| The Epidemics | |
| Type: | Album |
| Artist: | Shankar/Caroline |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 1986 |
| Genre: | |
| Label: | ECM 1308 |
| Chronology: | Shankar |
| Prev Title: | Song for Everyone |
| Prev Year: | 1985 |
| Next Title: | M.R.C.S. |
| Next Year: | 1989 |
The Epidemics is an album by Indian violinist L. Shankar and British vocalist, keyboardist and composer Caroline recorded in February 1985 and released on ECM the following year.[1] [2] [3]
Elsewhere's Graham Reid included the album in his list of "10 Unusual ECM Albums of the Eighties I Own," and remarked: "This is a kind of post-punk electro-pop outing... Synth pop with very little catchy pop, emotionally flat vocals by Caroline, widdly rock guitar by Vai and bassist Jones probably wondering why he was doing this."[4]
A writer for Black Country Rock commented: "Squalling heavy rock guitars, eighties booming drums, fretless electric bass and new wave vocals—there is literally nothing else like it in the ECM canon... It is a strange record but probably the most accessible in the ECM catalogue for non-jazz or classical fans, sounding like a traditional eighties rock album."[5]
Tyran Grillo, writing for ECM blog Between Sound and Space, acknowledged that "the musicianship is healthy and the record not without its charm," but stated: "it's difficult to gauge the artists' intentions. Tongue-in-cheek experiment? Worldly statement? Either way, I feel lost, and welcome anyone who knows better to help me find my way." He concluded: "An intriguing detour on the label's path through a sonic territory as vast as it is varied, it is the only ECM album I would never recommend."[6]