The World Is Yours (compilation album) by Caravan

I guess this box first of all is aimed at hard-core fans of the "progressive" group Caravan that had its heyday in the period 1968-76.

The group's strength and trademark were the long and often epic tracks, which sometimes were tight through-composed and sometimes gave way to longer improvisations. Despite many line-up changes the band maintained a relatively uniform expression, where the jazzy elements in some periods were more prevalent than in others.

The band's compositions were often quite complex, with unusual rhythms and rhythm changes. Instrumentally the band members were highly competent, and willing to seek musical challenges. Conversely, one should not expect many catchy tunes, and the group achieved no real hits. Only in few cases their songs could be called commercial or catchy, most albums, however, do contain one or two numbers relatively straightforward and a playing time under 5 minutes.

The fact that the group's songwriting was something special and that they never created a real classic song, has meant that they never got wider recognition. Moreover the group also lacked a strong profile vocalist so a big breakthrough did not materialize.

Several of the group's albums, however, have gained considerable recognition as some of the best prog. rock of the early 1970s. Especially "If I Could Do It All Over Again I'd Do It All Over You" from 1970 and "In the Land of Grey and Pink" from 1971, stand as significant releases.

A four CD box is a big mouthful and I must admit that I am mostly in for the shorter tracks. Among those I could bring forward "Place of My Own," "Magic Man", "If I Could Do it All Over Again" "And I Wish I were Stoned," "With an Ear to the Ground," "Love to Love You," "The World Is Yours," "The Dog The Dog" and "C'Thlu C'Thlu" as favorites.

The box is very well done, with a fascinating biography entertainingly describing the group's somewhat complicated history with frequent line-up changes and people coming in and out of the group. So even though some of the music may completely fall in taste, there are however many hours of fine entertainment with both reading and listening.