Bold, strange and wonderfully free. Shooting at the Moon is Kevin Ayers’ 1970 album: an adventurous, experimental record made with his remarkable band the Whole World.

The short version

The second solo album by Kevin Ayers, the Soft Machine founder, released in 1970 on Harvest and credited to Kevin Ayers and the Whole World. Where his debut was a gentle pop record, this one pushes further out — mixing his warm, witty songs with tape experiments, free jazz and avant-garde textures. The Whole World was an extraordinary band: a young Mike Oldfield, years before Tubular Bells, alongside modern-classical composer David Bedford, free-jazz saxophonist Lol Coxhill and drummer Mick Fincher. Playful, unpredictable and boldly inventive, it is one of the most adventurous albums the Canterbury scene ever produced.

The Whole World

After leaving Soft Machine, Kevin Ayers assembled the Whole World to take his music on the road — and the band he chose was remarkable. On guitar and bass was a teenage Mike Oldfield, whose gifts Ayers was among the first to spot, years before Tubular Bells made him a star. On keyboards was David Bedford, a serious modern-classical composer whose arrangements gave the music real depth and daring. And on saxophone was Lol Coxhill, a free-jazz maverick who added wild, unpredictable colour. Recorded at Abbey Road in 1970 and produced by Ayers with Peter Jenner, Shooting at the Moon channels all these talents into something genuinely new: song and experiment, wit and abstraction, held together by Ayers’ unmistakable voice.

The sound

The sound is adventurous, experimental Canterbury psych, lurching happily between gorgeous songs and free-form strangeness. One moment brings a warm, melodic Ayers ballad in his deep baritone; the next, a burst of avant-garde noise, free-jazz sax or tape manipulation. David Bedford’s keyboards and arrangements add classical weight, Lol Coxhill’s saxophone roams wild and free, and Mike Oldfield’s guitar and bass hold it all together with surprising maturity. It is a restless, unpredictable record — sometimes beautiful, sometimes deliberately jarring — and critics tend to celebrate exactly that daring, calling it one of Ayers’ boldest and most rewarding works.

Reading up on the Canterbury scene? The books go deeper →

The songs

‘May I?’ opens the album beautifully — a languid, romantic ballad, Ayers’ baritone drifting over gentle accordion and percussion. ‘Clarence in Wonderland’ is pure whimsy, a short, surreal song brimming with playful charm and sly humour. And the title track, ‘Shooting at the Moon,’ is the album’s wildest ride — a sprawling, ever-shifting piece that captures the Whole World at their most inventive and free.

Reception and legacy

Shooting at the Moon has grown into a cult classic and is often cited as Kevin Ayers’ most adventurous album — the fullest expression of his restless, experimental side. It also holds a special place in rock history as one of the first showcases for Mike Oldfield, and as a high point of the Whole World, a band too wild and wonderful to last. Its fearless mix of song and experiment influenced generations of art-rock and psychedelic musicians. For anyone drawn to the more daring, avant-garde edge of the Canterbury scene, it is essential listening.

The verdict

Shooting at the Moon is Kevin Ayers at his most fearless: adventurous, experimental Canterbury psych, playful, strange and endlessly surprising. Come for the beautiful ‘May I?,’ the surreal ‘Clarence in Wonderland’ and the wildly inventive title track. It is less immediately accessible than his more song-based records — this is music that loves to take risks — but that daring is its glory, and few albums capture the sheer creative freedom of the early Canterbury scene so vividly. For adventurous listeners, it is a treasure.

Browse the bookshelf in the footer →