Ride - Carnival of Light

I enthusiastically loved Ride's first album. I enjoyed but didn't steadfastly adore the second album. So when Carnival of Light came along, I already had a sense that they were changing their style. Which is fine, of course. I love Clapton's older stuff and I also loved his new "blues" direction when he took that turn. Artists grow and change over time. Still, I have to say that while I find the first album stellar and absorb-myself-in-the-music level of quality, with Carnival of Light it for me falls into the category of great but not spellbinding. Yes, I enjoy it. Yes, I listen to it. But I don't drop everything else when I do and just sit absorbing the sound. It gets put into playlists with other similar music from the 60s and early 70s, and I enjoy it as I go on with my other life tasks.

Is it bad? No, I would not say that at all. The music is quite enjoyable. There's great melodies, harmonies, and instrument work in here. It is by no means a "slouch" effort. I think the difference for me is more in the way it touches my soul (or doesn't). It is fine music. It doesn't have that same emotional connection for me that the first one had.

I would certainly get the album and enjoy it. There's a lot of good work here. But none of it stands out to me as "the one must-have song", compared with for example Leave Them All Behind on Going Blank Again.

I do think it's a shame that Ride dissolved. This was the beginning of the end for them, and somehow it's as if I can hear it in the CD.

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