Search - Van Dyke Parks :: Clang of the Yankee Reaper

Parks' third best album

Craig Weatherby | Waltham, MA USA | 02/27/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The title cut stands far above the rest of the album, and alone makes it a must-have for lovers of sophisticated musical Americana a la Randy Newman's 19th-century period pieces...a lushly nostagic, beautifully written and arranged bit of musical Americana, with superbly clever lyrics. The remaining cuts are fun, well-chosen calypso and pop covers, but none improve on the original versions. I think Song Cycle and Jump! are his two best albums, and two of the greatest pop albums ever recorded. Live at the Ash Grove is well worth having, Discover America offers competent but non-essential covers of more calypso and pop tunes, and Orange Crate Art and Tokyo Rose elicit respect for their craft and intelligence rather than a strong emotional response."

More people need to dicover Van Dyke

Mr. J. W. Allison | Chadderton, UK | 08/24/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Van Dyke Parks is best known for his work with Brian Wilson on the aborted 'Smile' project, but his solo albums are are rewarding as anything his did with Wilson. 'Clang Of The Yankee Reaper' is a tribute to the West Indies, full of calypso rhythms, steel drums, great arrangements and wonderful songs. Reading the sleeve notes, it appears that Parks, a great arranger and songwriter, neither arranged nor wrote any of these songs! That doesn't stop it being as great a CD as his self-composed classic, 'Song Cycle'.Timeless and brilliant."

Feel the groove

Mr. J. W. Allison | 12/02/1998

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is one of the most energetic albums ever made. You can't just stand still listening to these caribean and latin rhythms. A surprise in the end: Canon actually isn't Pachelbel's famous canon but a samba version of Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott, a hymn by Martin Luther."