Kaipa - Mindrevolutions


Year of Release: 2005
Label: InsideOut
Catalog Number: IOMCD 208SPV 085-48332
Format: CD
Total Time: 79:17:00

How long has it been since Musea HQ sent me the very first Kaipa album as transferred onto CD? It really changed my life, as I had never ever heard of Roine Stolt prior to this. Now Roine is all over the place, but also way back in the seventies he had a finger in every pie. Yet those pies were only served in Sweden. Musea released this CD transfer of Kaipa in July 1993. A couple of months later in November '93 they released the band's Inget Nytt Under Solen album, augmented by no fewer than six bonus tracks. Exactly one year later the trilogy was completed with the CD version of Solo sporting three more live tracks. For a long time it looked like you could say to the world that you now had every single album Kaipa ever produced. But when Hans Lundin and Roine Stolt starting talking about those good old days again, the enthusiasm got the upperhand and before we could say "Flower Kings' little brother," Kaipa was back on the cards. Since the band's re-incarnation in 2002, the line-up has been the same by adding drummer Morgan ?gren, bass player Jonas Reingold, Ritual lead singer Patrik Lundstr?m and the surprising voice of a certain Aleena. I interviewed Hans Lundin when Notes From The Past was released and he told me one thing was for sure: Kaipa would never, ever tour again. Now that I've listened several times over to the band's latest release Mindrevolutions, I don't think Lundin has one single argument left not to go on tour. The material Kaipa has written and recorded since their new start is perfectly suited for life on the road, and when you add some Kaipa stuff from the old days, everyone will be having an unforgettable evening. That's audience AND musicians alike!

On Mindrevolutions I notice more interplay between Lundstr?m and Aleena, which makes it all a little more light, a tad more fluffy if you like. Take "Shadows Of Time" as an example, where the storytelling voice of Aleena is wonderfully backed by the right amount of dreamy synths and arrangement, and later only perfectly blends with Patrik's approach. Compared with the previous two solo albums, Mindrevolutions sounds much more compact, more song oriented, with less space for unlimited solos. I guess the stand out track for all individual skills certainly has to be the lengthy (25:47) title track, which contains symphonic parts, jazzy (even Holdsworth-like by Stolt) interventions, some Canterbury sidesteps, funky energy as well as great harmonies. Especially the superb fretless bass interventions by Jonas are ace here and nicely interact with Hans' keyboard answers. Towards the end even some acoustic bossa nova type guitar creeps in to change the atmosphere once again.

The band has taken more time to work on strong melodies which form the backbone for the songs. "Last Free Indian" plays an easy melody on the organ whilst acoustic guitar and Patrik's voice fill in the gaps. Maybe the band should try their hand at writing a single so that radio stations get the opportunity to give airplay more easily. Most of the melodies are dead simple yet stick to your mind immediately. Take the closing song "Remains Of The Day" with that ever so simple organ right at the very beginning. That's all it takes. Then of course when Patrik's voice joins with another melodic pack of lines, proof is given that Kaipa is one hell of a band, even if they have been around for a staggering thirty years!

Contrary to Stolt being the main man behind Flower Kings, Kaipa is Hans Lundin's band. All music on the new album has been written and conceived by Hans Lundin and I think the magic is clearly shining again, no doubt with much more ingenious music to come in years to come. With Musea no longer being in charge of the early recordings, rumours have it that Inside Out might release a box set including all three albums remastered, plus 2 extra discs featuring a lot of extra goodies such as the material, or at least some of the material, from the band's fourth (H?nder) and fifth (Nattdjurstid) albums (when they changed direction drastically, only leaving behind a handful of worthwhile songs!), previously unreleased material and live recordings. It'll be the ultimate Kaipa experience!


Tracklisting:
The Dodger (8:09) / Electric Leaves (4:13) / Shadows Of Time (6:50) / A Pair Of Sunbeams (5:19) / Mindrevolutions (25:47) / 6. Flowing Free (3:53) / Last Free Indian (7:27) / Our Deepest Inner Shore (4:59) / Timebomb (4:32) / Remains Of The Day (8:02)

Musicians:
Roine Stolt - guitar
Hans Lundin - keyboards
Patrick Lunstr?rm - vocals
Jonas Reingold - bass
Morgan Agren - drums
Aleena - vocals

Discography:
Kaipa (1975)
Inget Nytt Under Solen (1978)
Solo (1978)
Händer (1980)
Nattdjustid (1982)
Notes From The Past (2002)
Keyholder (2003)
Mindrevolution (2005)
The Decca Years 1975-1978 (2005)
Angling Feelings (2007)
In The Wake Of Evolution (2010)

Genre: Progressive Rock

Origin SE

Added: June 14th 2005
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.kaipa.info
Hits: 2866
Language: english

  

[ Back to Reviews Index | Post Comment ]