January slips away, the first month almost done....
Title:
I Just Wanna Break Even
Artist: The Flying Caravan
Nationality: Spanish
Sub-genre: Symphonic Prog
Release date: January 11 2021
Album number: 1 (I think)
Familiarity: Zero
RYM Rating: n/a
ProgArchives Rating: n/a
This appears to be the debut from these guys, at least I can find no information at all about them anywhere else so much assume this to be the case. Very seventies organ and then synth to open the album as “Get Real” introduces us to The Flying Caravan, and to Juan José Sánchez on the keys. Hypnotic bass lines from Pedro Pablo Molina then the guitar of Antonio Valiente growls in, but so far no vocals. We’re halfway through as Luís Mas pounds out the drumbeats, and I’m thinking this is going to be an instrumental. And a very good one too. Very keys-oriented, though with some nice guitar licks too. This is a long album - almost an hour and a half, and that’s without the extra version of one of the songs, which itself runs for over sixteen minutes, so there’s a lot to get through.
The title track, as it were, is next, or perhaps I should say identity track, as “Flying Caravan” opens again on whirly keyboards and organ, and now we get vocals, and they’re from Izaga Plata, and have they been worth waiting for. She sings like an angel, really changing the focus of the music, and, thankfully for my review, in English. Kind of reminds me a little of Kim Seviour from Touchstone, bouncing along with great enthusiasm as we move into a dark, moody synth and guitar introduction to “Upstream to Manonash”, a lot of Pendragon in this, much more laid back and gives Valiente a chance to shine on the guitar, and there’s some nice soft flute too from Juan Carlos Aracil which really adds something to the song.
“Love’s Labour Mislaid” has a kind of Rushesque feel, slow again with this time a fair bit of guitar leading it in, goes along nicely, really sweet vocal from Plata, and into “The Bumpy Road to Knowledge”, also featuring more of Aracil’s flute and tending along a fairly slower, more relaxed melody. In fact, looking at it now, I believed this to be the longest track, and as such, running for sixteen minutes, it is. However the suite which follows it more than doubles that, so although it’s broken up into seven sections it must qualify as the true epic. I think it’s tenor sax we hear from Manuel Salido here, though I’m no expert on saxophones. Really nice tune though. Has a kind of haunting feeling about it, delivered through Plata’s plaintive vocal and Valiente’s ringing guitar chords.
Beautiful soulful sax break in the tenth minute - maybe that’s tenor sax and the other was alto? Not sure. Superb anyway. A great upbeat keyboard run now which reminds me a little of Marillion’s “Incommunicado” and some fine guitar bringing the piece almost to a close, then some low, rolling percussion and sonorous organ fading in with acoustic guitar and flute as Izaga comes back with a last vocal to finish the song in fine style. And that takes us to the rather phenomenal closing suite, “A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups”.
As I mentioned, this is split into seven sections, and while it all plays as one track there is a breakdown of the times, so I can follow it along. Part I then, “Northern Lights”, opens on uptempo acoustic guitar and synth, sprinkles of piano and then there’s a real build up to a powerful Mellotron piece and into a jazzy piano and guitar run before Mas lets loose with a powerful drum gallop and we head into Part II, “Change of Revue”, bringing in Plata’s vocal behind some expressive guitar and what sounds like violin. It’s a slower piece, warbly organ from Sánchez weaving its way through the melody. Part III, “S.A.D. (Solitude Affective Disorder)” again inches towards those early Rush comparisons, rocking along nicely with Izaga Plata’s voice a little stronger and more passionate now, edging almost into jazz territory on occasions.
Slick little guitar solo from Valiente here, really showing what he can do when he’s given a chance, though before the section ends Sánchez has taken over again as Plata comes back in with the vocal. Part IV is “The World Had Turned Over (And I Couldn’t Hold On)” and opens on single picked guitar notes backing Plata, could be something like a vibraphone in there too, then Valiente winds up for a quick solo as Sánchez comes back in with the organ, Part V, also relatively short at less than four minutes, “Moonlight Labyrinth” come in on thick warbling bass and Fender Rhodes, striding along nicely with a nod to The Doors on the piano run, then punchy guitar and dark synth, a funky guitar solo threading its way through it, while Part VI, “Second Thoughts”, rides on frenetic organ and has, for the first time, backing vocals, kicking up into a boppy little upbeat number and leading into the final section, Part VII, where “The Sum of All Your Fears” brings this remarkable suite to a close with a beautiful duet between Plata and Jorge Aniorte and a soft guitar motif from Valiente.
Track Listing
1. Get Real (8)
2. Flying Caravan (8)
3. Upstream To Manonash (8)
4. Love's Labour Mislaid (9)
5. The Bumpy Road To Knowledge (9)
6. A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups. Part I-Northern Lights (8)
7. A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups. Part II-Change Of Revue (8)
8. A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups. Part III-S.A.D. (Solitude Affective Disorder) (8)
9. A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups. Part IV-The World Had Turned Over (And I Couldn't Hold On) (8)
10. A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups. Part V-Moonlight Labyrinth (8)
11. A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups. Part VI-Second Thoughts (9)
12. A Fairy Tale For Grown-Ups. Part VII-The Sum Of Your Fears (8)
It’s a lot to take in. I mean, we have some serious, serious talent here, there’s no doubt about that. But as I always say, putting massively long epics on your debut album is always a risk. Here, The Flying Caravan have put two, one after the other, and while they’re both excellent I’m not entirely sure people will be able to digest such large slabs of music right away. It’s a lot to eat, to carry the metaphor further, in one sitting. A sixteen-minute track would have been a lot to take in, but a thirty-three minute one too? I don’t know.
It’s certainly an album worth listening to; I just wonder if these guys have reached too far too soon, and overstretched themselves? But I could very well be wrong, and come the end of the year I could be seeing this at the top of charts like Prog Archives. I certainly hope so, as it deserves to be there or thereabouts. Alternatively, it might just go totally unnoticed, which would be something of a crime.
