Caribbean Sunset

Caribbean Sunset
Studio album by John Cale
Released	1984
Recorded	Right Track Recording, New York City
Genre	Art rock, new wave
Label	ZE Records, Mango Records
Producer	John Cale, Tome Roberts (associate producer)
John Cale chronology
Music for a New Society (1982) Caribbean Sunset (1984) John Cale Comes Alive (live) (1984)

Caribbean Sunset is the ninth studio album by John Cale, and was released in 1984. It features contributions from Brian Eno and an otherwise "young unknown" band.^[1] The album is notable for being one of only two albums by John Cale to remain unreleased on compact disc or digital format (the other being Comes Alive). The cover photograph was by Risé Cale.

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Cale; except where indicated

Side A

1. "Hungry For Love" (Cale, Dave Young)
2. "Experiment Number 1"
3. "Model Beirut Recital" (Cale, Dave Young)
4. "Caribbean Sunset" (Cale, Larry Sloman)

Side B

5. "Praetorian Underground" (Cale, Dave Young)
6. "Magazines" (Cale, Dave Young)
7. "Where There's A Will" (Cale, Larry Sloman)
8. "The Hunt" (Cale, Dave Young)
9. "Villa Albani"

Singles

"Villa Albani" b/w "Villa Albani" (instrumental) / "Hungry For Love" 12" Germany 1984. "Caribbean Sunset" b/w "Caribbean Sunset" was issued as a promo 7" in the UK 1984

Personnel

• John Cale - vocals, keyboards, guitar
• Brian Eno - A.M.S. pitch changer (effects)
• Andy Heermans - bass, vocals
• Dave Lichtenstein - drums, boobams
• Dave Young - guitar, vocals

Release

Caribbean Sunset was released on vinyl and cassette in 1984 by ZE Records. It was reissued on vinyl by Mango Records in 1990.^[1] Both the ZE and Mango vinyl versions are now out of print.

Caribbean Sunset was slated to finally be issued on CD in 2001, with bonus tracks "She Never Took No For An Answer" and an instrumental version of "Villa Albani", but the release was scrapped at the last minute for unknown reasons.^[2] To date, the album remains unavailable on CD or MP3 though an unauthorised download was available for a brief period from Ze Records.

Reviews

Stewart Mason at AllMusic 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."^[1] Others consider the album among his most intriguing. The accusations of pop seem a bit off-base with some songs that appear on the album sounding still in the construction mode (Cale calling out the chord changes). Overall, the album is littered with strong material and some spirited playing. For Cale fans, it's a worthy gem to pursue.

References

1. AllMusic page: "John Cale - Caribbean Sunset review."
2. Fear is a Man's Best Friend - John Cale fan page article: "Caribbean Sunset."