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Rating:
The album I am about to review has entered my list of favorite albums from the very first listen. A comprehensive work that is difficult to review without ruining the ancient emotions it manages to evoke. This is an album that captivates the listener and brings them back to reality only at the end of the last note.
Never has a title and cover been so spot-on. "In the land of grey and pink", "Nella terra del grigio e rosa" evokes imaginary landscapes made of goblins and witches that we don't even need to make an effort to imagine, as the splendid album cover provides us with a sublime vision that is hardly improvable. A surreal landscape that we can admire not only on the front but also on the back, continuing to the inside of the case.
From the very first listen, it becomes clear why I have lingered on discussing the album's title and cover. If we were indeed in that place, this would undoubtedly be the music we would hear, a muffled sound to which the flute-like voice of the singer perfectly harmonizes. The album contains 6 tracks that, however, seem indissolubly united by an invisible thread, forming a single journey without pauses or drops in tension. It is pointless to speak individually of one track or another when the true work resides in the combination of title, cover, and songs.
An invaluable masterpiece. A rare gem. A whirlwind of emotions. Thank you, Caravan.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Golf Girl (05:00)
Standing on a golf course
Dressed in P.V.C.
I chanced upon a Golf Girl
Selling cups of tea
She asked me did I want one
Asked me with a grin
For three pence you can buy one
Full right to the brim
So of course I had to have one
In fact I ordered three
So I could watch the Golf Girl
Could see she fancied me
And later on the golf course
After drinking tea
It started raining golf balls
And she protected me
Her name was Pat
And we sat under a tree
She kissed me
We go for walks
In fine weather
All together
On the golf course
We talk in morse
02 Winter Wine (07:35)
Winter wine...
How you're always flowing, blowing in my mind?
Like a stream...
These magic waters move me to a dream
Of travelling with you, drifting carefree, dropping downward through fresh grasses
Bubbles merrily as it passes, never knowing where you're going
Carry me with you, carry me with you
Be conjured up in a midnight dream, ancient castles dark
As wandering minstrels play tunes of yesterday
When dragons roamed the land, knights in armour cold
Charged on horseback bold
The maids were saved, the dragons slain
Sail scene, sea green - sailing forward to a new land
Treasure waits, paradise gates, for the taking, don't start waking
All you need, but take heed, remember it pays to pay the sandman well
Make no fuss, for you must - in stardust, he puts all the colours in your dreams
Bells chime three times, naked dancers enter slowly
Smoky room, scented gloom, audience eating, fat men drinking
Candles burn, a dull red light illuminates the breasts of four young girls
Dancing, prancing, provoking - dreams are always ending far too soon
Life's too short to be sad
Wishing things you'll never have
You're better off not dreaming of the things to come
Dreams are always ending far too soon
Sounds of a distant melody
Once played, lost from memory
Funny how it's clearer now, you're close to me
We'll be together all the time
03 Love to Love You (And Tonight Pigs Will Fly) (03:03)
I dreamed of all the magic things that be
When we'd ride to a dock on bended knee
But you'd just smile and gently shake your head
And put a hole through me so I was dead
Oh, I'd fall down and I was left alone
With a feeling of you still that was my own
Oh, I would love to, love to love you
Yes, indeed, I do love you, love you
My, my, pigs might fly, that can't be bad
How you have the cheek to smile and tell me I'm mad
A man came through the wall and stood by me
Complete with bag of nuts and fancy free
He said without a tonal fleeting glance
I'd like to get deep down inside your pants
How you opened up his head and smiled
And rubbish from your mouth you ticked inside
Oh, I would love to, love to love you
Yes, indeed, I do love you, love you
My, my, pigs might fly, that can't be bad
How you have the cheek to smile and tell me I'm mad
04 In the Land of Grey and Pink (04:59)
In the land of grey and pink where only boy-scouts stop to think
They'll be coming back again, those nasty grumbly grimblies
And they're climbing down your chimney, yes they're trying to get in
Come to take your money - isn't it a sin, they're so thin ?
They've black buckets in the sky, don't leave your dad in the rain
Cigarettes burn bright tonight, they'll all get washed down the drain
So we'll sail away for just one day to the land where the punk weed grows
Won't need any money, just fingers and your toes
And when it's dark our boat will park on a land of warm and green
Pick our fill of punk weed and smoke it till we bleed, that's all we'll need
While sailing back in morning light, we'll wash our teeth in the sea
And when the day gets really bright, we'll go to sea drinking tea
So we'll sail away for just one day to the land where the punk weed grows
Won't need any money, just fingers and your toes
And when it's dark our boat will park on a land of warm and green
Pick our fill of punk weed and smoke it till we bleed, that's all we'll need
They've black buckets in the sky, don't leave your dad in the rain
Cigarettes burn bright tonight, they'll all get washed down the drain
05 Nine Feet Underground: Nigel Blows a Tune / Love's a Friend / Make It 76 / Dance of the Seven Paper / Hankies / Hold Grandad by the Nose / Honest I Did! / Disassociation / 100% Proof (22:39)
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Other reviews
By embryo
"Caravan's music is not as intricate and complex as that of King Crimson and Genesis, although their toolkit consists of the same elements."
"The summa of their balanced and romantic art which alternates between serene and vaguely nostalgic tones, ending with a surprising almost hard-rock finale."
By DaveJonGilmour
It captivates you on a full listen and enters you immediately without asking permission.
'Nine Feet Underground' is 22.44 minutes of pure musical ecstasy, a shocking flight with closed eyes in the vast and boundless skies of prog, jazz-rock, and melody.
By belerofonte
"Twenty-four minutes of dazzling melody have cradled and bewitched me."
"Caravan’s work is so pure that it rightly places them in the Olympus of progressive and rock music as a whole."
By tonysoprano
If I were asked, during a medical check-up, if I take drugs, I would answer yes, but it’s a more pleasant drug to take, it lasts for only 43 minutes.
'Nine Feet Underground' is one of the greatest suites in the history of progressive, my eternal love for this genre that has long since conquered me with its greatness and expressive complexity.
