Search - Caravan :: Cunning Stunts

Pretty, or pretty insipid?

Gavin Wilson | 07/18/2001

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I can't make up my mind about 'Cunning Stunts', in spite of the 26 years I've known this record. Here's my typical thought sequence as I play through the album:#1 'Show of Our Lives' -- reasonably pretty tune, shame about the back-up vocals. Uninspiring guitar solos -- Larry Carlton this is not!#2 'Stuck in a Hole' -- feeble vocals on a riff with potential bite. Nice viola, though.#3 'Lover' -- probably just a few notes from being a great tune, but as it is, it's unnoteworthy.#4 'No Backstage Pass' -- attractive tune and string arrangement#5 'Welcome the Day' -- abysmal attempt at funk, again let down by utterly the wrong type of voice. The Climax Blues Band subsequently got it right. Actually not a bad guitar solo.#6 'Dabsong Conshirtoe' -- the traditional Caravan long piece. Has its moments. Why does it need the space of a long track for the band to show off their talents best? And why does the CD player on my PC not allow me to select the index segments within this long track?? Good to reprise the opening theme in the final movement. Perhaps this album isn't so bad after all.#7 'Fear and Loathing' -- a throwaway track similar to Joe Walsh's 1974 'All-night Laundromat Blues'.By this stage in their career, Caravan were a solid second-division prog band, who could at times sound like Camel, Barclay James Harvest or even Bobby Goldsboro or the Eagles. What they produced was largely soft-rock. In retrospect they should either not have attempted the heavier riff-based material or recruited a new vocalist -- no offence intended, Pye. But the band got most of their audience feedback from their tours of UK university towns and cities, and soft-rock was a genre with a reasonable student following. (A bloke could take a girl to a Caravan gig, confident that she wouldn't insist on walking out within the first ten minutes.)Overall, this album is largely BJH territory, and bears no similarity to the Canterbury background which spawned the likes of Robert Wyatt, Matching Mole, Kevin Ayers etc. I can play it once or twice a year and enjoy it, but this album is crucial neither to my CD collection nor to the history of 70s music. Sorry guys."

Not the best, but still good nonetheless

victor_meldrew | Toronto | 09/04/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album was probably the last of the classic early set from Caravan. Although missing Richard Sinclair (ably replaced by Mike Wedgwood) this still has all the hallmarks of a typical Caravan album: from the folk, jazz and rock licks to the clever and witty lyrics. Also this album is probably one of the better productions in sound quality. The opening track is a good test for any hi-fi system with Richard Coughlan's ride cymbal slithering over a rumbling bass.All-in-all a very good offering and thoroughly recommended."

Great

victor_meldrew | 08/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I think this album is better than some of their earlier stuff, I find the early stuff rather boring, this album has some real good rock music in it, the opening track is extremely grand with the piano phrase that re appears along with the finale on Dabsong Conshirtoe which in itself is extremely enjoyable with several different movements and the usual high standard of playing expected from this band. Stuck in a hole and Welcome The Day are also good rock music, the latter being an attempt at a funky tune, and to a degree it works. Lover is the weak point, but its sister track No Backstage Pass is one of the best songs on the album. I prefer to listen to this than Land Of Grey and Pink or the First Album, it sounds much more assured. If you like this, you will like For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night and Blind Dog At St Dunstans which are both excellent, as far as the early stuff is concerned check out Waterloo Lilly and If I Could Do It All Over Again Id Do It All Over You."