fits in well with the disco-era flavoring. Although those band member faces looking down from above almost remind me of numerous old Marvel Comics covers.
The next song is “Letdown”, which is a short fast-tempo number that I couldn’t even remember what it sounded like before re-listening to it for this review. Not very memorable (obviously), but pleasant. Next is the instrumental “Irene”, which is pretty and has a yummy central keyboard riff. It builds nicely.
Then there’s “Golddust”, the only song on the album not written or co-written by Ton. It was written by vocalist Werner. I like this one because it has some interesting rhythmic things going on, and the usual catchy riffs. Interesting background vocals too. The instrumental section goes into some harpsichord stuff followed by a guitar solo doing the vocal melody line.
Track seven is the ballad “May”. Doesn’t do much for me, even though it undergoes some rhythmic and tempo shifts. Goes on a bit long and has a keyboard solo.
“Turn The Tide” brings back the Formula somewhat, and is my second favorite song on the album. It starts off with another excellent keyboard riff. And the refrain leading to the “In a state like this it’s time to turn the tide” chorus gives me chills. And there’s a double-tracked acoustic guitar solo – guitarist Slager has a lot of nice fretwork on this song. If all you do is count and expect, then real life must be hard to accept.
It’s here that the two additional tracks on the album but not on the CD appear. I pulled out my old tape of the import LP to listen to them. “Dead Bird Flies Forever” is a piano/vocal ballad with some incongruous spacey synthesizer effects. It was a good choice to leave off the CD. “Sweet Revenge” is a weird little rocker and I wish it was on the CD. It has some nice touches but is not essential listening.
The closing track is “Where Do We Go From Here?” (not the song from the Buffy Musical). It’s another ballad I have trouble remembering if I’m not actually listening to it. It also goes on too long and the outro is repetitive.
Favorite songs: Starlight Dancer, Turn The Tide, Want You To Be Mine, Golddust.
Hmm, looking back, maybe it’s not my favorite album after all. I think it’s tops in my memory because the good songs are really good.
Next: A really dramatic shift in lineup and tone! Phase 3!
Latre.
Comments
One Response to “An Incomplete Guide To Kayaking: Part 4”
April 29th, 2008 @ 7:51 am
I’m sure I’m not alone in asking you to please add “spoiler alert!”, as and when necessary…