This is another album I was very familiar with at the time, and quite liked without it being a particular favourite. Camel always felt like prog 'also-rans', capable of the occasional bit of brilliance, but you have to look hard for it.
I picked this up for a couple of quid at a boot fair in the Northumbrian port village of Amble a few days ago, along with a couple more to follow.
My previous review of a Camel CD suggests that too many of their songs sound unconvincing because they lacked a lead singer with any impact, and this is born out by this album, almost wholly instrumental and lyric free, being possibly their best seller.
I'm not going to attempt a track by track dissection of this album, as it's really one extended piece, with some lovely tunes. Three or four main themes seem to keep appearing, sometimes cheerfully in major keys, then later sad in minor ones, and it's heavily reliant on Andy Latimer's guitar work, sometimes slow and languid, sometimes in-your-face rock, interspersed with some pleasant flute and other woodwind. There's very little vocal work, and what there is, is probably the low point of the album, a 1960's advert style 'do do do' piece, but the whole piece is eminently listenable, with more than enough to keep the listener interested, as new themes develop and earlier ones return. It's probably the high point of Camel's output.
4* - I enjoyed this more than I expected. It's lovely.
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