Kayak - Royal Bed Bouncer (1975)

Tracklist:
1. Royal Bed Bouncer
2. Life of Gold
3. (You're So) Bizarre
4. Bury the World
5. Chance for a Lifetime
6. If This Is Your Welcome
7. Moments of Joy
8. Patricia Anglaia
9. Said No Word
10. My Heart Never Changed
11. Alibi [*]
12. Mountain 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 (demo) [*]

Let the Classics Roll – 9/10

Royal Bed Bouncer... an album considered Kayak’s best by many, and it’s certainly one of their finest moments. Where the first two albums were mostly a search for the proper Kayak sound you could say this is where they found it. Though Koopman’s compositions are extremely few here, Scherpenzeel dominates the album with the most pleasant of tunes; Slager gives us some of his best guitar solos here and Werner’s odd raw voice sounds in better shape then ever. They also replaced bassist Cees van Leeuwen with Bert Veldkamp, but I haven’t noticed anything specific in playing style of both. Anyhow, what I’m trying to say is: the band is in top form.

The compositions are so very subtle and sweet, even though sometimes very fast-paced like on “Royal Bed Bouncer” and “Chance for a Lifetime”. There is enough variation between tempos, tones and moods, yet all of it is very soothing to the ear, which is Kayak’s unique sound. Though the tone gets a little on the happy side with themes like “Royal Bed Bouncer” and “(You’re So) Bizarre”, the quality is increasingly better than on both Kayak II and See See the Sun. An album like this one is the power behind Kayak and it’s something no other band can mimic or copy. It seems they’ve found a way to have short songs and in the meantime be progressive and brilliant as well. And of course this album contains the classics “Life of Gold”, “Chance for a Lifetime”, “If This Is Your Welcome” and “Moments of Joy”. If you like Kayak, there is no way you can turn this album down.

Some of the highlights I will describe. “Life of Gold” is a very gentle ballad with emotional vocals by Werner and a great sensitive guitar solo by Slager. It’s mostly piano based and has this great epic feel to it. “(You’re So) Bizarre” is a more happy song with odd vocal melodies and rhythms, but that’s exactly what makes it great. “Bury the World” is one of the best Kayak tracks ever, being the only one featuring Koopman and Werner sharing lead vocals, while at the meantime the backing music is stunning. It flows over to the fast “Chance for a Lifetime”, a fast song about building a spaceship, but aside from the cheese it’s a good song, with a terrifically melodic break. “Moments of Joy” was the first Kayak song I ever heard in my life, and it’s a great piano ballad with great melodies again flowing into your ears. “If This Is Your Welcome” mostly shines in the instrumental part, having whining guitars combined with a solid piano-rock accompaniment. Koopman is doing a great job on the drums here as well. The CD release of the album has come with a fierce amount of bonus tracks, mostly consisting of tracks from the first two LPs and their b-sides. Why the hell those are on this album is beyond me. I would’ve lived if they just included “Bulldozer” on it, which is a great blues-driven instrumental and a great bonus to an already great album. It kind of reminds me of the pre-Kayak single “Fluffy” in a way...

All in all, Royal Bed Bouncer is the way to go if you start with listening Kayak. I think I am not unfair at all if I say this lineup is the strongest Kayak lineup ever to have existed. A shame they only recorded two albums. Anyhow, this album is a must-have for any Kayak-fan.

Strongest tracks: “Life of Gold”, “Bury the World” and “Moments of Joy”.
Weak tracks: none!