Camel - On the Road '72

[progman1975]

Wondering how this measures up to their other live stuff...Been kinda on a Camel Live binge...Andy's guitar tone is just sooo good....

[Poisoned Youth]

LOVE IT.

It's the most raw and organic recording Camel has released. If you like material from their first two albums, it's a no brainer.

[Man In The Mountain]

Absolutely killer!! This is the Camel I love.

[Sputnik]

One of my most played Camel discs. Fantastic performances of Camel totally on top of their game. Sound quality is also quite good for a live recording from this era.

73 - 75 Gods of Light is also quite good and has more material, but there's something about the 1972 disc that keeps me coming back.

Bill

[rcarlberg]

I think the On The Road '72 set has the original "Gods of Light" that was released as "Gods of Light, Revisited" on the Greasy Truckers double LP (that also included Hank Cow and Gong).

[infandous]

Wow, haven't listened to this one in ages........have to remedy that soon. I agree with the others here, it's a great live album, if a bit short. Camel young and playing with a lot of fire, which you don't get from later live albums so much.

[arise_shine]

Do you like early Camel? Even a little? Then you'll like this.

[bigjohnwayne]

Haven't listened to it in a while, but I recall the version of "Six Ate" on there makes the studio version sound rinky-dink and unlistenable in comparison.


Lots of great live Camel material out there--my favorite being the stuff on A Live Record from the Rain Dances lineup. "Song Within a Song" with Richard Sinclair on vox and a Mel Collins solo? Yes please.

[calyx]

Lots of great live Camel material out there--my favorite being the stuff on A Live Record from the Rain Dances lineup. "Song Within a Song" with Richard Sinclair on vox and a Mel Collins solo? Yes please.

Lots of extra material by the same line-up on the expanded reissue from 2002 (plus some by the original line-up). While it's a definite plus in providing a more representative document of the 1977 tour, there was something about the original sequence (which has been shuffled accordingly) that worked really well and has been lost, though.

[Poisoned Youth]

Lots of extra material by the same line-up on the expanded reissue from 2002 (plus some by the original line-up). While it's a definite plus in providing a more representative document of the 1977 tour, there was something about the original sequence (which has been shuffled accordingly) that worked really well and has been lost, though.

I kept both versions because a different drum track is used on the Snow Goose.

[bigjohnwayne]

I've only ever had the reissue. Yes, the flow of that album is pretty weird. It seems like you get a full-ish show by the 77 lineup with actual narrative logic of starting with "First Light" and ending with "Raine Dances" and then there's bits and parts of shows from earlier eras filled up disc one, followed by the full Snow Goose on disc two.

Hey, it's Camel's version of The Great Deceiver.

Anyone up for 15 discs of "The Road to I Can See Your House From Here"?

[rickawakeman]

Lots of great live Camel material out there--my favorite being the stuff on A Live Record from the Rain Dances lineup. "Song Within a Song" with Richard Sinclair on vox and a Mel Collins solo? Yes please.

I trust you have the Moondances DVD?

[progman1975]

How is Breathless viewed in these parts????

[Troopers For Sound]

Really like this one too...a great no nonsense live album. Although surely 1973 or even 74 is the real date??

[calyx]

Really like this one too...a great no nonsense live album. Although surely 1973 or even 74 is the real date??

Surely they wouldn't have played "Lady Fantasy" in 1972, so yeah, 1974 more likely. Wasn't this linked to a studio session at NYC's Record Plant for radio broadcast to promote their debut American tour ?

[arise_shine]

How is Breathless viewed in these parts????

Can only speak for myself, but .... Not a fan. There's some good material, but there's a lot of mediocrity too. Even the prog track, "Echoes," leaves me cold. I don't like the production quality, and intentional or not, the poppifying of the Camel style doesn't work for me on this album. However, I do like very Sinclairian (and very un-Camelian) "Down on the Farm," though I suspect I'm in the minority there.

[bigjohnwayne]

I love me some Camel and am not embarrassed to say that Breathless is among my top 2 or 3 most listened to albums by them.

But of course I'm less of a prog purist than many here.

Breathless--great lush pop song with great, jazzy bass line

Echoes--Their best latter day prog song. Possibly up there with "Song Within a Song", "Lady Fantasy", etc

Wing and a Prayer--Goofy song that seems like Camel trying to go AOR and failing miserably but coming up with something that's still interesting. Reminds me of when Caravan tries to go pop. Is this Bardens on vocals? Like almost any song ever it would've been better with Sinclair singing.

Down on the Farm--A silly song. A great song. People who don't like this song need to meet me in a field at dawn with pistol drawn.

Starlight Ride--It's "Tell Me" from the last album dumbed down. But by no means a bad song. There's one or two nice, melancholy chord changes that get me every time. Is Collins reusing flute lines here from "Lady of the Dancing Water"?

Summer Lighting--Their awkward disco song--but look out for that wonderful chord sequence in the bridge that Richard Sinclair recycled for the song "Cruising" in the early 90s

(I've lost interest in this. It's a great album though.)

[Sputnik]

Can only speak for myself, but .... Not a fan. There's some good material, but there's a lot of mediocrity too. Even the prog track, "Echoes," leaves me cold. I don't like the production quality, and intentional or not, the poppifying of the Camel style doesn't work for me on this album.

I agree, unfortunately. I owned this album and ditched it. Sampled it again a while back when it was discussed here, and remembered how much I didn't like this album. Just not for me, and in fact I don't own anything by Camel past Raindances, though I've owned most of it at one point or another.

However, I do like very Sinclairian (and very un-Camelian) "Down on the Farm," though I suspect I'm in the minority there.

Well, you had me until this.

Bill