John Cale
Caribbean Sunset

So, I could go on endlessly praising John Cale and his incredible importance in the world of contemporary music, but today is not that day.

Year 1984, but I'll immediately jump forward decades and decades: the album in question is judged as the worst in his extensive discography. As far as I'm concerned, nonsense.
Okay, alcohol, okay, cocaine, blah blah blah... I think it's a fact that this historical period did not make life easy artistically for Cale, as demonstrated by his records (including this one, certainly) and his live performances.

You absolutely cannot accuse good Giovanni of Wales of being banal, boring, or static, musically speaking, not even in the case of his seemingly more banal productions.
'Caribbean Sunset' has a vast offering in terms of flavors, sometimes too pungent to make them "not for everyone," perhaps. At the same time, it has a bunch of flaws: should we mention the disorienting spastic mixing among all? Of course, but perhaps that's also what makes it all interesting.

The opener "Hungry For Love" is certainly not a great calling card: lyrics and resulting vocal melodies leave much to be desired, but, precisely thanks to that spastic mixing I mentioned earlier, musically it is a track with an almost Punk attitude and pure Noise Rock shades. That good rawness.

Cale also tries to unleash the sounds of the golden period of the mid-70s again.
On one hand, the title track "Caribbean Sunset" harks back to the nostalgic pianos of the 'Paris 1919' era with some interesting instrumental cues but not developed properly in the second part of the track; on the other "Where There's A Will", undoubtedly a more successful piece, is a ballad that seems to come out of 'Fear,' amidst hints of "Ship Of Fools".
The latter could have easily replaced the concluding "Momamma Scuba", if I may dare.

But among these numbers and a few decent New Wave experiments, some raw pearls stand out.
"Experiment Number 1", with its "Goth personality", slowly slithers into a sinister and cryptic atmosphere, where once again the mixing is a great help in the success of the experiment.
Worthy of mention is "Magazines" with its motorik beat à la Neu! and complete with a final delirium, New Wave & Krautrock polymerization. A piece that might remind of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard's microtonal records' sound (see 'Flying Microtonal Banana').
Finally, the concluding "Villa Albani", highlighting the album, with its keyboards sometimes purely Goth too, the captivating & danceable rhythms, and the almost tribal percussion ever-present. The most original offering, hands down; moreover, re-proposed and rearranged in live shows by Cale in the last couple of years.

Who knows, maybe it just had the misfortune of coming out after the avant-garde 'Music For A New Society,' but as a successor to 'Honi Soit,' it fits perfectly.