CAMEL

Camel's debut album is quite simply stunning. If you are not familiar with their work then this is the ideal place to start. Slow yourself down opens the album in a suprisingly upbeat way considering its title, and is a song that can put a smile on even the most worried face. Mystic Queen is a beautiful sweeping tune with great lyrics. Six Ate kicks in nicely leading on to Separation a moody and deep song about a break up which grabs the feel of the situation perfectly. Next up is Never Let Go a monolithic song of hope and one of my favourite ever tunes. Curiosity is another song to make you smile, and last on the album comes the bouncy upbeat Arubaluba. Every track on the album is great with confident powerful drums and bass. Peter Bardens keyboards are magnificent especially when the mellotron kicks in, and Andy Latimer is a guitar genius. Vocals are shared by three of the four band members with only Andy Ward on drums missing out, and this works so well with the voices matching the songs.

One of my all time favourite albums by my favourite band.