Audio CD review:
Kayak - Merlin: Bard of the Unseen

Kayak - Merlin: Bard of the Unseen

Band: Kayak Title: Merlin: Bard of the Unseen Rating: Release Date: 18 March, 2003 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Merlin 2: Tintagel 3: The Future King 4: The Sword In The Stone 5: When The Seer Looks Away 6: Branded 7: At Arthurs Court 8: The Otherworld 9: The Purest Of Knights 10: Friendship And Love 11: The Kings Enchanter 12: Niniane (Lady Of The Lake) 13: The Last Battle 14: Avalon

Customer Reviews "Merlin",or "Cats"? still think so 25 years later. When I first purchased "Starlight Dancer" in 1978,I thought Kayak was one of the most unique bands I'd ever heard. Though they were a british progressive band,they were more "pop" than the more favored prog-fusion of the time. I then trolled the record shops for anything Kayak--"See The Sun"(brilliant),"Royal Bed Bouncer"(even better!)and their other more commercial late '70s offerings. However,"Kayak","Last Encore",and "Merlin" were not available at he time. Recently I purchased all 3,including the original "Merlin". To my surprise,I found half a concept album,mixed with 5 other ,non-related, mediocre songs!The "Merlin" arc was brilliant,so I was ecstatic to discover the original band had,mostly,reformed and recorded a 70 minute,expanded version of "Merlin". I then bought it,cued it up on my machine,and heard. . . . Andrew Lloyd Webber!!Not that it's bad,actually,just not your grandfather's(and mine)Kayak. Though still beautiful,and occasionally gut-wrenching,the rock energy has been completely drained out--leaving just what it is,music to be sung in Theater. I would suggest buying any of their first 8 records,especially"See The Sun","Kayak" or "Last Encore". Actually,even the original "Merlin",just not this snoozer. . Oh man, what happened? Well, shoot. Sigh. I'm not sure about the other reviews here, but I found this album extremely lackluster and, well, rather boring. I am a huge fan of all things Kayak in the 70s (songs like "Lyrics", "Royal Bed Bouncer", "Evocation", "See See The Sun", "Phantom of the Night", etc) and the original first 5 tracks of their 1980 album "Merlin" are 5 of the best tracks ever written and recorded by ANYBODY -- such emotion! I was very excited when I read about this newly recorded, expanded edition of the concept. But, woe and alas, on this new album, they do remake all of the original songs and fill in the story with newly written songs, but all of the songs, even the remade ones, are slow and dull. I tried over and over to get into this but just couldn't. So, a big disappointment for me, unfortunately. I do admire that the band is still around and making music after all of these years, but for me, the magic is missing. Kayak - Bards Of The Unseen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The first song 'Merlin' was found on the earlier Merlin album, but this one is slower, probably because they are getting older. I love this album, it's melodic well done, enough guitars used. 'Tintagel' is better in Piano, but I love it. 'the Future King' is very nice too, and the next two numbers ('The Sword In The Stone' and 'When the Seer looks Away') are wonderful. Actually, I can name up all of the songs, but all I can tell you is that they're great, except 'The Otherworld', it takes too much time. Highly recommended too all Pop and Kayak fans. Keep On Rocking‼‼‼‼‼‼‼!!!!! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ;). . You can see a complete list of all Kayak discography, or go back to the Kayak tabs