[Review] Kayak: Royal Bed Bouncer (1975)

Whether by Camel or Kayak, it’s another smooth voyage over the seas of progressive pop.

Kronomyth 3.0: Reign dances.

I have a soft spot for Camel’s Rain Dances and I Can See Your House From Here, even though I enjoy their “classic” albums (Mirage, Moonmadness, The Snow Goose) more. From House, it’s a short hop to the music of Kayak. Both Camel and Kayak are top-shelf purveyors of progressive pop, an attempt to condense prog’s fantasies and complexities into a smaller, radio-friendly form. Some bands, notably Gentle Giant (cf. The Missing Piece, Giant for a Day), dumbed down their approach to the detriment of their music. Kayak, however, actually sounded smarter as their songs got shorter. By their third album, Royal Bed Bouncer, Kayak had really come into their own. The group had largely abandoned a democracy in favor of a monarchy led by Ton Scherpenzeel, with co-founder Pim Koopman contributing only one track, the instrumental Patricia Anglaia. (Cees Van Leeuwen, the band’s other songwriter, had left and was replaced by Bert Veldkamp.) Ton was clearly up to the task and the album stands as a high-water mark in Kayak’s musical journey thus far. The opening track, which imagines someone assigned to jumping on royal beds to test for explosives, is just the sort of imaginative tune to tickle a prog fan’s fancies. Life of Gold invites favorable comparison to Genesis, (You’re So) Bizarre and Bury the World both evoke The Beatles in spots, and by the time Chance for a Lifetime rolls along (itself a proggish update on The Kinks’ “Supersonic Rocketship”), you’ll be convinced that Kayak can do no wrong. Which is, naturally, when the album comes down to earth. If This Is Your Welcome, Moments of Joy and “Patricia Anglaia” are merely good songs living rent-free on a great album. Luckily for us, Ton and the band bounce back with a nice pair to close things out: the heavy Said No Word and the madrigal-tinged My Heart Never Changed. Although Kayak’s third album finally did manage to reach overseas, it made little impact here in the U.S., entering the Top 200 by the barest of margins. All of their albums are well worth rediscovering if you like clever, complex “pop” songs and don’t mind much who’s singing them, since Max Werner is still something of an acquired taste.

Original elpee version

A1. Royal Bed Bouncer (3:55)
A2. Life of Gold (3:24)
A3. (You’re So) Bizarre (3:29)
A4. Bury the World (4:23)
A5. Chance for a Lifetime (4:12)
B1. If This Is Your Welcome (4:54)
B2. Moments of Joy (4:00)
B3. Patricia Anglaia (Pim Koopman) (2:12)
B4. Said No Word (5:16)
B5. My Heart Never Changed (2:31)

All songs written by Ton Scherpenzeel unless noted.

CD reissue bonus tracks
11. Alibi
12. Mountains Too Rough
13. Woe and Alas
14. Mouldy Wood
15. Lovely Luna
16. Forever Is a Lonely Thought
17. Still Try to Write a Book
18. Give It a Name
19. Bulldozer

The Players

Pim Koopman (drums, vocals), Ton Scherpenzeel (keyboards, vocals, horn and violin arrangements), Johan Slager (guitar, vocals), Bert Veldkamp (bass, vocals), Max Werner (lead vocal, mellotron). Thanks to Erik Tagg, Richard Dilorenzo, Jack Rieley, Len del Ferro, Patricia Paay (wordless vocals on B3), Rijn Peter de Klerk, Ed de Boer, Peter Scherpenzeel, Ruud Waams and Wim Jongbloed who scored and directed the additional arrangements. Produced and arranged by Gerrit Jan Leenders and Kayak; engineered by Pierre Geoffroy Chateau and Jan van Vrijaldenhoven.

The Pictures

US sleeve design by Cream, Amsterdam.

The Plastic

Released on elpee in December 1975 in the Netherlands (EMI, 5C 064 25271), the UK (Vertigo, 6360 853), the US (Janus, JXS-7023) and Japan (EMI, EMS-80388) with regional gatefold covers. Reached #199 on the US charts (charted on January 17, 1976).

1. Re-issued on elpee in Japan (Vertigo, BT-8113).
2. Re-issued on expanded compact disc on March 1, 1994 in the Netherlands (Pseudonym) with 9 bonus tracks.
3. Re-issued on remastered compact disc in 2012 in the EU (Esoteric, ECLEC 2356).