AMG Review of Clang of the Yankee Reaper

William Ruhlmann
All Music Guide

Expanding from the Caribbean approach he took with Discover America, Van Dyke Parks explores more arcane Americana on an album that ranges from New Orleans to the islands to the classics. Only the title track bears a co-composing credit for the artist, but Parks' exuberant, eclectic musical personality is the unifying force in a collection of music that varies from the Sandpipers' "Another Dream" to Pachelbel's "Canon in D."