''Caribbean Sunset'' is the ninth solo studio album by Welsh rock musician

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various sty ...

, released in January 1984 by

ZE Records ZE Records was originally a New York-based record label, started in 1978 by Michael Zilkha and Michel Esteban. It was reestablished by Esteban in 2003. History Michael Zilkha (b. 1954) is a British-born Oxford graduate of Iraqi descent, the ...

. ''Caribbean Sunset'' became Cale's only studio album to chart on the

Dutch Album Top 100 The Dutch Album Top 100 or Album Top 100 is a weekly hit list of music albums, compiled by Dutch Charts. List shows the 100 best-selling music albums of the moment in the Netherlands. The list has passed through various name changes and has expand ...

, peaking at No. 28.

Release

''Caribbean Sunset'' was released on vinyl and cassette in 1984 by

. It was reissued on vinyl by

Mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in Sout ...

in 1990. Both the ZE and Mango vinyl versions are now

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a boo ...

. "Villa Albani" was released as a

12" single The twelve-inch single (often written as 12-inch or 12″) is a type of vinyl ( polyvinyl chloride or PVC) gramophone record that has wider groove spacing and shorter playing time with a 'single' or a few related sound tracks on each surfac ...

in Germany. "Caribbean Sunset" was issued as a

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7" in the UK. To date, the album remains unavailable on CD or

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, though a remastered download with two bonus tracks was made available on the ZE Records website in 2011. The album features contributions from

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

and an otherwise "young unknown" band, that consisted of David Young on guitar, Andrew Heermans on bass guitar, and David Lichtenstein (son of artist

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. H ...

) on drums. The cover photograph was taken by Risé Irushalmi Cale.

Critical reception

Upon release, ''Caribbean Sunset'' received negative reviews from critics. In a retrospective review for

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, critic Stewart Mason 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 James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

-like title and cover photo." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' called it his "least interesting album to date", adding that "even if the puzzlingly muddy self-production hadn't stifled everything but his jagged-edged vocals, the songs themselves are too flimsy to support his words or passion."

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Caribbean Sunset'' liner notes. Musicians *

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...

; keyboards;

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

* Dave Young – guitar;

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

* Andy Heermans –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and s ...

; backing vocals * David Lichtenstein –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

;

boobam The boobam is a percussion instrument of the membranophone family consisting of an array of tubes with membranes stretched on one end, the other end open. The tuning depends partly on the tension on the membrane and partly on the length of the tu ...

s *

– A.M.S pitch changer (effects) Production * John Cale – producer; mixing * Tom Roberts – associate producer * Tim "Thilby" Crich – assistant

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

* David Schecterson – assistant engineer * Andy Heermans – engineer on "Magazines" * Rob O'Connor – sleeve design * Risé Irushalmi Cale – cover photography

Charts

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caribbean Sunset John Cale albums 1984 albums Albums produced by John Cale ZE Records albums