Kayak II is the second album by the Dutch progressive rock band Kayak.
At first, the title was to be "His Master's Noise". But the band expected problems with the record label "His Master's Voice" (HMV) , and so they chose simply for "Kayak". The album is also known as "Kayak II" and "Alibi" (after its first track).
"Kayak II" is the perfect marriage of the band’s hard rock tendencies, their dazzling symphonic edges and the adventurous middle ground between the two. The songs are top-notch slices of upbeat, exciting progressive.
The album opens with an addictive dose of high energy, but it’s the second song, “Wintertime”, that really sets the tone. Somewhat melancholic in the verses, the chorus becomes almost Supertramp-ish in its brightness. Side 1 is rounded out by two very different songs: “Mountain Too Rough”, a mostly-mellow trip into folky atmospheres with some deliberately disruptive sound effects occurring. “They Get To Know Me” offers a killer momentum, symphonic and Genesis-like in spots, with a healthy bit of aggression, especially when guitarist Johan Slager takes over. It’s always so enjoyable to witness this song unfolding.
Side two is even more diverse in scope than side one. “Serenades” is a bouncy number, hinting at the sound they’d perfect on the ‘Starlight Dancer’ album. “Woe And Alas” offers slightly tricky timing and an impassioned Max Werner vocal. Some gorgeous layers are built up as the song moves along. We get the more gentle side of Kayak with the caress of “Mireille”, a short, to-the-point instrumental that provides a good balance to the more involved stuff here. The album’s final moments couldn’t be better: “Trust In The Machine” has a demented bit of vocal from Werner and swirling keyboard sounds that envelop the rest of the music, that music being kinetic stuff that’s wild but never out of control.
Tracklist
01. Alibi (Scherpenzeel) - 3:39
02. Wintertime (Van Leeuwen, Koopman) - 2:51
04. They Get To Know Me (Van Leeuwen, Koopman) - 9:18
05. Serenades (Koopman, Scherpenzeel) - 3:33
06. Woe And Alas (Scherpenzeel) - 3:01
07. Mireille (Instr.) (Koopman) - 2:13
08. Trust In The Machine (Van Leeuwen, Koopman) - 6:06
09. His Master's Noise (Koopman, Scherpenzeel, Van Leeuwen) - 1:45
Personnel
Ton Scherpenzeel - keyboards, vocals, accordion
Pim Koopman - drums, percussion, marimba, vocals
Max Werner - lead vocals, percussion, mellotron
Cees van Leeuwen - bass, harmonica
Johan Slager - guitars, vocals
Notes
Notes
Released: 1974
Recorded at: Intertone Studio, Heemstede, The Netherlands
Genre: Progressive Rock
Label: EMI
Producer: Gerrit-Jan Leenders and Kayak
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