John Cale
The Academy in Peril
(Domino Records)
The Academy in Peril (1972) was the first of two Cale LPs on Reprise Records and a major shift in style from his previous works. His second solo LP proper, it’s been remastered and is available now on Domino. While his first, Vintage Violence (1970), had been in the vein of popular rock, The Academy in Peril, with Cale’s viola and piano dominating proceedings, is clearly modern classical. Between their releases, Cale fervently engineered, produced, and wrote with significant others – most notably Nico on Desert Shore and Terry Riley in The Church of Anthrax.
Vintage Violence may have been a response to his dismissal from The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed’s claims that Cale’s ideas were too unconventional, but the avant-garde approach in The Academy in Peril sees Cale back in familiar territory. You can see why it is lauded as an early example of modern classical music with an indie rock ethos. It’s superb in itself though and has importance in Cale’s development as a solo artist. He stakes his ground, preparing us for the glories of Paris 1919 and The Island Years that followed.Those who yearn to hear Cale’s brooding voice may be disappointed. It’s basically a nine-track instrumental LP. 
Side A does have the voice of a producer in the humorous ‘Legs Larry at Television Centre’, and Side B the raspy utterances of a messenger in ‘King Harry’, yet they don't appear to be Cale. But his musical voice is everywhere, naturally, within all nine tracks – which include three piano and three orchestral neo-classical pieces. Some of the tracks may have been difficult for sections of his fanbase to digest in 1972, but are sure to be appreciated far more now five decades on.
Side A opens with pre-Stones Ron Wood playing slide guitar on ‘The Philosophers Song’ while Cale’s strings, horns, and viola take flight around him. It’s a little Can-like, yet its mood shifts abruptly with the beautiful and refined ‘Brahms’, and then again with Legs Larry: a song which appears to be both loved and loathed. There are two main forces in this song - Cale’s viola; and Larry’s narration. Check it out yourself! The side ends with ‘The Academy in Peril’, a rewarding slow minimalist piece that relies on space and reverb. For me, it is a tremendous success.Side B’s spritely ‘Intro’ is followed by ‘Days of Steam’. With lyrics, it might have been a single, but was later used elsewhere by Andy Warhol in part payment for his work on the cover art (Cale’s face and eyes in multiple Kodachrome shots). We then get ‘3 Orchestral Pieces’ recorded with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Were Faust, The Balance, and Capt. Morgan’s Lament recorded with a specific project in mind? They work well in themselves and The Balance is particularly affecting, and make the album worth purchasing for this track alone.
‘King Harry’ and ‘John Milton’ close the album. The former, a drone-heavy highlight with disconcerting, haunting utterances from a messenger to Henry VIII (“Sail away, say I”), takes us back to the 1540s. We then move over a century forward with original album closer ‘John Milton’. As with ‘Days of Steam’, ‘John Milton’ was recorded at St. Giles Cripplegate’ in London: the church that is John Milton’s final resting place. This may account for the track’s romantic air – making it a fitting end to an ambitious LP.
It’s not quite the end though. Domino provide a download with the vinyl LP version of a remastered ‘Temper’, a song previously only available on compilations. Highly recommended for those new to Cale and for his many fans who appreciate him for being "out there".
