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THE PARIS COLLECTION

Camel

Symphonic Prog


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Camel The Paris Collection album cover
3.69 | 94 ratings | 9 reviews | 30% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Live, released in 2001

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Ice (8:47)
2. Chord Change (8:52)
3. Fingertips (6:40)
4. Slow Yourself Down (4:30)
5. Sahara (6:51)
6. Mother Road (6:07)
7. Little Rivers and Little Rose (1:55)
8. Hopeless Anger (5:43)
9. Lady Fantasy (16:04)
BONUS TRACK
10. Slow Yourself Down (5:34)
Total Time: 71:03

Line-up / Musicians

- Andy Latimer / guitar
- Colin Bass / bass, vocals
- Guy Leblanc / keyboards, vocals
- Denis Clement / drums

Releases information

2001 Camelproductions
CP-011CD

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Keppa4v for the last updates
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CAMEL The Paris Collection ratings distribution


3.69
(94 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music (30%)
30%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection (41%)
41%
Good, but non-essential (18%)
18%
Collectors/fans only (10%)
10%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

CAMEL The Paris Collection reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by ZowieZiggy
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars Let's be honest, this is not the best Camel live album but they had so many problems before and during this W2K tour (see comments on sleeve) that at the end of the day it is not too bad either.

I guess that the fact I could understand the interactions in French from Guy Leblanc (a French Canadian keyboard player as well as a singer) with the local audience featuring some good sense of humour adds a bit of value to this live work.

The opening "Ice" is great and its follower "Chord Change" is very good as well. "Sahara" is a highlight but I feel a bit disappointed that there are not more tracks from "Rajaz" here.

Some weaker tracks here and there, but there's a great Lady Fantasy to close this album.

Three stars.

Review by snobb
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Years ago I was very disappointed by Camel late 70-s - early 80-s albums, and just missed my interest to them. So, after so many years I just listened their last to time live album, and was pleasantly surprised.

With new vocalist, they still can play great music! Their sound is beautiful there, no over orchestrated nor filled with synths sounds. Clear melodies, tasteful instruments lines, very beautiful guitar, aerial music.

There are some great songs played during this concert, and some not so great. But music is mature, all this concert sounds as bands report from years past. Not new sounds or experiments could be found there, but it is just a great collection of their nice (again) music.

I believe this album could be a nice present for band's fans as evidence they could sound great even in the beginning of new century.

Review by SouthSideoftheSky
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Symphonic Team
3 stars Slow yourself down

Camel has a very impressive collection of live albums to their credit both in terms of quantity and quality. Indeed, with the Official Camel Bootleg series, every major Camel tour since 1981 has a live album to represent it (including a live DVD yet to be released from their most recent tour)! The tour in support of Nude is represented by Camel On The Road 1981, the tour in support of The Single Factor is represented by Camel On The Road 1982, The tour in support of Stationary Traveller is represented by the Pressure Points live album as well as the Total Pressure DVD, the tour in support of Dust And Dreams is represented by the Never Let Go double live album, the tour in support of Harbour Of Tears is represented by the Coming Of Age DVD and double CD and the tour in support of Rajaz is represented by the present album (and as I mentioned above, the farewell tour following the most recent Camel album A Nod And A Wink will soon be represented by a new DVD release announced to be called The Opening Farewell).

Some of these live albums are better than others and the present one falls somewhere in the middle. While the brilliant Never Let Go and Coming Of Age releases included performances of the Dust And Dreams and Harbour Of Tears albums in their respective entirety, The Paris Collection only holds a single track from Rajaz in Sahara. The rest of the tracks are taken from Dust And Dreams, Stationary Traveller, I Can See Your House From Here, Moonmadness, Mirage and the self-titled debut. Almost all of these songs have been featured on several previous live albums. Apart from Sahara, the most interesting selection is Slow Yourself Down originally from the debut album performed here in an acoustic version. What makes this live album unique, however, is that all lead vocals are handled, not by Andy Latimer as usual, but by keyboard player Guy LeBlanc. The reason is that Andy had been advised by doctors to rest his voice. This fact makes this release special, but at the same time it takes away a very important aspect of Camel's trademark sound.

Bass duties are handled by Colin Bass as usual and drums by one Denis Clement. Keyboards are, as I said, played by Guy LeBlanc, and as he speaks French, it is he that handles most of the communication with the Paris audience (but I don't understand most of what he is saying to them). Andy is in fine form as far as his guitar playing goes and he is, as always, fantastic. Too bad about his vocals though. LeBlanc is not a bad singer, but he is not the voice of Camel, after all. Camel is indeed a fantastic live band also in this incarnation though, but among so many live albums, several of which are excellent, it is hard for The Paris Collection to stand out. Camel fans will certainly be delighted by the presence of such classics as Ice, Chord Change and the eternal Lady Fantasy, but we have all heard these songs elsewhere. Three songs are played from Dust And Dreams, and even if I consider this album a masterpiece, I find it doubtful that we needed these live versions given that the Never Let Go live album already held a complete and magnificent live performance of that album.

The conclusion must be that The Paris Collection is absolutely not the best Camel live album and though certainly a good one in its own right, it adds very little to what was already on the market at the time. With Andy's vocals and a few more tracks from Rajaz, this could have been a more interesting release. It is still a worthy addition but I strongly recommend to go for Never Let Go and Coming Of Age first - they are both truly outstanding live releases!

There is a bonus track on this album which is a studio version of the acoustic version of Slow Yourself Down with Andy on vocals. Very interesting and very different from the original version. Beautiful!

Review by VianaProghead
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Review Nš 846

"The Paris Collection" is the ninth live album of Camel and that was released in 2001. This live album was taken by several recordings made of their live concert performed at the Bataclan-Club, in Paris, France, in 30 September 2000.

"The Paris Collection" belongs to a live tour that was at risk of not being released. Amongst other things, the band had some problems with the line up for this live tour. After all, they needed a new keyboardist and Guy LeBlanc was invited. After he arrived in San Francisco and discussed the conditions he joined Camel. When they thought that everything was right, their drummer Dave Stewart informed the band that he had accepted a position as manager of a drum shop and can't keep his commitment to that tour. Then it was suggested that the ex-Jethro Tull drummer, Clive Bunker was the right man to the job due to his playing style. Clive Bunker agreed to do Camel's tour but after some time he inform the band that he was unable to do the tour. So, Guy LeBlanc suggested and called the French Canadian drummer Denis Clement which was fortunately available. The mainly problem is that he was a completely unknown entity, but after he arrived at San Francisco and does the casting he soon proved that he was perfectly capable to do flawlessly the job.

By the other hand, Andrew Latimer had an extremely bad cold which turned to a bronchial infection and if that's not enough he latter chipped a bone in his knee cap and had to perform sitting down. Due to Latimer's infection he was unable to sing and Colin Bass and Guy LeBlanc takeover of all vocal duties. So, all this made of "The Paris Collection" a different Camel's album without the familiar Latimer's voice. But, as a whole, the band was able to do a very good job.

So, the line up on "The Paris Collection" is Andrew Latimer (guitar), Colin Bass (vocals, acoustic guitar and bass guitar), Guy LeBlanc (vocals and keyboards) and Denis Clement (drums and percussion).

"The Paris Collection" has ten tracks. The first track "Ice" was originally released on their seventh studio album "I Can See Your House From Here". The second track "Chord Change" was originally released on their fourth studio album "Moonmadness". The third track "Fingertips" was originally released on their tenth studio album "Stationary Traveller". The fourth track "Slow Yourself Down" was originally released on their debut eponymous studio album "Camel". The fifth track "Sahara" was originally released on their thirteenth studio album "Rajaz". The sixth track "Mother Road" was originally released on their eleventh studio album "Dust And Dreams". The seventh track "Little Rivers And Little Rose" was also originally released on "Dust And Dreams". The eighth track "Hopeless Anger" was also originally released on "Dust And Dreams". The ninth track "Lady Fantasy" was originally released on their second studio album "Mirage". The tenth track "Slow Yourself Down (Late Night Version)" is a bonus track, an acoustic studio version of the original track.

"The Paris Collection" is another release from the "Official Bootlegs" series of Camel, this time a recording that was made in October 2000, in Paris. About the live performance of the band and the choice of the repertoire of Camel to be included on this album, it was very good. First, there are a few older pieces to be heard. So, we have the majestic instrumental track "Ice" and the instrumental "Chord Change", both from the 70's, are determined entirely by Andrew Latimer's cutting electric guitar, which is much more effective here than on the studio versions. For "Fingertips" and "Slow Yourself Down" the album then switches to the acoustic guitar, which gives the two pieces a very different character than the original. After "Sahara" from the 1999 album "Rajaz", there are three songs from "Dust And Dreams" that merge into one another, followed by Camel's classic "Lady Fantasy". These pieces are again kept relatively close to the respective original versions, but appear much more dynamic here. Finally, and as a bonus track there's a very atmospheric version of "Slow Yourself Down" recorded by Andrew Latimer and Guy LeBlanc with only acoustic guitar and keyboards in the studio. So, there's enough variation of Camel's material for the release of another live album.

Conclusion: Camel is, in my humble opinion, one of the best progressive rock bands that ever existed, is one of my favourites and it's also the band of the 70's that give me more pleasure to listen too, nowadays. Relatively to "The Paris Collection" I must confess that I had some reservations about this album and it was one of the last two albums that I bought from them because some previous reviews. When I read about the so many problems before that live tour and that Andrew Latimer doesn't sing a note on the album, I was really a bit worried about what I would hear. However, and despite it isn't a masterpiece, I was pleasantly surprised with "The Paris Collection". So, let's see why. Collin Bass and Guy LeBlanc take good care of the vocal parts and it has also great musical moments too, especially the three songs from "Dust And Dreams", and of course, their legendary track, "Lady Fantasy". So, I have no problem in recommending this album to everyone who likes good symphonic progressive rock performed live. This is a wonderful set all around.

Prog is my Ferrari. Jem Godfrey (Frost*)

Latest members reviews

4 stars I found this album completely amazing . Taking into account that it is a live album I was surprised to the excellent quality of sound. Ican also remark that those vocals that Collins was compelled to sing due to the bad health of Anderw Latimer are achieved in the most succesful way . Being most of ... (read more)

Report this review (#1771891) | Posted by penmar | Wednesday, August 16, 2017 | Review Permanlink

5 stars GREAT. This live performance of Camel is IMO almost a masterpiece, and I say almost because some of the tracks are not the best of the band. Being a live album, the sound is great and very clear. Because the health problems of Andy Latimer, the album is mainly instrumental, and the few vocals ... (read more)

Report this review (#1069549) | Posted by genbanks | Thursday, October 31, 2013 | Review Permanlink

4 stars An excellent live album by one of the latest Camel line-up. Although this was recorded during the "Rajaz" tour, only one number comes from "Rajaz" (i.e. "Sahara"). One may wish there was more from that CD, the set list is not bad at all. Also, this was recorded without the vocals of Andrew ... (read more)

Report this review (#377847) | Posted by SEV1 | Monday, January 10, 2011 | Review Permanlink

4 stars I had some reservations about this album before buying it caused by these previous reviews and the facts that Andy doesn't sing a note and there aren't too many songs from Rajaz, but because I've pretty much decided to buy all the Camel stuff out there I had to get this one too at the risk of ... (read more)

Report this review (#97749) | Posted by Pekka | Thursday, November 9, 2006 | Review Permanlink

1 stars - Well, I've just bought this Camel CD "The Paris Collection" and although I've been a devout Camel fan for as long as Andrew Latimer has been a member, I feel disappointed in the great man! I know, for various reasons he changes his line up , but the first version of 'Slow yourself down' was rub ... (read more)

Report this review (#2519) | Posted by | Wednesday, June 16, 2004 | Review Permanlink

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