Caribbean Sunset Explained

Caribbean Sunset
Type:Studio album
Artist:John Cale
Cover:Johncale-caribbeansunset.jpg
Released:January 1984
Studio:Right Track Recording (New York)
Genre:Rock
Label:ZE
Producer:John Cale
Prev Title:Music for a New Society
Prev Year:1982
Next Title:John Cale Comes Alive
Next Year:1984

Caribbean Sunset is the ninth solo studio album by Welsh rock musician John Cale, released in January 1984 by ZE Records.

Caribbean Sunset became Cale's only studio album to chart on the Dutch Album Top 100, peaking at No. 28.[1]

Release

Caribbean Sunset was released on vinyl and cassette in 1984 by ZE Records. It was reissued on vinyl by Mango in 1990. Both the ZE and Mango vinyl versions are now out of print.

"Villa Albani" was released as a 12" single in Germany. "Caribbean Sunset" was issued as a promo 7" in the UK.

To date, the album remains unavailable on CD or MP3, though a remastered download with two bonus tracks was made available on the ZE Records website in 2011.[2]

The album features contributions from Brian Eno and an otherwise "young unknown" band, that consisted of David Young on guitar, Andrew Heermans on bass guitar, and David Lichtenstein (son of artist Roy Lichtenstein) on drums.[3]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Discografie John Cale . 20 July 2022 . Dutch Charts . nl .
  2. Web site: JOHN CALE CARIBBEAN SUNSET. ZE Records. 16 July 2020.
  3. Web site: TrouserPress.com :: John Cale . Grant . Steven . Sheridan . David . Robbins . Ira . . July 5, 2016.
  4. Caribbean Sunset. John Cale. 1984. ZE Records. CD booklet.
  5. Web site: Caribbean Sunset – John Cale | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic |last=Mason |first=Stewart |website=AllMusic] |accessdate=14 August 2016}}

    The cover photograph was taken by Risé Irushalmi Cale.

    Critical reception

    Upon release, Caribbean Sunset received negative reviews from critics. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Stewart Mason panned the album, calling it "something of a mess. The songs are among the poppiest of Cale's career, and one gets the sense that it's meant to be Cale's attempt at a straight-up pop album, especially given the Jimmy Buffett-like title and cover photo." Trouser Press called it his "least interesting album to date", adding that "even if the puzzlingly muddy self-production hadn't stifled everything but his jagged-edged vocals, the songs themselves are too flimsy to support his words or passion."[3]

    Personnel

    Adapted from the Caribbean Sunset liner notes.[4]

    Musicians

    Production

    • John Cale – producer; mixing
    • Tom Roberts – associate producer
    • Tim "Thilby" Crich – assistant engineer
    • David Schecterson – assistant engineer
    • Andy Heermans – engineer on "Magazines"
    • Rob O'Connor – sleeve design
    • Risé Irushalmi Cale – cover photography

    External links

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