Search - Caravan :: Blind Dog at St Dunstans (Mlps)

A Pleasant Surprise- Canterbury goes pop!!

caravanfan | London United Kingdom | 07/16/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After the weak album "Cunning Stunts", Caravan left the Decca label and their best work behind, or so most histories of the band would tell you.The style they bring to this disc is more pop than you might expect but the songwriting is strong and the atmosphere positive.
These guys sound like they're enjoying themselves and the solo's are short but succinct, there's a loose feeling to the band, with nobody over influencing the music.
Highlights include "Here am I","Chiefs and Indians","A very smelly, grubby little oik","bobbing wide" and the ballad "All the way".
It's very uplifting, with Pye Hastings supplying his usual whimsical lyrics, and newcomer Jan Schelhass filling the shoes of Dave Sinclair suprisingly well.
This was the last album produced by David Hitchcock for the band and his absence is felt with the shaky albums that followed this one.It was a surprise that this album is so enjoyable, and I would recommend this to those who have enjoyed the lighter songs that Pye Hastings has written on other Caravan albums (such as "Love to love you","Aristocracy" and "Surprise, surprise").
Enjoy!!"

Quite an improvement over Cunning Stunts

BENJAMIN MILER | Veneta, Oregon | 01/16/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was rather surprised I would like this album as much as I do. Simply because their previous album, Cunning Stunts was over-orchestrated, over-produced mush lacking the charm of such earlier albums as In the Land of Grey & Pink. David Sinclair left after Cunning Stunts, because he sounded like he was simply disintersted, replaced by Jan Schelhaas. With Blind Dog at St. Dunstans, Pye Hastings brought the band back in control, got rid of most of the orchestrations (which is a big plus for me), not to mention all those outside musicians, leaving most of the outside help in the hands of unofficial member Jimmy Hastings. The music has improved greatly, although it's a little strange that some of the music bears an odd resemblance to the Alan Parsons Project, like "Chiefs and Indians" (the only cut Mike Wedgwood sings, luckily, on this album) and "All the Way". There's a few songs that brought back the old Caravan charm like "Jack and Jill" and "A Very Smelly, Grubby Little Oik". I'm happy Caravan tried to bring back their classic sound with this album, but I was disappointed that their 1977 followup Better By Far went right back to pop mush. As far as I'm concerned Blind Dog is Caravan's last good album. Maybe not the best album from them, or even essential, but at least a good attempt to bring the band in the right direction (too bad it didn't last)."

Good, not great

allismile0 | Washington, DC | 02/03/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"it's not a bad album as so many professional reviewers would state-it doesn't seem to campare to their earlier more whimsical and adventurous music. It has tight musicianship and some pretty strong songs. I think that their last really great album was Girls Who Go Plump The Night followed by the slight drop off with Cunning Stunts. There seems to be some Steely Dan influence in this album and a little bit of caution in the song writing. Not to be totally written off but definitely not one of their strongest..."