Camel (1973)

To travel into the progressive landscape of the musical world is by some a step down, others mean it’s at least three leaps upward. Personally I think that progressive music can range from fantastic to too difficult. This album does not belong to the difficult but is in fact an example of a relatively accessible creation from the 70's progressive scene.

Camel is one of many great bands that emerged from the so-called Canterbury scene. This LP is their first, the group was formed the year before and consisted at the time of the recording of Andrew Latimer, Andy Ward, Doug Ferguson and Peter Bardens. Andrew Latimer has been in the band from its beginnings until today, apart from him, quite a few members have come and gone throughout the years. The album was released by MCA Records, it’s the only album the band recorded under that company.

Honestly I don’t remember how I discovered Camel, but this album was not the first one I bought with them. I had a number of CDs with them before I found this LP in a store for used records. An opportunity I of course couldn’t resist. The songs are a mix of both instrumentals and with vocals, and as said above, I find the album quite accessible. I think that Camel in general makes accessible progressive music which is probably one of the reasons that I hold them as one of my favorites in this genre.

Many of the songs with vocals have, as it should in this genre, long instrumental sections where both the guitar and keyboards play the lead role. Some prog lovers may miss the strange time signatures, time changes, unusual instruments and generally strange (and difficult) songs or parts of songs. The album has instead a fairly straightforward music, which I like. So why is it called progressive, you might ask yourself. A reasonable question. Definitions are a difficult area and I'm not going to dwell deeper on this issue, but I think since Camel is regarded as a progressive band, this album also automatically is put into this genre. Right or wrong, I don’t know. The last song Arubaluba is probably the one which is closest to what we generally consider classic progressive music. What the listener do get, though, is a bunch of great musicians!

The album is OK, I don’t think it's the best one Camel has done but I recommend it anyway. People who are frowning at progressive music and think it’s only music for other musicians should listen to the album. I think most people can appreciate this LP and enjoy what comes out of the stereo's speakers, even those who normally would never buy an album with King Crimson, Gentle Giant, or by all means Camel.

Lastly I can mention that Andrew Latimer in recent years has been incapable of playing music due to undergoing chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation which has had some physical consequences. His health is now much better and the recording has started (or is about to start) of a new Camel album in 2010.

 

Favourite tracks

Mystic Queen

Arubaluba

 

Tracklist

Side A

1. "Slow Yourself Down" 4:47
2. "Mystic Queen"  5:40
3. "Six Ate"  6:06
4. "Separation"  3:57

Side B

1. "Never Let Go"  6:26
2. "Curiosity"  5:55
3. "Arubaluba" – 6:28