Kayak
Seventeen

Paddling Dutchmen are returning with their seventeenth album in a career stretching back all the way to 1972, over 45 years albeit with a quite long break between 1982 and 1999 but still a rather impressive span for a music career – especially for a band not really heard of. They have had some minor successes but nothing that stands out but this latest effort has actually already done well in the charts in their home country. It is a seventeenth album with a dozen tracks and a playing time of an hour where most of the tracks are quite short and poppy and two are very long and more adventurous.

Really good production, the soundscape is very impressive. The vocalist is quite good as well, even though he might not be the most standout singer I have ever heard. The songs are not the most standout ones I have heard either, especially from the creative point of view. But it is an album that is easy to take to and easy to like, it will probably go down well with fans of the progressive rock genre. Still, it could have been a bit shorter, and more dynamic – perhaps they could have skipped a few of the shorter songs to make it a bit more exciting.

Overall I think that Seventeen is a good album, it offers good songs and a very solid handiwork. But it is an album without real standout moments, it has no distinct hit song and it can’t really be described as something particularly adventurous. It works and I thin especially the two songs that plays for more than ten minutes makes it worthwhile, these tracks are pretty adventurous even though they may not be amongst the absolute best I have ever heard.

Got to write that this is a rather good album, fairly enjoyable overall but without really being particularly memorable. It works and I doubt anyone will be overly disappointed if buying this album. Personally I have the great benefit to get to hear the albums before considering buying them and that has left me with the insight that while this album may be good, I don’t really think that it is worth buying. The final conclusion has to be that Seventeen is a good but not a very memorable album.

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