Canterbury Comes To London: Live - Astoria, London 1997 [Live]

What is nice about this album is that the group did not pull the dinosaur act of playing old hits in the same old way. The group did try to change things around a little and did play some new songs. Unfortunately, in most cases the changes aren't for the better.

The new songs still suck (except for maybe Cold As Ice). They are all from Pye Hastings. He was never the best song writer in the group, and since the eighties, he has lost any edge that he originally had. Also, Caravan had a sound that would envelope you and take you to a different place. That is not apparent in any of the new tunes (except for Cold As Ice, thanks to Geoff Richardson' viola, and Hastings reverting back to his old vocal style).

The other major change, is that group is plays some of the songs with a harder edge. The first two songs are actually played fairly well, with some nice solos. I aways liked the atmosphere that Richardson's viola added to the group when he joined for the fifth album.

Nine Feet Underground is only 17 minutes and is 4 minutes shorter than the studio version. Another reviewer said that it was a nice run through. And for the most part, it is a run through, with nothing special added. But, you do have to give the group credit. Near the end the group does try to change things up, by singing and playing the piece as if they were a lounge act. I applaud change, but in this case it really doesn't work.

For Richard is on almost all of Caravan's live albums. There are over 8 versions of the song. This one is played completely different than the rest. After a light rock intro, the group switches to a heavy metal, guitar crunching sound. I can't decide if I like it better than the other versions, but it does have some punch to it.

The album ends with a pointless version of Golf Girl, which doesn't sound much different from the original, except for some annoying percussion in the background. It wasn't one of Caravan's best songs in the first place.

So, with this album, you get a different, harder rocking version of For Richard, a couple of other OK tracks, some pointless music that isn't much different from other versions, and a bunch of bad songs.

Much better choices include the 1995 "Live" which contains the original quartet (plus Jimmy Hastings) or Songs for the Oblivion Fishermen (what a horrible title), which features live performances from the earlier days.

Note that this CD has come out in different covers and with different variations of the complete title Canterbury Comes to London: Live From Astoria.

(1=poor 2=mediocre 3=pretty good 4=very good 5=phenomenal)

This CD is surprisingly bad. The old songs are played with no innovation, energy or spark. Nine Feet Underground at 17 minutes is three minutes shorter than the studio version. For Richard has already been overplayed to the max, being on all 8 of Caravan's live albums. This is the worst and shortest version of them all. The new songs are just plain terrible. Although Richardson and Sinclair are in the group, they do not contribute any material. Hastings basically dominates the band now, and his writing has gone stale.

Caravan lost it in the early eighties, with some bad albums. They showed promise in 1990 when the whole original group reunited. They put out a great live CD, simply called Caravan Live. That is the CD to get. But, the reunited band didn't really hold together and Hastings continued on, putting out boring music. Sinclair and Richardson just appear again, mostly as guest musicians and not part of the band.