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Disc 1:
Disc 2:
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Product Description
Review
Caravan were formed in 1968, during the reign of the Canterbury sound - a sudden waft of enthusiasm for avant-garde progressive rock. By the mid-seventies, the band had become synonymous with the scene. They found themselves saddled with a titanic irony: having effectively scripted for the rulebook for a scene borne from a desire to defy all musical rules and conventions.
Throughout the eighties and nineties, the band faded quietly into the background. But, in recent years, shows like BBC 6 Music's Freak Zone have acted like a life support machine for the band, with Stuart Maconie regularly dusting off their records, and generating intrigue in their quirky, jazz-riddled rock.
The Show Of Our Lives - the closest thing to a Caravan release for four years - is a collection of BBC archive recordings, charting the band's youth from 1968 to 1975. It's a rich resource, bringing together well-polished recordings of some of the band's best known and most respected work.
It's a release which will appeal exclusively to fans of Caravan. Of course, this'll come as no surprise to the Caravan boys: after forty years of skirting the fringes of obscurity, they'll be well aware that their indulgent organ solos and hysterical song structures aren't to everyone's tastes.
Like any album forged together from the archives, it does feel rather disjointed. For those unfamiliar with the Canterbury sound's proudest survivors, The Show Of Our Lives will be a pretty slapdash and substandard introduction. But if you're already well acquainted with their idiosyncratic sound, then it should be a different story. --Robert Jackman
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 53 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The greatest essentially quirky "English" band of all time are here on a newly collected (but all available before) compilation of BBC Top Gear sessions plus In Concert tracks too....for those people who grew up with Caravan and still know every Dave Sinclair organ solo and can sing along with every Richard Sinclair or Pye Hastings lyric, this release is the perfect start and finish to complete a quintessential Canterbury Scene collection. All these recordings are fantastic quality, not to mention dreamy, beautiful, hugely nostalgic and magnificent in every way.
Though the band's still going after numerous line-up changes, Richard Coughlan, drummer extraordinaire throughout Caravan's history, has been very ill, so get well soon matey... as for this release, simply enjoy.
Though the band's still going after numerous line-up changes, Richard Coughlan, drummer extraordinaire throughout Caravan's history, has been very ill, so get well soon matey... as for this release, simply enjoy.
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
On first listening to this I got the typical buzz of hearing different versions of familiar tunes but once this novelty had worn off I was left a bit disappointed.
There is no Jimmy Hastings' work at all; on some tracks (e.g. For Richard, The Love in Your Eye) they have tried to replace it with 'For Girls that grow Plump in the Night' style violin which I don't like too much: 'Nine Feet Underground' has been abridged to exclude totally the first section which would otherwise feature the wind instruments.
The tracks that come from 'Caravan' and 'If I could do it all over again etc.' are good versions with the psychedlic keyboard sound but are not as good as the album versions.
The quality of the whole thing is a bit poor too.
So overall, it's nice to have this album in your Caravan collection, but put it in between 'Back to Front' and 'Blind Dog at St Dunstans' to gather dust, and keep 'In the Land of Grey and Pink' and 'If I could do it all over again etc.' for the CD player.
There is no Jimmy Hastings' work at all; on some tracks (e.g. For Richard, The Love in Your Eye) they have tried to replace it with 'For Girls that grow Plump in the Night' style violin which I don't like too much: 'Nine Feet Underground' has been abridged to exclude totally the first section which would otherwise feature the wind instruments.
The tracks that come from 'Caravan' and 'If I could do it all over again etc.' are good versions with the psychedlic keyboard sound but are not as good as the album versions.
The quality of the whole thing is a bit poor too.
So overall, it's nice to have this album in your Caravan collection, but put it in between 'Back to Front' and 'Blind Dog at St Dunstans' to gather dust, and keep 'In the Land of Grey and Pink' and 'If I could do it all over again etc.' for the CD player.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
The first CD is *****, but the later tracks in CD2 (Cunning Stunts period) drops it to ****½
Great version of "Nine Feet Underground"
Great version of "Nine Feet Underground"
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