About the band: Kayak is a Dutch progressive rock band formed in 1972, and still going strong after a time-out from 1982 until 1999. Their singles and albums sold well in the Netherlands, but they made little impact internationally. A pity, because they are my favourite Dutch band. Kayak currently have seven songs in my list of about 200 best pop/rock songs of all time.
About the song: The legend of Merlin became the subject of two albums by the Dutch group Kayak. The first album from 1981, entitled Merlin, dedicated one side to this subject, the later album from 2003 (Merlin - Bard of the Unseen) took the original five songs (re-recorded), and added seven more. Both albums open with the title song Merlin. This energetic epic is without doubt the most powerful progrock composition in Kayaks repertoire. In true Wagnerian style, this overture already contains many musical themes used in other songs later. I have a slight preference to the original version, although the remake is frankly almost as good. Run time: 7:23.
