There have been a number of albums I purchased over the years based solely on album covers.  Van Halen’s debut comes to mind; as does Budgie’s Bandolier.  I kept seeing Cunning Stunts at used record stores and was intrigued by the Hipgnosis cover art.  A quick read of the song titles and instrumentation (the viola intrigued me as a huge Kansas fan) signaled that this was a British prog album; albeit a bit more on the jazz side than rock. It was more pop than longtime fans of the underground band cared for, so it does have a bit of a love/hate reputation. It did find the band reach 124 on the “Billboard” album charts in 1975.  As a teenager I found myself taking to it right away, even though I was more into metal at the time.  I picked up a few other Caravan albums over the years, but this one has always remained my favorite.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2012  Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.

Bassist Wedgewood’s gentle ballad would have been stronger if it were edited to hit single length.  At over five minutes, it does finish off with some very lovely violin, but it lacks any real crescendo.

This is one of only two Hastings contributions on an album that has more equitable writing credits. It’s another great song that could’ve been a single, with its catchy, upbeat Floydian chorus.  It eventually ventures into a bit of jazz odyssey with some great soloing paired with a scat vocal.

Wedgewood contributes this great song with funky Floydian groove.  It sounds like it’s right out of the mid-70s Floyd songbook, with more domestic lyrics: “Waking is so nice now, sleeping is a dream / Living is so fine, nothing seems mean / Sad times are on ice now, troubles hide away / Living is so fine - welcome the day!”

Depending on what country your copy is from, this short acoustic rag appears in different places in the song order.  It was the end of side one on my original vinyl; end of side two on other copies I’ve seen.  Richardson wrote this acoustic guitar/flute duet.

This piece also features lyrics more typical of the prog we know and love: “Man is the child of child, the father of the man / Like pools within a pool and waves upon the sand / Like birds that fly so free but somewhere / must begin / Their end like circles begins again.”

 This boogie woogie piece comes with a horn section and lyrics that sound like Bon Scott penned them:  “Flat-Flabby Freda / An orgy of pure blubber and flesh / From all that I see, I just cannot dream / Why they say you're six of the best?”