 | Camel (1973)Genres: progressive rock |
review by thomas
For a debut album this is a very good album, in my opinion highly underrated since among reviewers the general opinion seems to be something like this: a decent album but inferior to things to come, things that are the real Camel. In fact this album is so much more than merely a decent album. Herein are a couple of well-known songs such as the concert classics “Mystic Queen” and “Arubaluba”, and the ultimate fan classic “Never Let Go”. The latter was tried out as an edited single which was a really disappointing attempt, the things that make the song so good were all gone in the edited form – not uncommon in the record companies search for hits, even amongst the groups that were in nature anti-single minded. “Slow Yourself Down”, “Separation” and “Six Ate” are lesser-known songs but just as good as the more well known ones. One thing that captures your attention is the lack of Andy Latimer’s flute playing, it shows up first on “Mirage”, the follow-up album to this one.
Camel played the kind of progressive rock that later on became the measurement to which others in the same league were measured by. The basic Camel was drums, bass, guitars, keyboards and vocals (mostly done by Andy). Add to this the beautiful flute playing from Andy and you get the picture. If you haven’t yet investigated Camel you should do it now! This is one of the major important groups in progressive rock and not easy to describe if you haven’t heard them. Sometimes very dreamy and spacey, sometimes melodic and mellow, other times rocky and wild. Camel’s instrumental formation and their musical foundation were not very original in itself, but what came out in the end certainly was. They relied heavily on the instrumental side of things, the vocals used sparsely but anyway not only occasionally, the Camel formula was simplified fifty-fifty.
This is the starting album of a new dawn; the Camel sound gave way to much speculation, but in the end it was a new sound, perfected by the group itself.
 | Mirage (1974)Genres: progressive rock |
review by thomas
The sophomore album from Camel is a real classic album. From the starter “Freefall” to the closing “Lady Fantasy” it’s top-notch music. The mix between melodic mellowness and the harder assaults of music continues, just like the mix between instrumental and singing. “Supertwister” and “Earthrise” are instrumentals, the latter a typical Camel melodic and soft song at first but it eventually bursts into a rockier style, whilst the former is a short flute leaden track.
Most attention is and will be drawn to the two longer songs “The White Rider” and “Lady Fantasy”; here it’s Camel at their finest and they are maybe their most beloved songs. They feature many instrumental outbreaks as well as some fine singing and flute playing from Andy Latimer, and Peter Bardens delivers musical background and foreground sounds of fantastic quality from behind his keyboards. I also find Andy Ward’s drum playing – and especially his energetic use of the cymbals – very appealing. “Earthrise” can at times be a little too serious in that way that it becomes dull or threatens to become the same, it’s the song that says the least to me on “Mirage”.
Camel continues in the same style that they explored on their first album, everything herein is however better done. It’s better played, written and arranged and to my ears “Mirage” comes through as a major highlight in Camel’s career.
 | Moonmadness (1976)Genres: progressive rock |
review by thomas
Very airy and soft, certainly mellower than the “Mirage” album, more in style with “The Snow Goose”. It’s a very good one with three standout tracks: the instrumental “Chord Change”, a very energetic and complex piece although it has a middle section that is softer, lighter and not so complex, built on feeling; “Lunar Sea”, another instrumental song which is a mighty album closer, a ten minuter, built more on repetition and atmosphere and it feels like an outtake (that would be a damn good outtake!) from “The Snow Goose” sessions. The third standout is the vocalized “Another Night”, a heavier, rockier piece with strong drums and guitar.
Apart from two shorter songs (of which Bardens lovely piano laden “Spirit of the Water” is one) all songs are quite long and though not so hard and raw – if you can use those words in a Camel description – as “Mirage” it’s still a good album. “Moonmadness” is produced in a cleaner way, the edges are cut off – but not to the extreme. Sure some losses comes with this; there are several rather unsatisfactory passages with a little too much lack of an edge, passages where feeling isn’t always the best substitute.
However another strong Camel album that I still like very much for its atmospheres, its music and its astonishing closer: “Lunar Sea”. Seven songs with good bass, guitar, percussion, keyboards, flute and vocals from Latimer, well Bardens sings on one track as well. More symphonic than their previous efforts for sure but not overwhelmingly symphonic – the Camel of old is still here.
 | A Live Record (1978)Genres: progressive rock |
review by thomas
When Camel decided to release a live album they made the decision of takin’ live material recorded from throughout their then existing career. That gave us a double-LP with “Liggin’ at Louis’” and “Lady Fantasy” recorded in 1974, the entire “Snow Goose”, recorded with an orchestra conducted by David Bedford in 1975 and “Skylines”, “A Song Within a Song”, “Lunar Sea” and “Never Let Go” from their tour of 1977. As you may well know by the time of the 1977 recordings Camel had Richard Sinclair on bass and vocals onboard as well as Mel Collins on saxophones. Sadly Mel plays cheesy “Springsteen-saxophones” on “A Song Within a Song” and on the fan favourite “Never Let Go” and thus taking away something from those songs. He does play better on “Lunar Sea” though.
The “Snow Goose” suite is played in close style to the original album and the orchestra keeps a very low profile, they accompany the band without being in the way; this is clearly not one of those attempts to mix rock and classical music. Of the two 1974 songs “Liggin’ at Louis’” is a live workout, never released on a studio album. “Lady Fantasy” is as good as you would expect. Considering the fact that this live album – as most live albums – will be picked up mostly by strong fans of the group in question you can’t go wrong with this record if you like Camel in this phase. The playing is excellent and flawless (except, of course, for those saxophones) and it’s really nice getting the whole “Snow Goose” suite live. A good live album, it’s what you could expect from such a skilled and tight band (especially before 1977) as Camel, although it could have been better.
And then the real bonus for those who pick up the remastered double-CD from 2002 is that you get about 45 minutes of extra material, including among others “The White Rider” and “Another Night”, both recorded in 1976.
