BREATHLESS

With Rain Dances Camel had started their so called second form which included Richard Sinclair on bass instead of Doug Ferguson. Rain Dances was indeed an excellent album and the success Camel gained especially on the Rain Dances-tour was bigger than expected because of the punk/disco explosion.

On Breathless you can hear a couple of attempts for a hit single but you can also hear jazzy beats and proggy melodies and harmonies.

1.Breathless is one of the two Caravan-inspired songs on the album. It sounds poppy but still evolves into a nice progrock song. Especially nice is the oboe and with Richard Sinclairs voice Breathless gets a whimsy quality. One star falls out because of the "hit-single quality" in it. 4 stars

2.Echoes: Here we have what is one of the best songs Camel has ever published. Excellent melody with a lot of character. Inventive like a good prog-song should be, Echoes carries the listening pleasure from the beginning to the end. The bass-lines are excellent and the drum beat is one of the best. Whats also remarkable is that we hear the vocal part of the song at 4 minutes for the first time. 5 stars

3.A Wing and a Prayer is a nice song but the concept is honestly said too pop-oriented for me. The Vocals are nicely build but the synth-melody which just goes and goes on could be a bit more imaginary. Still there are nice flute and oboe interludes. 3.5 stars

4.Down On The Farm is the second of the two Caravan-inspired songs although it sounds more like Hatfield and the North than Caravan but anyways its still a Richard Sinclair solo-attempt. Well the song is a joke both in the music and (especially) lyrics-department. Still I like this song very much. 4 stars

5.Starlight Ride: What is this suppoused to be? This could be the worst song on the album. Sure Starlight Ride has quality but there is just no imagination. Well..something is rescued thanks to the complexity in the melody part. Luckily this song didn't get played live. 2 stars (barely)

6.Summer Lightning is much better than Starlight Ride and has also more character. Although it contains a disco-beat I dont like, Sinclairs singing saves a lot. There are also excellent solos by Latimer and Bardens. If the song could only evolve a bit more ... 3.5 stars

7.You make me Smile: Another disco-beat-song with nice solos. The vocals are only worse. This is almost as bad as Starlight Ride. 2.5 stars

8. The Sleeper: FINALLY a song that can compete with Echoes. The Sleeper starts with a mellow prology which Latimer has said was inspired by the seagulls at the studios in Wales where this album was recorded. After the prology the main-theme starts with some excellent drumming by Ward. The beat is more jazzy than in Echoes. Between we hear excellently played solo parts by Collins and Sinclairs bass is also at its best. There is also a nice guitar-solo by Latimer. The song ends in an extended version of the main theme which gives an eargasm to everyone who hears it. Like Echoes this is one of Camels best songs ever. 5 stars

9. Rainbows End: Why, OH WHY didn't they end the album with The Sleeper? This song is just a better version of Starlight Ride. This was also (sadly) the single from the Breathless album. 2.5 stars

Thanks to Echoes and The Sleeper this album gets 4 stars.