L'album del quale mi accingo a fare la recensione è entrato a far parte della mia lista di album preferiti fin dal primo ascolto. Un'opera omnia che risulta difficile recensire senza rovinare le ataviche emozioni che riesce a evocare. Questo è un album che rapisce l'ascoltatore e lo riporta alla realtà solo alla fine dell'ultima nota.

Mai titolo e copertina risultano cosi' azzeccati. "In the land of grey and pink", "Nella terra del grigio e rosa" rievoca paesaggi immaginari fatti di folletti e streghe che non dobbiamo nemmeno sforzarci a immaginare dal momento che la splendida copertina del disco ce ne fornisce una visione sublime difficilmente migliorabile. Un paesaggio surreale che possiamo ammirare non solo nel front ma anche nel retro proseguendo per l'interno della custodia.

Gia' da un primo ascolto si puo' capire perchè mi sono dilungato nel parlare del titolo dell'album e della sua copertina. Se ci ritrovassimo infatti in quel luogo questa sarebbe la musica che ascolteremmo sicuramente, una musica ovattata alla quale si intona perfettamente la voce flautata del cantante. Nell'album sono presenti 6 tracce che sembrano pero'unite indissolubilmente da un filo invisibile fino a formare un unico viaggio senza pause o cali di tensione. Inutile parlare singolarmente di una o dell'altra traccia quando il vero e proprio lavoro risiede nel connubio tra titolo, copertina e canzoni.
Un capolavoro inestimabile. Una perla rara. Un turbinio di emozioni. grazie Caravan.

Elenco tracce testi samples e video

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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Altre recensioni

Di  embryo

 La scuola di Canterbury propone una variante molto melodica del rock progressivo.

 Un bel prog semplice, melodioso e delicato. Altri tempi.


Di  DaveJonGilmour

 In un’eventuale scala dei valori, non esiterei a mettere questo disco sullo stesso scalino di ‘Third’ o ‘Close to the Edge’ o di alcuni lavori di Pink Floyd e King Crimson.

 La monumentale suite ‘Nine Feet Underground’, 22.44 minuti di pura estasi musicale, uno sconcertante volo ad occhi chiusi negli ampi e sconfinati cieli del prog.


Di  belerofonte

 "Un dolcissimo oblio è calato su di me, ventiquattro minuti di abbacinante melodia mi hanno cullato ed ammaliato."

 "Quello dei Caravan è sì puro da collocarli di diritto nell’Olimpo del progressive e del rock tutto."


Di  tonysoprano

 "È una droga più piacevole da assumere, ha effetto per soli 43 minuti, ma in quei pochi minuti puoi intravedere la magnificienza del mondo."

 "Nine Feet Underground è una delle massime suite della storia del progressive, orgasmo unico di 22 minuti."