Carnival of Light

by

Ride

Edit

As a quick perusal of the reviews here will show, this album really divided Ride fans, and still does. Some found the total change of direction in a much more retro 60's direction too much to handle and dismissed it. However, if you just listen to this album on its own merits, it is a classic, as good as its influences (the most obvious of which to my ears is '65-'66 Byrds). I liked Ride before this album, but this is easily my favorite of all. It seems somewhat ironic that in 1993 so many critized Ride for going retro, rather than forward, while just a year later "Definitely Maybe", chock full of 60's influences, was heralded as a welcome new direction away from "grunge". In retrospect, "Carnival of Light" is a much better, if slightly less obvious, collection of songs. It's failure to win either critial acclaim or commercial success seemed to be a big factor in the eventual demise of the band (after the tour was cancelled, Andy wanted to immediatly make another album before Mark had any songs ready). Its quite a shame, and I do place a lot of blame for that on the UK critics who were so quick to put this down, while embracing a full on 60's revival a couple of years later with bands like Oasis and Kula Shaker. Anyway, all that's in the past, but this album is still here as a lasting reminder of the greatness of Ride at their peak.

I truly think that giving Ride's "Carnival of Light" one or five stars, as most previous reviewers have done, is misleading. If you're really a Ride fan, putting this album in the same category as the masterful "Nowhere" is rather ridiculous. On the other hand, just because Ride has deviated from their "roots," doesn't make "Carnival" a complete waste of time either.

We can see the signs here of a split between Mark Gardener and Andy Bell, the two principle songwriters. Gardener's songs dominate the first half, and Bell's the second. Although Bell is the more adventurous writer, I generally favor Gardener's contributions on this album (but not necessarily on others). My favorite three songs on "Carnival" appear consecutively, namely "From Time to Time," "Natural Grace" (the sole contribution from drummer Laurence Colbert) and "Only Now." Right behind these are "Moonlight Medicine," "Birdman," and the instrumental "Rolling Thunder." Quite frankly, I find the rest of the album to be somewhat dull.

One of the unfortunate depatures of "Carnival" is that the band no longer seems willing to experiment with sound. The drumming and bass, for instance, are subdued, and don't come close to efforts on prior albums. Whereas the two guitars would previously create texture together in an intricate manner, no such attempts can be found here. Still "Carnival" provides for pleasant listening, suitable perhaps, as background music for a small dinner party.