Also see: NEARfest 2003 ~ Colin Bass
From: "E-Man" <>
...(the best releases are) "Rain Dances," "The Snow Goose," or (even better)
the 2cd "A Live Record," which is fantastic. Their newer stuff (w/o Pete
Bardens), like "Dust & Dreams" & "Harbour of Tears," is good, too. They're
one of the seminal bands that are still going, and making good music versus
pop (junk). They've got two more recent double-live CDs: "Never Let Go" &
"Coming of Age," as well.
From: "Andrew J. Rozsa"
During the early 70s, Camel was considered 'art' rock. If you anyone wants to
hear a truly good album by them (the only one I like), try 'The Snow Goose.'
It's pretty tame by 90's standard, but a masterpiece, IMHO, nonetheless.
From: "George Khouroshvili"
I begin my acknowledgement with Camel from their very 1st album and I liked
it very much, then came "The snow goose" - a wonderful instrumental
masterpiece (Rhyader is my favorite instrumental piece by Camel, and probably
one of the best in art rock). Later (after "Breathless") the band drifted
quite close to Alan Parsons Project style (they even exchanged the
musicians). Camel's "Single Factor" & "Stationary Traveler" were quite far
from art territories but were high quality pomp-art production without any
deep ideas and revelations. I was stunned when I've heard their 1996 album "Harbour
of Tears" for the 1st time. It is a very rare example when the well-known
band is back with the great album (I don't have their "Dust & Dreams" yet,
but as I know the reaction of the audience was positive too). Probably you
should start with their 1st, "Snow Goose" or "Harbour...".
From: "drj_saro" <>
imo, Camel's best was "A Live Record" (with a full version of the Snow Goose
with orchestra). the two albums with Richard Sinclair are also personal
favourites, but they are somewhat uneven and could have been edited together
into _one_ REALLY good album. and even though Camel does not exist as a
_band_, their last two studio albums are actually quite good.
From: Lanzarini
]
>> Quidam has a great first work. I could remember the name... Great female
vocals and a guitar with Camel influences.
The second CD is more pop oriented but with a nice track with 13 minutes.
Members of the band plus another guy from Lizard collaborated with Colin Bass
on his solo CD Outcasts on... one of the bests releases on 1999. Highly
recommended!
>Tell us more... is this the Lizard from Switzerland? Who is Colin Bass and
where is this CD found?
No, It is the band Lizard from Poland! I think the guitar and drums are from
this band. Some vocals are from Emilia (Quidam) and of course the flutes.
Colin Bass is the bass man of Camel. The CD is available in various sites of
prog CD. Try Artist Shop and Cranium...
From: Gary Davis <>
Thanks for the plug. In the Artist Shop you'll find it on our Camel page at <>
where you'll also find a couple soundbites for it. I have to agree with
Lanzarini's assessment of this CD, an absolute delight. Members of Quidam,
Abraxas and the Poznan Philharmonic Orchestra are all over it as is one
Andrew Latimer providing some very tasteful guitar work! Overall it has a
Camel meets Pink Floyd kind of feel to it. Although where Pink Floyd's music
is often very gloomy, Outcast of the Islands is a very uplifting album. Colin
Bass and Andy Latimer are also finishing up work on the new Camel album
scheduled to be released around October 7 to be called RAJAZ. It features
Dave Stewart on drums and Ton Scherpenzeel from Kayak on keyboards!
From: "Richard Zywotkiewicz" <>
One of the finest prog cds around by a highly underrated group. This cd was
BIG when it was first released and along with thick as a brick and tubular
bells, "redefined" concept album. Up until then, Tommy was considered the
ultimate concept album, which was a joke indeed. I love Camel, especially
their first line up. They were hot.
From: "Shipley, Craig" <>
Like someone else said, I think that MOONMADNESS is a better release, but
this is one from the "Camel Classic" days. Again, as someone else has said,
this is based around a novella, which was set in 1940, as the track "Dunkirk'
refers to the Dunkirk evacuation. (Can't remember if the CD release I have
has the liner notes that briefly tell the story, but I know the LP that I
have does). This is Camels' only (almost) purely instrumental release and can
be heard also on the "A Live Record" release with orchestral backing. If you
like this release, you should check out MIRAGE, MOONMADNESS and CAMEL, as
they all feature the classic line-up of Latimer, Bardens, Fergeson and Ward.
Tasty electronics on both MIRAGE and MOONMADNESS (The live version of "Lunar
Sea" from MOONMADNESS on the CAMEL ON THE ROAD '82 release is excellent, but
then I'm a sucker for NASA moon-landing dialog... :-) ). Andy Latimer's later
material is quite good, also, and shows the work of a mature artist. Just
about every one of the Camel releases are either a concept or have a unifying
theme. HARBOUR OF TEARS is a tale of Irish immigrants coming to the US in the
early 1900's. No Mellotron washes or screaming synthesizers, but some very
evocative and moving music. Something good to put on the CD player when you
need something less electronic. The two most recent live releases COMING OF
AGE and NEVER LET GO (this song, from the very first release CAMEL, opens
just about every live release. Signature tune, I'll bet...) are nice
retrospectives of Camel's output. Both encompass a live version of the most
recent concept releases, DUST & DREAMS (adaptation of John Steinbecks'
"Grapes of Wrath") on NLG and HARBOUR OF TEARS on COA. They are both 2 CD
sets, so you don't just get a live rehash of a previous release. Wart's 'n
all recordings (just a little of the crowd banter edited out here and there),
but these are great recordings of what had to be killer live sets.
From: "Grant Penton" <>
I've had it for 21 years now, both the studio (now on CD) and the live. It
was quite the tour-de-force (to use a tired old cliche), for Latimer, Bardens
& co to do an instrumental LP on their 3rd release. Enlisting the help of
David Bedford (from Ayers band, and an accomplished orchestral, vocal &
electronic composer with 5 solos out) they crafted a combination of
attractive (but not saccharine) melodies to illustrate the moods of the story
of the Snowgoose who befriended a young girl and led an old fisherman out of
self-imposed isolation to participate in dangerous and ultimately fatal
military rescue crossings to Dunkirk. The live version has a few extra
doodles and a rearrangement of one section where Latimer plays both A- &
E-guitars and Bardens plays too many synth layers to replicate live,
replacing the AGtr with E-piano and a synth part with a clarinet, very
attractively done, with a coherant focus and attractive intros and outros.
Yep, a favourite of mine for life! Got a few videos too-
From: Mike De Lang <>
> Has anyone heard the new Camel CD?
I have and it's good. Similar in style to "Dust and Dreams".
From: "Craig Shipley" <>
Date: Tue Feb 18, 2003 7:14 am Subject: RE: [e-Prog] Going to Nearfest
Speaking of Camel, this is the year of their Final Tour.
From the latest e-mail message: "Camel Trackers...
In our last eBeast, Tour 2003 was officially announced with the confirmation
of NEARfest in Trenton, NJ, on 29th June. Other performance dates are
gradually beginning to take shape but nothing is yet confirmed. We apologise
to everyone who wants to know more dates so they can book their holidays but
CP can't say what isn't known. In the past, USA dates have been near
impossible. Although some offers were put forth, the fees did not meet
expenses and the performances never materialized. CP feels fairly confident
that there will be at least one California date but no date/s -- not even
tentative bookings -- are scheduled as of this newsletter. This may change in
a few weeks. It may never change. The market is just too unpredictable. CP
was reminded of this unpredictability when Camel's booking agent, Paul
Boswell, told CP he felt sure the UK's Canterbury Festival would be a perfect
venue for Camel. Paul was stunned when the promoter declined to book the
band, stating 'Camel's music is too similar'. Everyone at CP was struck
speechless by this statement although it is not uncommon in the uphill battle
of touring. As of this date, it appears Japan will not host any Camel
performances due to the crippling recession they are enduring.
Booking a tour is never an easy process for any independent band, most
especially when the band members are scattered around the globe. Unlike 30
years ago, they can't just grab their gear, hop in a van and drive to any
venue that has a stage. Aah, the 'good' ol' days. The financial burden of
touring is something CP has mentioned numerous times in the past and with the
global economy such as it is, this problem has changed only in the sense of
having grown larger in expense and smaller in performance opportunities. As a
result, Camel have made the decision they have long-since tried to avoid:
Tour 2003 will be Camel's final tour.
Andrew Latimer assures us that Camel will continue to record music. But the
all-consuming effort and expense of putting a tour together will soon be a
thing of the past. "I'll miss touring, no doubt about that. But we haven't
broken enough new ground to ease the pressures and obstacles involved." he
explained to Paris Ford. "I'm going to concentrate on projects in the
studio".
This news is not entirely unexpected. CP thought 1997 would be the last tour
but stayed the course for another 2 tours. Everyone was optimistic that the
success of those tours would bring greater opportunities for the next tour.
That optimism has since morphed into harsh reality. The bright side is that
the tour will be a true celebration of an incredible recording and performing
history. Andrew Latimer never reveals set lists in advance but he
assures us it will be a worthy tribute to the wealth of material Camel have
recorded over the years."
If you get the chance, go see 'em.