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Caribbean Sunset

Caribbean Sunset
Studio album by
John Cale
ReleasedJanuary 1984
StudioRight Track Recording (New York)
GenreRock
Length36:59
LabelZE
ProducerJohn Cale
John Cale chronology
Music for a New Society
(1982) 		Caribbean Sunset
(1984) 		John Cale Comes Alive
(1984)
John Cale studio album chronology
Music for a New Society
(1982) 		Caribbean Sunset
(1984) 		Artificial Intelligence
(1985)
Singles from Caribbean Sunset
  1. "Hungry for Love"
    Released: 1984
  2. "Villa Albani"
    Released: 1984

Caribbean Sunset is the ninth solo studio album by the Welsh rock musician John Cale, released in January 1984 by ZE Records.

Caribbean Sunset became Cale's only studio album to chart on the Dutch Album Top 100, peaking at No. 28.[1]

Release

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Caribbean Sunset was released on vinyl and cassette in 1984 by ZE Records. It was reissued on vinyl by Mango in 1990.[2] Both the ZE and Mango vinyl versions are now out of print.

"Villa Albani" was released as a 12" single in Germany. "Caribbean Sunset" was issued as a promo 7" in the UK.

To date, the album remains unavailable on CD or MP3, though a remastered download with two bonus tracks was made available on the ZE Records website in 2011.[3]

The album features contributions from Brian Eno 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) on drums.[2]

The cover photograph was taken by Risé Irushalmi Cale.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]

Upon release, Caribbean Sunset received negative reviews from critics. In a retrospective review for AllMusic, 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-like title and cover photo."[2] Ira Robbins of Trouser Press 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."[4]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by John Cale and Dave Young, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Hungry for Love" 3:48
2."Experiment Number 1"John Cale5:45
3."Model Beirut Recital" 4:15
4."Caribbean Sunset"
4:23
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Praetorian Underground" 3:09
6."Magazines" 3:26
7."Where There's a Will"
  • Cale
  • Sloman
2:44
8."The Hunt" 3:56
9."Villa Albani"Cale5:33
Total length:36:59
Bonus tracks on 2011 remastered download[3]
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Villa Albani" (Long Version)Cale6:28
11."Villa Albani" (Instrumental Version)Cale5:31

Personnel

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Adapted from the Caribbean Sunset liner notes.[5]

Musicians

Production

Charts

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Chart Peak
position
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[6] 28

References

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  1. ^ "Discografie John Cale". Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Retrieved 20 July 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Mason, Stewart. "Caribbean Sunset – John Cale | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  3. ^ a b "JOHN CALE CARIBBEAN SUNSET". ZE Records. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  4. ^ Grant, Steven; Sheridan, David; Robbins, Ira. "TrouserPress.com :: John Cale". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  5. ^ Caribbean Sunset (CD booklet). John Cale. ZE Records. 1984.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – John Cale – Caribbean Sunset" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
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