John Cale - Caribbean Sunset (1983) (LP) - €10,00

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John Davies Cale OBE (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, drone, classical, avant-garde and electronic music.

Caribbean Sunset is the ninth solo studio album by Welsh rock musician John Cale, released in January 1984 by ZE Records.

Arguably the weakest album of John Cale's career (some fans would elect the follow-up, 1985's similarly lightweight Artificial Intelligence, for the honor), 1984's Caribbean Sunset is something of a mess. 

The songs are among the poppiest of Cale's career, and one gets the sense that it's meant to be Cale's attempt at a straight-up pop album, especially given the Jimmy Buffett-like title and cover photo. Yet everything about the album's arrangements and production undercut the promise of slickness and commercialism; Cale's production is uncharacteristically cruddy, with the rhythm section in particular sounding as if they were recorded from two rooms over and his vocals, often unnecessarily harsh, sounding completely disconnected from the music. 

The arrangements, too, are unnecessarily hurried-sounding; this is apparently an album of first takes, as "Experiment Number 1" features Cale calling out the chord changes to the band (which features three young unknowns and Brian Eno, enigmatically credited solely with "AMS pitch changer") as the song progresses. 

The songs are a mixed bag, with the pointed "Model Beirut Recital" and "Praetorian Underground" sounding like leftovers from 1982's Music for a New Society; unfortunately, they're also the best of the lot, along with the agreeably slight title track. Not quite as bad as its reputation in some circles suggests, Caribbean Sunset can't really be called good, either. 

Side A

A1.  Hungry For Love - 3:48

A2.  Experiment Number 1 - 5:45

A3.  Model Beirut Recital - 4:23

A4.  Caribbean Sunset - 4:15

Side B

B1.  Praetorian Underground - 3:08

B2.  Magazines - 3:25

B3.  Where There’s A Will - 2:43

B4.  The Hunt - 3:56

B5.  Villa Albani - 5:25

Musicians

• John Cale – vocals; keyboards; guitar
• Dave Young – guitar; backing vocals
• Andy Heermans – bass guitar; backing vocals
• David Lichtenstein – drums; boobams
• Brian Eno – A.M.S pitch changer (effects)

Production

• John Cale – producer; mixing
• Tom Roberts – associate producer
• Tim "Thilby" Crich – assistant engineer
• David Schecterson – assistant engineer
• Andy Heermans – engineer on "Magazines"
• Rob O'Connor – sleeve design
• Risé Irushalmi Cale – cover photography

Notes

Release:  1984

Format:  LP, Vinyl

Genre:  Art Rock, Experimental Rock

Label:  Island Records

Catalog#  205 986-620

Vinyl:  Goed

Cover:  Goed

Prijs: €10,00