Kayak - See See The Sun

(CD 2012, 50:20, Esoteric Recordings ECLEC2335)

The tracks:
  1- Reason For It All(6:31)
  2- Lyrics(3:49)
  3- Mouldy Wood(5:21)
  4- Lovely Luna(8:25)
  5- Hope For A Life(6:55)
  6- Ballad Of The Cripple(4:42)
  7- Forever Is A Lonely Thought(5:30)
  8- Mammoth(3:01)
  9- See See The Sun(4:18)
Bonus track:
10- Still To Write A Book(2:03)

Kayak - Kayak

CD 2012, 42:39, Esoteric Recordings ECLEC2336)

The tracks:
  1- Alibi(3:42)
  2- Wintertime(2:57)
  3- Mountain Too Rough(3:59)
  4- They Get To Know Me(9:23)
  5- Serenades(3:36)
  6- Woe And Alas(3:04)
  7- Mireille(2:14)
  8- Trust In The Machine(6:07)
  9- His Masters Voice(1:54)
Bonus tracks:
10- We Are Not Amused(2:59)
11- Give It A Name(2:44)

Kayak Website        myspace        Esoteric Recordings


See See The Sun (1973) is the debut album of the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak, who are currently touring in The Netherlands to celebrate their fortieth anniversary! Ton Scherpenzeel (keyboards) and Pim Koopman (drums) − who sadly passed away in November 2009 − founded the band way back in 1972 and they recorded their debut a year later. At the time, the other band members were Max Werner (vocals, Mellotron), Cees van Leeuwen (bass guitar) and Johan Slager (guitars). The album contains three singles: Lyrics, Mammoth and See See The Sun, which were all rather successful in the Dutch charts. In my opinion the highlights of this album are Hope For A Life, a mid-tempo rock song with lots of keyboards and a fine guitar solo, and Mammoth containing the famous Dutch barrel organ! The longest track Lovely Luna features lots of orchestral passages and a rather heavy second part. This debut is a mixture of pop-rock and prog and I think Kayak really did a good job. Therefore See See The Sun is not only interesting for Kayak fans, so check it out!

Kayak's eponymous second album contained two singles: the up-tempo Alibi and the semi-ballad Wintertime, the latter becoming one of Kayak's most well-known songs. However, in my opinion the absolute highlight on Kayak is the epic They Get To Know Me that lasts more than nine minutes. This song is a great example of early prog rock as it is diverse with lots of tempo changes and great solos. Other typical Kayak tracks are Woe And Alas, Serenades and the short instrumental piece Mireille, but the remainder of the album tends to pop and I think His Masters Voice is even utterly boring. Still, I loved to listen to this album after such a long time and I actually caught myself singing along to Alibi and Wintertime. It's wintertime now, I'm feeling fine now...

*** / *** Martien Koolen (edited by Peter Willemsen)

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