Blind Dog at St. Dunstan's [Import]

Blind Dog at St. Dunstan's [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Reissue of the British art-rock and Canterbury scenester 's 1976 album. 9 tracks. Repertoire. 1994.

Tracks:

Here Am I
Chiefs and Indians
Very Smelly, Grubby Little Oik
Bobbing Wide
Come on Back
Oik (Reprise)
Jack and Jill
Can You Hear Me?
All the Way

Album Description

Reissue of the British art-rock and Canterbury scenester 's 1976 album. 9 tracks. Repertoire. 1994.

Customer Reviews:

A Pleasant Surprise- Canterbury goes pop!!.......2002-07-16

After the weak album "Cunning Stunts", Caravan left the Decca label and their best work behind, or so most histories of the band would tell you.The style they bring to this disc is more pop than you might expect but the songwriting is strong and the atmosphere positive.
These guys sound like they're enjoying themselves and the solo's are short but succinct, there's a loose feeling to the band, with nobody over influencing the music.
Highlights include "Here am I","Chiefs and Indians","A very smelly, grubby little oik","bobbing wide" and the ballad "All the way".
It's very uplifting, with Pye Hastings supplying his usual whimsical lyrics, and newcomer Jan Schelhass filling the shoes of Dave Sinclair suprisingly well.
This was the last album produced by David Hitchcock for the band and his absence is felt with the shaky albums that followed this one.It was a surprise that this album is so enjoyable, and I would recommend this to those who have enjoyed the lighter songs that Pye Hastings has written on other Caravan albums (such as "Love to love you","Aristocracy" and "Surprise, surprise").
Enjoy!!

good, not great.......2002-02-03

it's not a bad album as so many professional reviewers would state-it doesn't seem to campare to their earlier more whimsical and adventurous music. It has tight musicianship and some pretty strong songs. I think that their last really great album was Girls Who Go Plump The Night followed by the slight drop off with Cunning Stunts. There seems to be some Steely Dan influence in this album and a little bit of caution in the song writing. Not to be totally written off but definitely not one of their strongest...

Quite an improvement over Cunning Stunts.......2002-01-16

I was rather surprised I would like this album as much as I do. Simply because their previous album, Cunning Stunts was over-orchestrated, over-produced mush lacking the charm of such earlier albums as In the Land of Grey & Pink. David Sinclair left after Cunning Stunts, because he sounded like he was simply disintersted, replaced by Jan Schelhaas. With Blind Dog at St. Dunstans, Pye Hastings brought the band back in control, got rid of most of the orchestrations (which is a big plus for me), not to mention all those outside musicians, leaving most of the outside help in the hands of unofficial member Jimmy Hastings. The music has improved greatly, although it's a little strange that some of the music bears an odd resemblance to the Alan Parsons Project, like "Chiefs and Indians" (the only cut Mike Wedgwood sings, luckily, on this album) and "All the Way". There's a few songs that brought back the old Caravan charm like "Jack and Jill" and "A Very Smelly, Grubby Little Oik". I'm happy Caravan tried to bring back their classic sound with this album, but I was disappointed that their 1977 followup Better By Far went right back to pop mush. As far as I'm concerned Blind Dog is Caravan's last good album. Maybe not the best album from them, or even essential, but at least a good attempt to bring the band in the right direction (too bad it didn't last).

Great Stuff.......2001-01-25

To say this disc is rubbish is unfounded. It may not be A+ caravan but its still caravan and is still a great album, stand out cuts Here Am I, Oik Suite, Jack and Jill and the lovely song at the end of the album All The Way. This is and will always be my favourite Caravan album with In The Land Of Grey And Pink a close second

The Canterbury Pundits are off on this one!.......1999-10-12

This album is quite good if you know what to expect. Is it jazzy in any way? Absolutely not! It's poppish to the extreme without making it a piece of garbage. It's listenable through and through. I cetainly rate it above ' For Girls who Grow plump in the Night'(3*) but definitely below Waterloo Lily (5*) or In the Land of Gray and Pink(5*). Of course if Pye Hastings' voice drives you up a wall STAY AWAY!