Both Latimer and Gilmour use a lot of pull-offs and grace notes (I believe those are the terms) in their playing, so the "notes" they play, although fewer in number than EVH, have imaginative and emotional starts and ends.Originally Posted by Plasmatopia
The vocals were not strong on the earlier Camel albums. I think they got better over time...hence why I like Nude so much, which is, as I said, the best of both worlds.
An example of Latimer's clean-and-clear playing is the title track 'The Snow Goose'. Exceptional, not a note wasted.
I bought the import of Mirage in '74 at some independently owned record shop on High Street, Millville N.J. Isn't that just enjoyable. I bought Mirage , Hatfield and the North, and Gong You and spent that afternoon as self indulgent. Who needs the outside world when you have those three albums? After Mirage I drove to Philadelphia to find Moonmadness and The Snow Goose. I liked the music of David Bedford years before discovering Camel and so it was exciting , that realization where I'd see his name credited on a Camel album. Eventually I became a Camel fanatic in my teens , trying to track down every rarity conceivable like....Greasy Truckers at Dingwalls Dance Hall where the early Camel gives an outstanding performance. In the 90's I discovered Dust and Dreams in Tower Records and literally was just stunned and stood there staring at the cover in disbelief.
I recall the short spell of Kit Watkins. I was already discouraged by the fact that he had left Happy The Man and that the band busted up. I mean....all the musicians I traveled the road with....they were disgusted by that situation. You'd have to be there. So ....Kit Watkins joins Camel and I buy the album immediately , rush home to play it...and discover it's closer to being Pop Music than Breathless.... although I loved "Ice". So like a fool I'm thinking this new Camel album will be progressive like Happy The Man and Camel combined....however, Kit Watkins made a few references regarding his writing not being welcomed or accepted by the band. Yet a Kit Watkins piece on the album NUDE seems to flow nicely . Perhaps Latimer was concerned that Watkins writing contribution would structure Camel to sound like Happy The Man. And I believe that would have been a mistake. Even though Camel had taken what some people believe to be a worse direction.....one to write commercial sounding songs, when Andrew Latimer returned with Dust and Dreams, Harbour Of Tears, and Rajaz, it was obvious then that he was writing more serious progressive music. The more commercial sound of Camel was very slight on Raindances, but pursuing on Breathless and I Can See Your House From Here. I still bought the albums and loved " Echoes" and "The Sleeper". I was just disappointed because I expected more Moonmadness. Single Factor and Stationary Traveller had much finer songs and the instrumentals are great. I think Andrew Latimer put Camel back on the right path in the end.
For the record - I believe you are referring to Kit Watkins' piece entitled Mt. St. Helens which has later become Docks on the Camel LP. It does fit nicely in the entire structure of the concept album.
Yes that's it! Thanks.....I must hear it again, it's been years.
Camel is very much a mood band. Some, who prefer more intricacies in music, may not care for them as much. But they, I suppose like Big Big Train, are about the moody undercurrents, and the feeling, which obviously one either feels or doesn't. I admit I have a hard time relating to how someone doesn't feel the passion in tracks like 'Six Ate', 'The Snow Goose', 'Echoes', or 'Coming of Age'.
I think you're totally right about this. Camel is much more about mood and "groove" than a lot of the other Proggy bands. That said, I think their earlier work had enough intricacy to attract a lot of fans who were more into to the Yes/ELP/KC end of the spectrum. After Rain Dances, that element seemed to appear less and less, with some notable exceptions, and you were left largely with just the "moody" stuff. And that is where, and why, I think a lot of fans fell off the bandwagon.
That's certainly the case for me. There's some pretty stuff on their later albums, but it's like they forgot how to turn it up a notch. The music is just too skewed toward mood with none of the intricacy and fire they had in those early years. Doesn't mean it's bad, and obviously a lot of fans like that stuff, some more than the early stuff. But I think a lot of Prog fans do enjoy that intricacy, so even early Camel is often a bit "iffy," let alone the more recent stuff.
Bill
EEKS... if cringeworthy lyrical content kept people from liking bands... Genesis and Yes would never be spoken of on PE!
I know that's the only reason I cant stand those 2 bands
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the lyrics to LF won them a Grammy. Can anyone prove this?
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
Guilty as charged, although I would put Peter and Jon's lyrics, even at their most nonsensical, on a different level, and they sing it like they mean it!EEKS... if cringeworthy lyrical content kept people from liking bands... Genesis and Yes would never be spoken of on PE!
I'm about as big of a Tolkien curmudgeon as you can get, and I'm fine with the lyrics of White Rider. I wouldn't put Camel's lyrics on the top shelf, but I wouldn't put them in the trashcan either. They're pretty middle of the road, in my opinion. They're better than Greenslade, or Gravy Train, and most of Jade Warrior, for example.
Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world.
I notice they don't actually mention the word Gandalf. I wonder if THAT was a copyright issue as well (although Nimrodel seems to have made it).
I love 'The White Rider'. That song actually got me into TLOTR!
I love Andy's vocals. He's the voice of Camel, with Colin following close behind. I think they both sing with lots of feeling too.
All the times I've listened to Camel's "Stationary Traveller" I've never known what the title to the instrumental track "Vopos" meant (I never thought about it really). Today I found out VoPos was a shorthand name for the Volkspolizei, the police in East Germany. Live and learn.
Ahh yes, too bad there is so much to learn and not enough life.
Answering my own question: I can find no evidence of this. Funny, I seem to remember Andy himself mentioning it. I wonder what he was actually thinking of?
In general, I find Breathless to be a substandard offering, but “Echoes” is possibly my #1 Camel track, the folky title tune is a delight, and “Down on the Farm” is 100% undiluted Richard Sinclair. Yes, I guess there’s also “The Sleeper,” a decent if hardly overwhelming fusion-esque instrumental.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
I don't think Breathless is substandard at all actually. In addition to those tunes you mentioned above, it also has "Summer Lightning" with it's really well done vocal harmonies and quite possibly one of the finest guitar solos ever to lead the song out. Oh...and the disco beat throughout is well...completely and totally AbFab!
best
Michael
If it ain't acousmatique-It's crap
Indeed, for me one of the best (read: emotional) solo's Andy played.
same here.. though i did like parts of Nude, Breathless and House are far too schmaltzy poppy for my tastes and the later stuff Rajaz, etc just bore me.
"She said you are the air I breathe
The life I love, the dream I weave."
Unevensong - Camel
And I have a soft spot for “Starlight Ride.” Very Bardens.
Tonight I listened to Nude loud with the lights off and what a fantastic album it really is!
It is good to see some kind words for Breathless. Summer lightning is one of my favorites. And yes, Starlight Ride (mentioned in the other post) is lovely, and so very Pete Bardens. (I miss that man.)
I have some wonderful associations with Breathless, which of course, always colors one’s judgement, but I think it is a great document of the band at that point. Sinclair was a big part of that also.
To me Breathless is another one of those "comfort prog" albums Camel seemed endlessly capable of knocking out. It's also the quintessential "Cara-mel" album.
I'm holding out for the Wilson-mixed 5.1 super-duper walletbuster special anniversary extra adjectives edition.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I had to read this twice.
WANTED: Sig-worthy quote.
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