Kayak - The Anniversary Box (2008)

The Fan's Choice
1. See See the Sun
2. Lovely Luna
3. They Get to Know Me
4. Mountain Too Rough
5. If This Is Your Welcome
6. Life of Gold
7. Still My Heart Cries For You
8. Relics From a Distant Age
9. Daughter or Son
10. Phantom of the Night
11. Daphne
12. Anne
13. Lost Blue of Chartres
14. Love's Aglow

1. Frozen Flame
2. Forever
3. Icarus
4. Tradition
5. Avalon
6. The Last Battle
7. Friend of the Stars
8. When Hearts Grow Cold [live 2006]
9. Broken White
10. Cried for Love
11. Love Lies
12. Never Before
13. Dear Lover

The Anniversary Concert
1. Alienation
2. Time Stand Still
3. Man in the Cocoon
4. Merlin
5. When the Seer Looks Away
6. Niniane
7. Freezing
8. Sad State of Affairs
9. Medea
10. Behold the Firelight
11. Hold Me Forever
12. Only You and I Know
13. Where Do We Go From Here

1. Medley: Lyrics/Mammoth/See See the Sun
2. Irene
3. Close to the Fire
4. Undecided
5. Coming Up For Air
6. Celestial Science
7. Pagan's Paradise
8. Settle Down
9. The Flying Squadron
10. Act of Despair
11. Starlight Dancer
12. Chance for a Lifetime
13. Sad to Say Farewell
14. Selfmade Castle
15. Ruthless Queen

Rejoice... or perhaps not – 7,5/10

Kayak’s Anniversary Box is perhaps the most expensive Kayak item to be found in the store. As soon as I see a price tag that high, you’d want to conclude that the content of this Box must be pretty special. Well I’m here to reveal the mystery for you all... it’s not that special really. What we’ve got is a fan-assembled double compilation album and a concert from the Anniversary Tour on 2CD and DVD. That makes it five discs to enjoy or endure.

Really this Box is quite interesting, even though I might sound a little unenthusiastic towards it. It’s just not something you’ll be likely to listen to a lot. Let’s begin with the compilation album The Fan’s Choice. They were allowed to pick their favorite track from each album, and so the songs with the most votes made it to this album. It’s practically a time travel from 1973 to 2008. A true collector would already own most of these songs, but it’s good to hear them in remastered state for once. The best thing about the compilation is the inclusion of three rare tracks and one brand new song. The Japanese bonus tracks from Close to the Fire and Night Vision were included here. “Cried for Love” and “Love Lies” are from the former album, and are quite good songs with a little bit of a poppy sound, while “Never Before” from Night Vision doesn’t really fascinate me. The new track called “Dear Lover” is a very ambient power ballad with Cindy Oudshoorn on the vocals. The song is definitely worth checking out.

Then we get to the live part of the Box. The 2CD version of the Paradiso concert makes the exact same mistake as done with 2001’s Chance for a LIVEtime. They cut out all the talking in between the songs, while the DVD testifies that there in fact were conversations with the crowd. Now it’s just the new Kayak lineup playing their songs and older songs with applause in between. Perhaps it’s Eyewitness part III, you’d think if you would not have seen the DVD. The DVD gives us the full concert experience and shows perfectly how Kayak was on stage in 2008. Having been at a concert in that very tour, I can say it’s just a perfect rendition and reliving of the show I attended, which is exactly what the DVD should be all about. A shame I can’t say the same thing about the 2CD. Kayak need to understand what live albums are all about; it’s not about the songs and the applause, it’s about the ambience and the live feel of the album. Just songs and applause do not create a live atmosphere.

With possibly one of the most time spanning compilations of Kayak ever and with an excellent concert on DVD, The Anniversary Box makes a good Kayak collector’s item. I wouldn’t recommend this to the new fans though, simply because the price you could invest in this Box should go to the full-length studio albums instead.