IF I COULD DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN, I'D DO IT ALL OVER YOU

While I've heard a couple of Gong albums before this one (both are great by the way), I feel that Caravan's IF I COULD DO IT... album represents what I think of first when I think of the Cantebury scene. All tracks are loaded with rich, pastoral organs, subtle guitar lines and a propulsive rhythm section. Add that with joyous, tasteful vocals, extended organ solos, witty lyrics and the occasional woodwind and you've got one of the most delightful musical experiences.

The structures here may teeter towards pop music a bit, but something about the music makes this album rise above the typical pop range. I'd say about 40-60% of the music is in some sort of weird time signature e.g. the entirety of the title track is in a seven. I tend to think that this factor is only one of the reasons why this is more than just pop, and maybe the soundscapes and textures have more to do with how deep the album sounds.

There's only a few boring spots, most of them coming from the ''For Richard'' suite, but the fuzzy organ thing at the end (I believe it's the ''Warlock'' section) makes up for any previous shortcomings. ''Hello, Hello'' and the title track are nice, delectable little tunes that are short enough for numerous repeated listenings. It is ''And I Wish I Were Stoned/Don't Worry'' that exemplifies what the album is all about and what heights Caravan are capable of achieving. Even a little sleeper track like ''Asforteri'' doesn't sound weak to my ears. Getting past the quiet beginnings of both ''As I Feel I Die'' and ''With An Ear to the Ground...'' is hard, but the ''eruptions'' (the band really doesn't get too loud) right after are just splendid and set the pace for the remainder of the song.

I'd say this a great place to start if you want to know what Caravan are all about. Psych, pop, rock, fusion and pastorals musics blended perfectly into a thing that is nice enough for traditional progsters but will have things that virtually anyone can get into.

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