Carnival of Light in Bloomington, MN

Credit
Ride
for using only their own creative radar, completely ignoring all outside expectations for their third LP. Listeners could tell they had a love for the likes of
the Byrds
and
Buffalo Springfield
, but admiring
the Black Crowes
was practically out of the question for the scene that birthed them. Even
Crowes
producer
George Drakoulias
was called in to produce, but
John Leckie
ended up working on the majority. Fans generally didn't dig the classic vibe, and the lazy-daisy, pastoral record fared poorly.
Carnival
's first side largely consists of
Mark Gardener
's songs, while the latter is mainly
Andy Bell
's affair.
Gardener
's contributions are solid.
"1000 Miles"
lifts '60s
jangle
convincingly.
"From Time to Time"
is a
"Vapour Trail"
part two of sorts, lyrically, introduced with tasteful Rhodes tones from
.
Bell
's songs, however, tend to falter. While he wrote the bulk of the band's prior top material, he's trumped here; in fact,
Loz Colbert
's
"Natural Grace"
wipes the mat with
's work. Perhaps
's ego was too big to recognize the lyrical shortcomings of
"Crown of Creation,"
the poor
Al Greenism
of
"Endless Road,"
and the outright flimsiness of
"I Don't Know Where It Comes From,"
which features a kiddie choir. Despite the gaps in song quality and that hackneyed
Creation
cover,
Carnival of Light
creates a pleasant, freewheeling feeling throughout. The LP might have run better with the extraction of some of the duff, which is all the more frustrating when considering the quality of the B-sides from this period. Album number three, despite its troubles, remains a pleasant listen and was unlike anything released at the time in the U.K. [
Ignition
U.K. remastered and reissued the record in 2001, adding three of the several B-sides from the singles released in support of the LP.] ~ Andy Kellman